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6 - Beyond Religion

The Grail Movement and Eckankar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2021

Marloes Janson
Affiliation:
SOAS University of London
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Summary

A study of Lagos’s religious marketplace is incomplete without paying attention to the upsurge of religio-spiritual movements such as the Grail Movement and Eckankar since the 1970s. These movements are eclectic in nature because they mix Islam, Christianity, indigenous traditions, ‘Eastern’ religions, as well as non-religious sources. Chapter 6 addresses the question why these movements, which are exogenous to Nigeria and differ radically from mainstream religion, could attract an increasing membership in Lagos. I argue that the answer to this question lies in what van Dijk (2015) calls the ‘too-muchness’ of Pentecostalism. While Chrislam, NASFAT, and Ijo Orunmila have capitalized on Pentecostalism’s spatial appropriation of Lagos by copying Pentecostal styles and strategies, the Grail Movement and Eckankar expanded because they turned away from Pentecostalism and offered an alternative that promised individual spiritual liberation in the here and now. Today their ‘otherness’ attracts especially the newly emerging middle class, who are looking for ways to distinguish themselves from ‘dogmatic’ mainstream believers. Whereas for the aspiring middle class shifting allegiances from institutionalized religion to new religio-spiritual movements is a means to differentiate themselves, for others boundary making is a way to manage religious pluralism.

Type
Chapter
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Crossing Religious Boundaries
Islam, Christianity, and ‘Yoruba Religion' in Lagos, Nigeria
, pp. 154 - 183
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Beyond Religion
  • Marloes Janson
  • Book: Crossing Religious Boundaries
  • Online publication: 16 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108979160.007
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  • Beyond Religion
  • Marloes Janson
  • Book: Crossing Religious Boundaries
  • Online publication: 16 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108979160.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Beyond Religion
  • Marloes Janson
  • Book: Crossing Religious Boundaries
  • Online publication: 16 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108979160.007
Available formats
×