Good without God in Sin City: The Making and Performing of Irreligious Moral Order

• In Event: 568 - Section on Altruism, Morality and Social Solidarity Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Spirituality, Pain, and Emotions

Abstract

In 2013, Pope Francis’ controversial remarks claiming that redemption is available to all who “do good”, even atheists, provoked a very public debate. The emergence of public atheism during the last decade, a direct response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, exemplifies irreligion – a reaction against conventional religion. Atheists are among the most distrusted group in the United States, only marginally trusted more than rapists. Despite the fact that claims positing atheists as immoral and anti-American have been empirically invalidated, atheists remain situated outside the moral boundaries of cultural membership. Using the tools of ethnography, this research examines the lived experience of everyday irreligion, specifically looking at constructions of irreligious moral order(s) vis-a-vis dominant moral discourse. Because irreligion is a response to religion from the position of a “moral other,” this dissertation is also concerned with exploring “othering” as a form of moral injury and cultural trauma. Understanding the construction and performance of irreligious morality as individual and collective acts of cultural and political resistance, particularly in a digitally mediated urban environment, will tell us much about how global citizens are attempting to change the face of social justice in the 21st century and how historically marginalized populations cope with their specific legacies of moral injustice.

Author

• Lori Fazzino, University of Nevada-Las Vegas