From a personal perspective on the tensions experienced in my career as a c
ommunity psychologist, I advocate spiritualizing community psychology. I dr
aw heavily from my teaching and research of the history of the discipline,
as well as from teaching introductory psychology to Native students. Using
the critical concept of scientism to examine the historical dialectic betwe
en objectivity and subjectivity, I show how a quasi-religion of psychology
has Prevailed, while excluding soul, spirit, and spirituality. Radical deve
lopments in Christianity (i.e., liberation theology, the historical Jesus s
cholarship, and feminist theology further challenge community psychologists
seeking rapprochement with religion and spirituality. I conclude by discus
sing the implications of a conversion to spirituality for community psychol
ogy. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.