By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
Going to church this Sunday? Look around.The chances are that one in five of the people there find “spiritual energy” in mountains or trees, and one in six believe in the “evil eye,” that certain people can cast curses with a look — beliefs your Christian pastor doesn’t preach.
In a Catholic church? Chances are that one in five members believe in reincarnation in a way never taught in catechism class — that you’ll be reborn in this world again and again.
Elements of Eastern faiths and New Age thinking have been widely adopted by 65% of U.S. adults, including many who call themselves Protestants and Catholics, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released Wednesday.
Syncretism — mashing up contradictory beliefs like Catholic rocker Madonna‘s devotion to a Kabbalah-light version of Jewish mysticism — appears on the rise.
And, according to the survey’s other major finding, devotion to one clear faith is fading. Click here to continue reading.
