America is a deeply spiritual nation. Over 70% of us say that we feel spiritual in some way. But – at the same time – we're getting less religious. So for people who are spiritual-but-not-religious – what's replacing organized religion? What do they believe – and where does that show up in their day-to-day lives? In Brittany's series called Losing My Religion, It's Been a Minute is going to find out. In her final episode of the series, Brittany is investigating so-called manifestation. It's this popular belief that if you want something badly enough, it'll come to you. You might know this idea by other names, like The Law of Attraction, or The Secret. Manifestation spiked in 2020, according to Google Trends, and it's still riding that wave online. Brittany calls on Tara Isabella Burton, an author and journalist, and New York Magazine's Rebecca Jennings to get to the bottom of this trend: the appeal of manifestation, its symbiotic relationship with the internet, and why it might make us less aware of our humanity.Want to get to know Brittany? Follow her at @bmluse on socials.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus content. Join NPR+ today.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. America is a deeply spiritual nation. Over 70% of us say that we feel spiritual in some way, but at the same time, we're also getting less religious.
When asked to check a box next to their religious affiliation, 28% of Americans check the box labeled none. The nuns, as they're sometimes called, are now the biggest religious group in the United States. And 22% identify as spiritual, but not religious, otherwise known as SBNRs. But for SBNRs, what's replacing organized religion? What do they believe?
And where does that belief show up in all our lives? For our final episode of our series, Losing My Religion, we're going to find out. Today, we're getting into manifesting. In case you don't know, manifesting is the idea that if you want something badly enough, it'll come to you. You might know this idea by other names, like the law of attraction or the secret.
But interest in the latest iteration, manifestation, really spiked in 2020, according to Google Trends. And it's still riding that wave. And while manifestation is not always religious, it's often spiritual.
You can make it happen by getting in touch with the inner workings of the universe, the divine energy, the force. There's a lot of different language that people use for it.
That's author and journalist Tara Isabella Burton. I sat down with her and New York Magazine features writer, Rebecca Jennings. Thanks for having us. To talk about the appeal of manifestation, how it's actually built into the internet, and why it might make us less aware of our humanity. And you know what? You're going to love this conversation. I know, because I'm manifesting it.
Let's get right into it. What do people get out of manifestation as a spiritual practice?
I mean, I personally saw it pop up on a ton of my feeds, you know, pretty much every time I scrolled really at the beginning of 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. And to me, what I saw a lot of was people searching for an element of control over what was going to happen to them when everything felt really chaotic and confusing.
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