I believe this is a conclusion drawn when, for whatever reasons, one has grown tired of or disillusioned with organized religion.
I would consider myself in the category of "spiritual but not religious" and by that mean nature, life, the sciences, cosmology, deep time and such leave me in awe of it all.
I do not mean by that any connection with gods and their plans for mankind. I personally see no evidence of them nor their role in reality. And my views do not include, and never would again, include organized religion, creeds and middlemen who think they know.
You're experiences may vary and no doubt do.
I don't mind having not much hope in any afterlife nor do I fear or find it depressing to think there has to be "something" when there really isn't. Believing that something just has to be true does not actually insure that it is true.
I personally also don't find any great need for meaning as in "there has to be meaning in all this." There really doesn't have to be anything other than it just is. Any meaning to life is what meaning one assigns it minus the intentions of the gods, which I find missing in action everywhere and all the time.
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That said, Just what is Spiritual but Not Religious?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_but_not_religious
"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), or less commonly "more spiritual than religious", is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as the sole or most valuable means of furthering spiritual growth.
Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion,[ but in contemporary usage spirituality has often become associated with the interior life of the individual, placing an emphasis upon the well-being of the "mind-body-spirit", while religion refers to organization or communal dimensions. Spiritually sometimes denotes non-instituionalized or individualozed religiosity.
The interactions are complex since even conservative Christians designate themselves as "spiritual but not religious" to indicate a form of non-ritualistic personal faith.
Anti-institutional and personal
According to Abby Day, some of those who are critical of religion see it as rigid and pushy, leading them to use terms such as atheist or agnostic to describe themselves.[
For many people, SBNR is not just about rejecting religion outright, but not wanting to be restricted by it.
According to Linda Mercadante, SBNRs take a decidedly anti-dogmatic stance against religious belief in general. They claim not only that belief is non-essential, but that it is potentially harmful or at least a hindrance to spirituality.
According to Philip D. Kenneson, many of those studied who identify as SBNR feel a tension between their personal spirituality and membership in a conventional religious organization. Most of them value curiosity, intellectual freedom, and an experimental approach to religion.
Many go as far to view organized religion as the major enemy of authentic spirituality, claiming that spirituality is private reflection and private experience—not public ritual.
To be "religious" conveys an institutional connotation, usually associated with Abrahamic traditions: to attend worship services, to say Mass, to light Hanukkah candles. To be "spiritual", in contrast, connotes personal practice and personal empowerment having to do with the deepest motivations of life.
] As a result, in cultures that are deeply suspicious of institutional structures and that place a high value on individual freedom and autonomy, spirituality has come to have largely positive connotations, while religion has been viewed more negatively.
According to Robert Fuller, the SBNR phenomenon can be characterized as a mix of intellectual progressivism and mystical hunger, impatient with the piety of established churches.]
According to Robert Wuthnow, spirituality is about much more than going to church and agreeing or disagreeing with church doctrines. Spirituality is the shorthand term used in Western society to talk about a person's relationship with God.
For many people, how they think about religion and spirituality is certainly guided by what they see and do in their congregations. At a deeper level, it involves a person's self-identity—feeling loved by God, and these feelings can wax and wane.
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Categories
- "Dissenters" are the people who, for the most part, make a conscious effort to veer away from institutional religion. "Protesting dissenters" refers to those SBNRs who have been 'turned off' by religious affiliation because of adverse personal experiences with it. "Drifted Dissenters" refers to those SBNRs who, for a multitude of reasons, fell out of touch with organized religion and chose never to go back. "Conscientious objector dissenters" refers to those SBNRs who are overtly skeptical of religious institutions and are of the view that religion is neither a useful nor necessary part of an individual's spirituality.
- "Casuals" are the people who see religious and/or spiritual practices as primarily functional. Spirituality is not an organizing principle in their lives. Rather they believe it should be used on an as-needed basis for bettering their health, relieving stress, and for emotional support. The spirituality of "Casuals" is thus best understood as a "therapeutic" spirituality that centers on the individual's personal wellbeing.
- "Explorers" are the people who seem to have what Mercadante refers to as a "spiritual wanderlust". These SBNRs find their constant search for novel spiritual practices to be a byproduct of their "unsatisfied curiosity", their desire for journey and change, as well as feelings of disappointment. Explorers are best understood as "spiritual tourists" who take comfort in the destination-less journey of their spirituality and have no intentions of ultimately committing to a spiritual home
- "Seekers" are those people who are looking for a spiritual home but contemplate recovering earlier religious identities. These SBNRs embrace the "spiritual but not religious" label and are eager to find a completely new religious identity or alternative spiritual group that they can ultimately commit to.
- "Immigrants" are those people who have found themselves in a novel spiritual realm and are trying to adjust themselves to this newfound identity and its community. "Immigrants" can be best understood as those SBNRs who are "trying on" a radically new spiritual environment but have yet to feel completely settled there. For these SBNRs, although they are hoping to become fully integrated in their newfound spiritual identities, the process of acclimation is difficult and often disconcerting.
