The Sacred of Today? Exploring the Personal Views of the Sacred by Religious and Nonreligious Individuals

Abstract

Even if the sacred is a classical concept in religious studies and sociology, relatively little is known of its current empirical subjective varieties. This article explores what people today consider sacred at the intersection of religion and nonreligion. Our data (N=6938) was collected with face-to-face interviews (N=1965) and from an internet panel (N=4313) in Finland. We present both an overall picture on what people consider sacred and the results of exploring the effect of religiousness, political stance, and social structural positions. Respondents of both moderately religious and nonreligious groups tend to hold health, love, and close ones sacred. Our findings challenge a linear, dualistic view of religious versus nonreligious and show that sacred exceeds religious boundaries and is experienced by religious and nonreligious people alike, but in various ways. The concept of sacred can be used to detect the inner diversity of both religious and nonreligious identities.