By Betsy Mayer
Gene is in his early 70s and attends his local Presbyterian church. Spend a little time discussing religion with him and you’ll learn that he also believes in reincarnation, a view he’s held for most of his adult life.
As a young adult, Gene immersed himself in the California hippie culture and joined the Hare Krishnas. He even took a Hindu name. Eventually, he became disillusioned with the movement’s leaders and opted out.
Gene, who was raised a Christian, still believes some of what he learned with the Hare Krishnas. As Gene sees it, there’s some good in all religions; no one group has a monopoly on truth.
This “salad bar spirituality” is typical of Gene’s generation. Reincarnation is only one of many beliefs vying for space in their modern pantheons.
It used to be that people who believed in reincarnation lived primarily in Asia
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Thomas Ryan, "25 percent of US Christians believe in reincarnation. What’s wrong with this picture?," America: The Jesuit Review, americamagazine.org, Oct. 21, 2015.
Lewis M. Hopfe, “Hinduism,” Religions of the World, pp. 81–130.
Ibid.
Hopfe, “Buddhism,” Religions of the World, pp. 145–78.
Martin and Deidre Bobgan, “PsychoHeresy: C. G. Jung’s Legacy to the Church,” PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries, pamweb.org, Aug. 1, 1996.
See “Hell and Mr. Fudge” in this issue.
Quoted by Charles Colson in "Salad-Bar Christianity," Christianity Today, christianitytoday.com, Aug. 8, 2000.
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Betsy Mayer is the managing editor of Last Generation magazine.