Influencing Spiritually Seeking Millennials Through Story

The lived experience of secularism has changed from 2D to 3D. Templeton prize-winning philosopher Charles Taylor describes three uses of secularism. In the medieval age, secularism 1 referred to vocations, as in farmers were secular and priests were not. It had more to do with one’s position or status within society, but did not have a negative connotation. In the Enlightenment, secularism 2 was understood mainly as ideas pitted against each other. This either/or frame came to shape debates about reason and faith, and science and religion. Secularism 3 is understood in a both/and frame and is expressed more as a feeling of cross-pressured belief and doubt mixed uncomfortably together. We call this emerging secularism 3 cohort the New Copernicans. They eschew black and white thinking, gravitating instead to mystery, complexity, ambiguity, and grayness. They are three-dimensional thinkers. This emerging cohort and stance toward reality is closely aligned to that of Sir John Templeton and to the mission of the Foundation.The Windrider Forum was launched in 2005 and has since grown to become a one of a kind immersive educational experience at the Sundance Film Festival. It has the power to convene and has valued relationships with influential filmmakers and festivals. The Windrider Forum targets storytelling cultural creatives, highlighting the power of stories, particularly among influential young opinion leaders, who are often described negatively by sociologists as “religious nones.” This project seeks to celebrate this community and encourage their open stance toward the complexity of reality. We are seeking to do so through two transmedia engagement campaigns: “Copernicans on the Street” and New Copernican Film Competition. The goal it to get influential New Copernicans to have a greater self-awareness, an expanded voice, growing confidence in an open stance toward reality, and focused direction in their spiritual journey by infusing it with scientific research.