Empowerment requires intensity of effort; Americans like the idea of taking responsibility for their souls. This may be why Buddhism — a religion without a personal god and only a few broad ethical precepts — has made inroads in the American imagination.

In most Buddhist countries, the role of layperson is to support the monks in their lives of contemplation. But American converts want to do their own contemplating. Stephen Cope, who attended Episcopal school dropped into a meditation centre and found himself spending six hours every Sunday in silent contemplation.

He then added yoga to his routine. He still attends Episcopal church with a thirst for transcendence that can’t be met by one religion. People like that could become panentheists - a new term for people who believe in the divinity of natural universe, but also postulate an intelligent being or force behind it. To Bridgette O’Brien, a PhD student in Religion and Nature at the University of Florida, “the divine is something significant in terms of the energy that pervades the natural world at large.” Her worship consists of composting, recycling, and daily five-mile runs.

Those people seeking a more structured nature-based religion have many choices, including several branches of Druidism in the world. Wicca, the largest Pagan sect, is popular enough to demand its own military chaplains. —Beliefnet.com