Spiritual, but not Religious

The phrase “spiritual, but not religious” or “spiritual not religious” is relatively new and therefore still being defined. More people are adopting it as a means to define their approach to faith. As with most things in popular usage, how one would technically define it differs to the murkier use in day-to-day conversation. Both usages are, however, important. Many people I speak to about their spirituality now use the term in relation to their personal expression of faith. Urban Mystic focuses on our inner orientation toward and desire for Godde and as such wholeheartedly embraces the term. But what does it mean to be spiritual not religious?

What it means to be Spiritual Not Religious

The phrase spiritual not religious is layered with meaning – it can be used to compliment someone affiliated to a religion; to differentiate oneself as an authentic believer or practitioner from others within the same religious tradition; or be used to disassociate oneself from the world’s religious traditions while orienting oneself toward deeper or transcendent values, truths and experiences.

BeliefNet has an article on Spiritual, But Not Religious, summarizing Robert C Fuller’s research into the group in the United States who identify themselves as SNR. Drawing from that article we may recognize that this group:

Associates religiousness with “higher levels of interest in church attendance and commitment to orthodox beliefs.”

Associates spirituality “with higher levels of interest in mysticism, experimentation with unorthodox beliefs and practices, and negative feelings toward clergy and churches.”

The phrase is used by people not wanting to identify themselves with any given tradition – Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism – but still wanting to highlight acceptance of something deeper behind life-as-we-see-it, which includes ethics and morality, alternative health, and even guidance from spiritual beings.

Fuller adds that:

“this group is more likely to be agnostic, hold nontraditional beliefs, have had mystical experiences, embrace an individualized and eclectic spirituality, and consider beliefs to be fluid rather than set.”

Drawing some Distinctions

It seems that the religious and the spiritual not religious present us with a distinction between:

1. Those who practice a religion. Here one adopts a faith and aligns oneself with a group or institution representative thereof. Here the beliefs are well articulated and understood by those who believe and the practices well developed. One may develop in their personal understanding and practice of the faith.
2. Those who’re developing spirituality. Here one follows a Do-It-Yourself path made up of ‘what works for you.’ Here beliefs are fluid, at best being work in progress subject to change and revision. There aren’t necessarily any given practices, and anything incorporated is evaluated according to a “what works for me.”

Given this distinction, there is no surprise that traditional Christians and traditional New Agers have been at odds with each other. The one has a long standing and well developed, if not spotty, history. The other was relatively new and idealistic, often trading in Western culture and faith in the spiritual quest.

Fortunately the world has moved on a bit. Westerners are no longer romantically idealistic about primal and Eastern spirituality. Many non-Westerners are now quite westernized, wholeheartedly embracing secularism and commercialism. Further, the new and alternative spiritualities in the west have quickly caught up with the “spotty” record of traditional western Christianity.

As religion and culture is strongly intertwined it becomes difficult for outsiders and insiders to distinguish where the one begins and the other ends. Its fortunate that in our day and age we can separate between the culture, religion and spirituality. Increasingly people are part of a new way of looking at and being in the world, a worldview that is moving beyond past cultural foundations and traditional religions. Those who identify with this new and emerging culture don’t have to pick one side or the other. The challenge, however, lies in developing an authentic and relevant spirituality that is not completely self-centered or purely imaginative.

Developing Spirituality

Fortunately we don’t have to draw a strong dichotomy between religious and spiritual either, there are people who are both spiritual and religious. Here people don’t simply practice a faith without experiencing the reality they point toward. Here people both practice a religion and experience the focus of  their faith.

Being spiritual not religious does not mean disrespecting and denying the relevance of the traditional religions and having to go solo. The challenge more and more people are taking up is that of developing a spirituality that is relevant and meaningful to self but also plays well with others. As such, we get to reduce the baggage associated with the religions – the traditional as well as the new and alternative – while connecting more deeply with our self, each other, nature and Godde.

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Urban Mystic is focused on those who’re spiritual not religious, including post-Christians, post-New Agers and contemporary spiritual explorers seeking to develop spirituality rather than adopt an established faith.

Identifying oneself as spiritual not religious does not mean that one is a solitary outsider or that one’s spirituality is amorphous, undefined and random. The origination of spiritual not religious as a category is related to the modernization of the world and the emergence of Postmodernity. We’ll explore this in the next post on the topic.

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