Russell Bishop over at the HuffingtonPost has a fascinating article (“7 Signs We Are Becoming More Spiritually Focused”) on whether a spiritual awakening has been happening over the past decade and if it will continue through the next decade.
The seven things Bishop lists as milestones for influencing pop culture with religion and spirituality are listed below. See how his list compares with Beliefnet’s list of spiritual pop culture trends.
1- Kabbalah (the mystical Jewish traditional with the red string made “trendy” by Madonna, David Beckham, and couple Ashton and Demi)
2- Yoga (the Hindu meditation practice embraced by celebs such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, and even Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen)
3- “What the BLEEP Do We Know?” (a 2004 movie universally loved and panned for its holistic-meets-pseudo-science message)
4- “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne (a NYTimes best-selling, holistic self-help book that popularized the Law of Attraction in 2006)
5- “The Shack” by William P. Young (a NYTimes best-selling Christian fiction book that talked about God’s constant presence)
6- “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle (a non-fiction book about changing one’s outlook on life that became a national bestseller after it was featured in Oprah’s Book Club)
7- “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown (the much-anticipated sequel to “The Da Vinci” code that sold 2 million copies its first week)
Personally, I think “The Purpose-Driven Life” by Rick Warren, “Your Best Life Now” by Joel Osteen, and “Eat, Love, Pray” by Elizabeth Gilbert should have made the list. Books aside, though, do you agree with Bishop’s list or is there anything else (books, movies, spiritual trends) you think he missed? Share below.
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posted July 25, 2010 at 4:02 am
Now Rhonda Byrne is set to release a new book. It is called “The Power”. If it is anything like her earlier book “The Secret”, then it is going to be a success!