Socio-religious rebirth

Here the focus is on socially recognized processes (notably religion), irrespective of the experiential implications for the individual. Such experiential significance may be deliberately attributed to these processes and claims may be made in this respect, but the various dimensions of being "reborn" are here considered primarily in terms of their "external" social implications. These may not preclude an "inner" experiential sense of having been "born again" (discussed later), but they should not be understood to guarantee them [resources]: .

Birthright: According to some belief systems, being reborn is a birthright. In Hindusim, for example, males in three castes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vysyas) are declared to be "twice born" once they have engaged in a special ceremony at puberty. In this sense any members of a hereditary aristocracy could be considered "twice-born".
Destiny: Some individuals, whatever the circumstances of their birth, are recognized as having a special destiny which distinguishes them from ordinary human beings. The much-documented story of recognition of the Dalai Lama is of this kind. The individual is recognized as "reborn" -- or in that case as a reincarnation. This category can also be extended to include those peoples "chosen by God" for a special destiny, or in some way "elect".
Reincarnation: This is a form of rebirth that is central to many religions and was once a feature of Christianity [more].
Social status: Advancement within any social structure, with the acquisition of status, may reach a stage at which an individual passes a threshold or "breaks through" into another class recognized as being specially privileged, merit-worthy and otherwise distinct from ordinary people. In some cases this may be purely by marriage, by successful use of wealth, by bribery, or by patronage, or by achievement. The individual is effectively "reborn" in the eyes of others (as well as his/her own) and may choose to recognize this by symbols -- such as a new "look" (clothes, for example).
- Recovery: The process by which an individual recovrs from a life-threatening accident (including a near-death experience), from substance abuse, or from other disasters, may be perceived and experienced as a form of rebirth. The person is "born again".
- Social "death and rebirth": The "death" experienced may be primarily social in that the person dies to society or is treated as dead -- possibly as the result of a scandal or conviction for a crime. Recovery from such a condition may again be perceived and experienced as being "born again" -- possibly to be repeated. The most frequently cited example is the recovery of the famous evangelist from being caught with a prostitute as decribed by Michael J. Giuliano (Thrice Born: The Rhetorical Comeback of Jimmy Swaggart, 1999)
- Political rebirth: The experience of political failure (or "death") by politicians, and their recovery from it, may be described as a rebirth. The probable electoral successes of Tony Blair, John Howard and George Bush, following the shambles of their initiative in Iraq, are described politically as being "born again". Many politicians have been nicknamed as "Come Back Kid": Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak, John Kerry, Peter Mandelson.
- Financial rebirth: Many entrepreneurs experience cycles of success and failure as "deaths" and "rebirths". They may be described as "dead" as a result of failure (and association with impromper deals) and may be recognized as "born again", once their fortunes improve again. Like politicians
Ceremony and ritual: Society may use a particular prescribed ritual to signal rebirth. The ceremony may be understood as actually triggering that rebirth -- if only because of the symbolism of the ritual as layed down in sacred writings, for example.
- Rite of passage: symbolic death in the context of the initiation of boys into manhood. The boys' childhood identity must die so that they may be reborn as men in the community. This process almost universally involves a ritual in which the initiate must feel the terror of an encounter with death, frequently combined with the imprint of intense physical pain, by circumcision or through having a tooth knocked out.1 While such rites of passage do to some degree constitute a secret (from the women and young boys) initiation, they are more concerned with acculturation into society than with true spiritual initiation.
- Baptism and confirmation: For Catholics, the baptism of an infant ensures and signals that it is "reborn". For other Christian religion, it is baptism (possibly total immersion) as an adult that constitutes "rebirth". As an adult, the ceremony may involve a formal affirmation through which the individual can claim to be "born again" and is recognized as such. For non-Protestant Christians (Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, etc) the ritual of confirmation at puberty (or later) may be interpreted as a form of rebirth. There is however controversy amongst Catholics as to the extent to which this can be considered an "initiation". Typically the rituals of one social group are not recognized as valid by others -- however the individual may be understood to have been transformed
- Awards, prizes, medals: Social groups may choose to recognize achievements that constitute a form of rebirth through awarding honours and medals. The challenge of such ceremonies is typified by experiences of some who have been transformed by heroci achievements (as in warfare) but experience their transformation as completely diminished and degraded by the process by which their achivement is recognized and a medal awarded. The process may well have more to do with osicty's appropriation of "rebirth" than with the personal significance of being "born again" through that process.

Anointment: In adulthood, the embodiment of the highest symbolic roles may be marked by anointment. Examples include the anointment of pharaohs and bishops. It may be typical in recognition of advancement within a priesthood.

Group affiliation: Joining a groups may be perceived, experienced and dezscribed as a form of rebirth -- of being "born into" the group and its belief system. Becoming a Freemason has for example been described as a third birth, or becoming "thrice-born".
Games and sports: Competition creates situation of "death" in the event of loss, and a form of "birth" in the event of success (and being recognized and honoured as "champion") -- people are "born again" or "reborn", especially after any previous "death". Of particular interest are the complexities of interactive internet games in which the participant operates competitively in a virtual world through a personalized "avatar". Avatars may "die" many times during the course of the game, through accident or combat, but on each occasion then have opportunities to be "reborn". Such highly popular games may be seen as offering a simulation of the cycle of life and death that is a feature of the belief system of some religions.