Abstract:
The religiously unaffiliated, also referred to as “nones,” are a quickly rising
population in the United States. Changing cultural life as part of religious and political
discourse, the sub-group “liminal nones” is creating moral, open dialogues in the
religious sphere while also liberalizing the political sphere. Globally, this rise reflects
recent trends in France and England. Several scholars state liminal nones are creating a
post-dualistic stance of religion in the United States, as they do not define themselves by
the traditionally opposing categories of religion and secularism. Though reflective of both
religious and secular traditions, liminal nones are redirecting the flow of these traditions
toward more humanitarian, universal morals, and potentially creating a type of solidarity
some philosophers state is missing in American society today (Butler et al. 2011;
Habermas et al. 2010). This thesis is the result of an ethnographic study conducted in a
liminal festival setting, suiting the demographic of the population, to gain insight as to the
personal narratives of their worldviews and concepts of morality changing American society today. By using the 2015 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival as a case study and
discussing liminal nones’ views on values and morality, this thesis analyzes how these
ideals reflect the rising, post-dualistic understanding of religion in the United States
currently opening dialogues in the religious sphere and liberalizing the political
landscape.
