When Andrew’s job took him to the big city, he wanted to connect on an online dating site. But as he started filling out his profile, he found some categories challenging. “Interests?” He didn’t seem to have as many as others and thought that might be a turn-off. “What ended his last relationship?” Awkward also, because he had only been in one relationship before and that ended badly.
But fortunately one category was a no-brainer: spiritual background. He wouldn’t call himself an atheist, always having a vague notion there was something “bigger than himself out there.” But he also knew saying he was religious could be the kiss of death. So he found that perfect phrase listed as the first option: “spiritual but not religious.”
Spiritual but not religious is a mantra for our generation. This is, of course, understandable. In our commitment challenged generation, spiritual feels freeing, religion confining. And religion suffers from guilt by association, linked in many minds with pedophile priests and international terrorism. We are tired of the hypocrisy, sick of the preaching without the practice. No wonder attendance at churches, synagogues, and mosques is on the decline.
So why in the name of God would anyone want to be religious? Good question. To get at some answers, we need to start with some definitions. Spirituality is a general term which talks about the search for meaning and something bigger than ourselves. Words such as transcendence and interconnections and aliveness come to mind. Religion is a more specific term, looking at a particular system of worship and faith, a system which often includes a belief in a deity and sacred texts.
Many who view these distinctions see religion as the poor stepchild of spirituality, followed by immature people searching for certainty, trying to put words and practices to an experience best left undefined. Others chafe at the vagueness of spirituality, a term which seems to cover everything and anything and seems more certain of what it isn’t than what it is.
I can’t speak for others in this discussion, but what I can say is that my experience with the Christian religion has been deeply rewarding both intellectually and emotionally. In my more than 55 years of church going (including attendance at both Catholic and Protestant churches of various theological and socioeconomic ilks), I have consistently experienced ministers and congregations who are truth seeking and wanting to live out a life of love. Perfect? Never. Judgmental? On occasion. Trying to serve God as best they can? Consistently.
To me religion is the next step in the spiritual life--to go from seeking to finding. Yes the journey of life is important but so is the destination. Yes the questions of life are important but so is finding answers.
And answers to me bring up the issue of God’s involvement. As opposed to we finding our roads to God, could it possibly be that God has established a road meant to be followed? We of the the 21st Century shirk from this line of thinking, but here is a solid logic in it. Most religion is based on the idea of a two-way street--we are involved, but so is God. We can only make it up as we go along in a vacuum.
Part of it is just plain truth seeking. Is there a God? Does God have something to say about my life? Of course I can’t know for sure but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be asking and seeking. And if something is found, something with rich traditions and time tested truth and compelling answers to life’s most important questions, why not stick around?
We don’t need to polarize spirituality and religion like we do everything else in our world. We can learn from both. And then maybe Andrew can find another option for his profile (spiritual and religious), and may even decide to choose it.
But fortunately one category was a no-brainer: spiritual background. He wouldn’t call himself an atheist, always having a vague notion there was something “bigger than himself out there.” But he also knew saying he was religious could be the kiss of death. So he found that perfect phrase listed as the first option: “spiritual but not religious.”
Spiritual but not religious is a mantra for our generation. This is, of course, understandable. In our commitment challenged generation, spiritual feels freeing, religion confining. And religion suffers from guilt by association, linked in many minds with pedophile priests and international terrorism. We are tired of the hypocrisy, sick of the preaching without the practice. No wonder attendance at churches, synagogues, and mosques is on the decline.
So why in the name of God would anyone want to be religious? Good question. To get at some answers, we need to start with some definitions. Spirituality is a general term which talks about the search for meaning and something bigger than ourselves. Words such as transcendence and interconnections and aliveness come to mind. Religion is a more specific term, looking at a particular system of worship and faith, a system which often includes a belief in a deity and sacred texts.
Many who view these distinctions see religion as the poor stepchild of spirituality, followed by immature people searching for certainty, trying to put words and practices to an experience best left undefined. Others chafe at the vagueness of spirituality, a term which seems to cover everything and anything and seems more certain of what it isn’t than what it is.
I can’t speak for others in this discussion, but what I can say is that my experience with the Christian religion has been deeply rewarding both intellectually and emotionally. In my more than 55 years of church going (including attendance at both Catholic and Protestant churches of various theological and socioeconomic ilks), I have consistently experienced ministers and congregations who are truth seeking and wanting to live out a life of love. Perfect? Never. Judgmental? On occasion. Trying to serve God as best they can? Consistently.
To me religion is the next step in the spiritual life--to go from seeking to finding. Yes the journey of life is important but so is the destination. Yes the questions of life are important but so is finding answers.
And answers to me bring up the issue of God’s involvement. As opposed to we finding our roads to God, could it possibly be that God has established a road meant to be followed? We of the the 21st Century shirk from this line of thinking, but here is a solid logic in it. Most religion is based on the idea of a two-way street--we are involved, but so is God. We can only make it up as we go along in a vacuum.
Part of it is just plain truth seeking. Is there a God? Does God have something to say about my life? Of course I can’t know for sure but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be asking and seeking. And if something is found, something with rich traditions and time tested truth and compelling answers to life’s most important questions, why not stick around?
We don’t need to polarize spirituality and religion like we do everything else in our world. We can learn from both. And then maybe Andrew can find another option for his profile (spiritual and religious), and may even decide to choose it.
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