26 comments:
James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Nothing about organizations!
Please consider, Dennis, that the bacteria in your gut have little or no awareness of your dreams, hopes, values, and goals. For that matter, they have little or no concept of what a dream or a hope or a value might be. But this does not mean that you have no dreams, hopes, values, or goals, or that they are not worth having.
Now consider that we human beings are basically bacteria in the gut of the universe. We don't need to deny the lived experience of the known intelligences "lesser" than us, nor of any unknown intelligences "greater" than us.
You would die if your gut bacteria were not present. It stands to reason that your presence in the here and now is doing something, surely something more than you know, for the greater good of the greater universe.
The fact that your gut bacteria do not understand you doesn't mean they lead less fulfilling lives than they would have if they could somehow understand you. Their nature simply is not capable of understanding you. Similarly, the fact that the universe contains mysteries you do not understand, indeed cannot understand, doesn't mean that you cannot or should not lead a fulfilled and fulfilling life. And just as the bacteria in your gut don't need to imagine a great transcendent sky bacterium in order to lead their best lives, neither do you need to imagine a great transcendent sky-person.
Put simply, then, it is foolish to live without a sense of awe at the unknown and unknowable. And it is equally foolish to live with a firm certainty that there is or is not a "God" when we as humans are as unable to conceive of that being as your bacteria are of conceiving you. Neither "spirituality" nor "religion" seem to have the answer. Instead, it's humble awe that puts us best in touch with the reality around us.
Back in the '80s, I actually used to use that exact sentence. Through it, I was expressing my interest in the different avenues of my studies. At the time, I was fascinated by Edgar Cayce, ESP, yin and yang, karma, ghosts, UFOs, clairvoyance, certain aspects of Native American beliefs, the chakra, astral projection, psychic healing, and other spiritual phenomena which don't immediately come to memory.
As has happened in the lives of many other people, Armstrongism had left me with a tremendous void which I was still seekimg to fill. Applying it had never reached the level at which it could properly nourish my soul, and I stll wanted the answers that it pretended to have, but could not actually provide. I read incessantly.
Anyhoo, that's just me. The phrase is nuanced and has been co-opted in different ways over the intervening years. Mulder (X Files) had a poster on the wall of his office with a caption that speaks for those of us who are seeker types.
BB
When I was a young man, if a young lady said that, that told me to run the other way. Because usually what it really meant was that she was still hung up on her parents' religion and didn't want to admit it, lol.
I've run across a couple independent Armstrongites who used that phrase in introducing themselves on different sites. Even said they'd left the church. Eventually we found that they had retained about 99% of the Armstrong doctrines and were even more rabid about them than actual ACOG members.
What's the context of the question in the firstplace ? How are readers to know the answer to such an open ended description ? Is it not foolishness to label people ?
If you are "spiritual but not religious," then what is your spirituality -- and does it even make sense to have a spirituality?
By saying you are spiritual, you admit to a world that is not merely physical. Now where does anything spiritual come from? When your parents united their sex organs to fertilize an egg (a very physical act) -- is that what created the spiritual component of Dennis? Can the physical produce the spiritual?
Cows are neither spiritual nor religious. They are completely content doing what they were made to do: fart, poop, pee, eat grass, and drink water.
But you were made for more. It makes sense that your unshakable sense of spirituality -- the "awe of it all" you confess to having -- means you have a greater purpose than mere physical existence. It's a void that demonstrates the existence of something higher than our physical world, something that can fill that void -- just like hunger and thirst and isolation indicate the reality of food and water and love.
One of the great crimes of false religions is that when you learn they are false, such as Armstrongism, our reaction tends to be "They are all false," but that is clearly a logical fallacy. If we're bitten by a vicious dog at a young age, we might instinctively feel good dogs don't exist -- we are afraid to trust another dog.
Armstrongism is a false religion that claimed to be the true version of one worldwide religion. But that doesn't mean there isn't a true world religion. Don't let resentment or fear of being bitten again cloud your mind and heart, blinding you to the true Light that came into the world.
Good COG Catholic said: "One of the great crimes of false religions is that when you learn they are false, such as Armstrongism, our reaction tends to be "They are all false," but that is clearly a logical fallacy. If we're bitten by a vicious dog at a young age, we might instinctively feel good dogs don't exist -- we are afraid to trust another dog."
Ah, but I know other dogs exist. Gods?, not so easily known to exist. "Feel Good" religion does exist, though that does not guarantee that it is a reflection of anything that is actually true or exists.
I don't know about this 'Spiritual but not religious' issue, but i do know manipulation and deceitfulness in religion is not from Jesus Christ and must cause alot of mental health issues.
