Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution

Product Information

Wilson examines the world’s religious writings and practices, challenging readers to identify the sacred in their lives, and concludes that the communal aspect of our faith has declined, exacerbating narcissism and disunity.

The trauma that our struggling species has experienced in recent years—because of both the pandemic and societal tensions that threaten to overwhelm us—is not going away anytime soon. That’s why he can quote Hart, or host a podcast with Muslim Reza Aslan, or talk to a bunch of heretics on the mostly-post-Christian Heretic Happy Hour. Not to brag or anything, but a few years ago, we even got to interview him on the Heretic Happy Hour podcast, and let me just say, it was as intimidating as you might imagine. You have a lovely book that I’m confident will help a lot of people out with their spiritual journeys.We both came back to religion in our thirties to deal with anxiety and a lost sense of meaning and purpose.

But when I peer back through the yellow haze of time toward that shaggy decade, there were two shows that framed both my identity and my spiritual journey.

We need a change of heart, a reframing of all our conceptions and a new orientation of our activities. His then fiancé — the woman George would later accidentally kill with poison envelopes — becoming friends with Elaine? But I’ll always remember that story, and, I suppose, when all is said and done, that’s what it’s all about, no? Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

We’ll converse with aliens and break down everything that’s currently breaking down in society, and we’ll even create our own new, awesome religion. It took me a long, long time and a great deal of therapuetic work to discover the spiritual, emotional, and psychological tools I needed to understand and eventually quell that inner discomfort and chronic imbalance.I appreciate that Wilson explains what he means when he says that he believes in God (and I like his habit of saying, “I don’t believe in that God, either” when an atheist lists off all the negative attributes — jealous, vindictive, childhood-cancer-causing — of the Sky Daddy God of Abraham) and I am not unconvinced by his belief that life and consciousness seem too miraculous to have arisen by chance alone. I couldn't help but imagine that it was written by Dwight** after having a spiritual transformation. I appreciated his interfaith approach — quoting from the Buddah, Jesus, Mohammed, Bahá'u'lláh (founder of the Baháʼí faith), etc. So they did what any two mature people of insight and level heads would do: they stayed together fifteen more years and then got a divorce the second I left for college in 1984.