Who Are the Spiritual but Not Religious?

As much of institutional Christianity increasing proves itself to be rule ridden, often full of hate towards others with different skin colors, faith traditions, and sexuality, and best defined by hypocrisy, the number of "Nones" has risen sharply.  Paralleling this is the growing numbers of individuals who see themselves as "spiritual but not religious."  The husband and I find ourselves increasingly in this category as traditional Christianity refuses to accept modernity, modern scientific knowledge and seems more focused on dividing people and communities than working for a common good.  A new book, Belief without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but not Religious, looks at the phenomenon.  Here are some review quotes:

People often say they are “spiritual but not religious”. We see them either as enlightened freethinkers or fuzzy fence-sitters, depending on our point of view. Although sociologists of religion have spent time studying Christians and New Age practitioners, we don’t know much about the group that Linda Mercadante calls SBNRs.

A minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Mercadante’s fascination with this group stems partly from her mixed religious heritage: born to Jewish and Italian parents, she embraced Roman Catholicism, alternative spiritualities and evangelical Christianity before settling in mainline Protestantism.

Here, she sets out, via interviews with about 100 Americans – two-thirds women, mostly baby boomers (born 1946-64) and Generation Xers (born 1965-81) – to discover what SBNRs believe. She explores their thoughts on transcendence, human nature, community and afterlife and finds that they don’t believe in an interventionist or personal God (if “God” exists, they think God is part of creation, not separate from it). As for human nature, they don’t see themselves as sinners needing salvation, but as “inherently good” selves needing freedom and choice so that their “purity, even divinity” can shine.

On life after death, SBNRs share ground with Hindu beliefs, reflecting what Colin Campbell calls “the Easternization of the West”. Most believe in reincarnation and “karma, endless opportunities, inevitable progress, expanding consciousness, and the very American ideal of free will and personal choice”. Their optimism is clear: reincarnations will be better, not worse, than their previous life. Actions have consequences, but only positive ones.

Belief without Borders deals with tricky conceptual territory: are spirituality and religion distinct, as SBNRs claim, or different words for the same phenomenon? Mercadante sees this group as part of the “nones”, the religiously unaffiliated, whose numbers have tripled since 1990 to a fifth of the US population.

A theological standpoint frames the book, for Mercadante is concerned about what this means for the church. Although gracious in her critique, she pulls no punches: SBNRs think theologically, but haltingly. Their beliefs have something to teach the church (for instance, care for the Earth), “but are they enough?” she asks.

Sadly, institutional religion is mostly about money, power and control - control being an obsession in the Catholic Church and denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention.   Despite the positives of the Gospel message, their focus remains on depicting God as a mean and vengeful monster from which one can only be protected by membership in and compliance with their dictates.  This, of course, requires giving lots of money and mindless obedience.  Thankfully, more and more people, especially the young, are seeing through this agenda and are walking away.  I for one hope the trend accelerates rapidly.  We need to rid society of the belief that religion is a positive force.  It isn't and it needs to be recognized for the embrace of ignorance, hate and division it fosters.