The elders and nobles of Israel saw the GOD (Elohim) of Israel but no one can see the LORD (Yahweh) and live -Ex 24:10,11; Ex 33:19-21. There appears to be two Gods of the OT: Yahweh/YHVH, the Father, usually translated "LORD" in the KJV in the OT, and Elohim Who became Jesus the Son, although the term Elohim could refer to both, and is usually translated "GOD" in the KJV in the OT.
Spiritual, but not religious? That simply means "I'm doing it my way".
I understand what religious means but what does spiritual mean? Is spiritual believing in God put not belonging to any organized religion? Or does spiritual mean that there is some kind of spiritual quality to life and the universe apart from an existence of a God.
This article by Dennis leaves God out of the equation, as if he's a passive passerby to it all. Yet scripture talks about individuals throughout different time and cultures finding favour with God, Noah for example and Mary Magdaline.
Humor aside, usually people mean that theyre not affiliated with some organization but "I still believe!"
Which is a copout for some headcases who just cant let go of high control systems but dont want to branded as a member of such, in other cases it means theyre open to ideas outside the bounds of existing orgs that they know of.
Or sometimes it just means they are really irreligious in general (as in, "not a high priority") but dont want to say that.
During the era in which I used that phrase, in spite of the fact that God had been so trashed out by Armstrongism, I still felt that there was something spiritual about the universe, and was attempting to suss it all out. At least on our planet, there appeared to be a profound interrelationship, subtle communication amongst all living creatures, mostly symbiotic, but there were also predatory/symbiotic relationships endemic to carnivores. Also, why did there need to be termites, mosquitos, weeds, and other little damage-inducing mischief-makers?
At that time, I was on the road a lot, and had Dr. Gene Scott on the radio regularly, not because I wanted to be part of his church, but mostly for entertainment. He delved into many of the topics which I mentioned in my post at 3:53. He was helpful, I liked him, but my experiences with the HWAcaca prevented me from going off and following yet another off-beat guru. Frankly, Scott was another money pit, but, like I said, entertaining (I also treated Rush Limbaugh in this same informed manner! Strictly entertainment!)
Since one belief regarding a creator, is that He is laissez faire by nature, it is easy to confine one's studies or beliefs to possible spiritual events which would seemingly be alternative, apart from or additional to God, and by that I am not referring to demons. Such a leap would be I-O or polar, and there is so much which occurs in the region between all poles. I was agnostic at that point not only regarding God, but also regarding angels, Satan, and the demons. As may be the case with poltergeists, I believed that much spiritual phenomena amongst humans has its origins within our own minds, with some simply having their modulating dials turned up higher than the rest of us.
Recovering from a cult became very deep for me. So many areas that were forbidden to us and required investigation! The biggest nugget I obtained from Dr. Gene was the concept of gestalting. Many parts or facets go into the whole. They complement one another. Gotta get to the bottom of as many of them as possible.
BB
I think Dennis would be fascinated by the work of Rupert Sheldrake. The rest of you would be wasting your time reading it. You are not ready for it. Don't get bent out of shape.
Which God is left out of the equation? The Jewish genocide guy?
Dissenters. Casuals. Explorers. Seekers. Immigrants.
They overlooked the largest category of all: bull-shit artists. Fakers. People who play the part but do not believe. They bullshit to stay in the group. The ACOGs were FULL of such people! That is human nature, and every other group is probably loaded to the gills with the same scum.
Excellent comment because it's the brutal truth!
The ACOGs were FULL of such people!
You need to change the 'were' to 'are still' and add in powerful and masks.
The AGOGs are still FULL of such powerful people who love to wear masks.
...but the masks always slip during Passover, Unleavened bread and Tabernacles. Praise be to God.
@ 9:47:16 ~ Why that's just plain condescending, Sweetie! Sounds like you are already bent.
I'm spiritual but not religious?
A crude comparison to this might be, I'm patriotic but not political. There is a difference.
Back in 1978 when GTA had to start over, and needing to justify his existence as a new church, he came up with a idea that influenced my way of looking at the church. He said the church was a spiritual organism and not just a political physical organization. Of course he limited that concept to sabbath keeping churches like the Church of God 7th day, but overall I believed the idea to be true.
Only God truly knows those that are His, and part of the spiritual ekklesia. In this respect I like the idea of being "spiritual" inwardly, but not necessary "religious" outwardly, where you don't have to be a member of some physical corporate structure to be part of the spiritual body of Christ.
There is a difference!
I grew up in a household in which the parents considered the church to be a spiritual orgasm.
But, in Spokesmanese, "Moses supposes amiss!"
I remember those discussions in CGI BP8. Alas the dross that gets discussed these days isn't even worth commenting on. That's the legacy of Tkaches influence, 'hang your brain up with your coat' and be treated cruely by men and women who don't even believe in God.
Your superstition about the magic power of a few days reminds me more of astrology than anything in COGdom.
6:09 comment doesn't even make sense.
9:48 You seem to ignore God's loving kindness shown towards Hagar and Ishmael in Old Testament Genesis 16 through to Genesis 21. God heard Ishmael's cries and showed them loving kindness.
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