Religion, spirituality and leisure: a relational approach. The experience of religion and spirituality of Dutch New Christians and New Spirituals during leisure activities

Abstract

This study has explored how spirituality and religion are experienced during everyday out-of-home leisure activities by investigating the embodied experiences of spatial situations, using a relational approach. This study shows that religion and spirituality compensate for inadequacies perceived in worldly relations. The experience of religion and spirituality therefore has to be understood as a relational process deriving from the interplay of different events, objects, humans and other actors present in the situation and wider relational networks of the individual. The experiences of the New Spirituals presented to be highly embedded in the spatial situations encountered and perceived affective dimension. New Christians' experiences showed to be less affected by the situation and the sensorial impulses received from the environment. For them their relationship with God is continuous and the encounters they have with other actors is mediated by this relationship. In response to these experiences and to live up to their beliefs both groups employ certain tactics during leisure such as customising or avoiding situations and putting up emotional boundaries.