Examining the Growth of the ‘Spiritual but Not Religious’

[cbayer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/us/examining-the-growth-of-the-spiritual-but-not-religious.html


From left, Rev. Lillian Daniel, Linda A. Mercadante, who teaches at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and Courtney Bender, who teaches at Columbia University. Credit From left, Susan Edwards; Brooke LaValley/The Columbus Dispatch and Solomon Dworkin

JULY 18, 2014

By MARK OPPENHEIMER

“Spiritual but not religious.” So many Americans describe their belief system this way that pollsters now give the phrase its own category on questionnaires. In the 2012 survey by the Pew Religion and Public Life Project, nearly a fifth of those polled said that they were not religiously affiliated — and nearly 37 percent of that group said they were “spiritual” but not “religious.” It was 7 percent of all Americans, a bigger group than atheists, and way bigger than Jews, Muslims or Episcopalians.

Unsurprisingly, the S.B.N.R.s, as this growing group is often called, are attracting a lot of attention. Four recent books offer perspectives on these Americans who seem to want some connection to the divine, but who don’t feel affiliated with traditional religion. There’s the minister who wants to woo them, two scholars who want to understand them and the psychotherapist who wants to help them.

The Rev. Lillian Daniel’s book “When ‘Spiritual But Not Religious’ Is Not Enough” (Jericho, 2013) began as a short essay for The Huffington Post, in which she voiced her exasperation with the predictability that she found in spiritual but not religious people.

“On airplanes,” Ms. Daniel wrote in the essay, in 2011, “I dread the conversation with the person who finds out I am a minister and wants to use the flight time to explain to me that he is ‘spiritual but not religious.’ Such a person will always share this as if it is some kind of daring insight, unique to him, bold in its rebellion against the religious status quo.” Before you know it, “he’s telling me that he finds God in the sunsets.”

more at link

[WhiteTara]

1. If God is Everything, how can

God be outside?

[cbayer]

2. Outside of what?

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

8. If god is outside of everything then he is in the nothing

But if he is in nothing, then perhaps he does not exist.

Of course, if he IS the nothing, then perhaps he seeks to consume the everything. That would mean that all religions are meant to attempt to appease him in hopes of surviving another day.

Now, if god is in everything, is he in himself? Does god have a little inner 'god' voice that helps him out when he has a problem?

Great, I already had a migraine and now I can't stop thinking about this.

[cbayer]

9. Whoa! This is way over my pay grade.

I can understand why you have a migraine.

[DocwillCuNow]

10. Perhaps she uses Tarot cards. Just sayin'.

[pinto]

3. My uncle found a similarity in the practice of religion and the practice of a live stage play.

He was brought up Catholic and worked for years on the stage in New York. Though he had long left the Catholic church to his childhood, he saw a correlation of sorts.

The Catholic mass is essentially always the same format. The words, the structure, the litany is always the same, week in week out.
A play is essentially always the same format. The lines, the entrances and exits are always the same day after day.
The challenge, he said, was to make each event real. Give it a presence, a heart and a life. Make it present, not merely a recitation of words written decades or centuries ago.

He found a spirituality in that. Said many other actors did as well, in their own ways. Regardless of any religious or lack of religious background. The main difference - there was no priest or leader or dogmatic background. Actors and audiences were all celebrants in it together.

He made the comments with an Irish nod and a wink but I'm sure he meant it. I had never thought of any connection. It was an interesting conversation.

[cbayer]

4. Fascinating. I had never thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense.

I'm not sure there is no priest or leader or dogmatic behavior. I think theater is very hierarchical and very full of ritual.

I just returned from Rome, where I came to a greater understanding of why so many there are religious. The people drive as if they believe they will go to heaven any minute, lol.

[pinto]

5. LOL. I've heard driving in Rome takes a bit of faith.

Good point about the theater - it is very hierarchical. I've been backstage a few times to wait for my uncle to change before we went out to a late dinner and even there it was obvious. The leads had private dressing rooms just offstage. The rest of the cast, a common room down a narrow hallway.

Ritual was part of my uncle's take on the theater, I think. Common among religion and the stage.

Enjoy Italy! Mangia!

[cbayer]

6. I loved Rome but I am glad to be back out in the country.

Our host, who was born in raised in the city, took us to some amazing restaurants. Just local, neighborhood kinds of places, but with amazing food.

Rome is like being at the theater. You would love it!

[Htom Sirveaux]

7. I thought this was the most interesting part of the article:

They “participated in everything from mystical discussion groups to drumming circles to yoga classes,” Dr. Bender said in an interview. And her finding that spirituality “is not sui generis,” but rather learned in communities that persist over time, actually runs contrary to spiritual people’s conceptions of themselves, she said. “There is something in the theology of spiritual groups that actually refocuses their practitioners from thinking about how they fit into a long continuous spirituality.”

In other words, their self-image “makes them think, ‘I don’t need history, I don’t need the past,’ ” Dr. Bender said, adding that they think, “I am not religious, which is about the past — I am spiritual, about the present.”

In some ways, this portrayal is the opposite of how reactionary religious groups act. They try as hard as they can to create an image of eternal continuity, even as they silently shift to continue engaging with changing culture. But as described here, SBNRs are wanting continual newness through ideas and practices that have deep cultural roots.