So today I learned that I\u2019m bizarrely defensive of this much-mocked self-description.<\/p>\n
I think my basic defense is that \u201cspiritual, but not religious\u201d means radically different things to different people, and some of those things are the result of profound and painful attempts to love and serve God. (\u201cGod, as you understand God,\u201d as they say.) Here are some things I think people may mean when they say that they\u2019re spiritual but not religious:<\/p>\n
* I had a consumerist relationship with a church or religion, which left me depressed and depleted, and didn\u2019t slake my thirst for surprise, awe, or reminders of my own littleness. I now work pretty hard on my relationship with Someone greater than and outside myself, which I don\u2019t claim to really understand, but which generally seems to make me a less awful person to be around.<\/p>\n
* Religion seems like a thing other people own. I admire it, in a way, but I don\u2019t think I know enough about it to do more than kind of stand on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
* I work with people in crisis, aka My Job Is My Spirituality. [There are obvious dangers of this kind of spirituality, including instrumentalizing those in need or making your spiritual life rely on your own efforts\/strength, but those who know me know that I have a lot of sympathy for this way of thinking.]<\/p>\n
* The church I was raised in was genuinely abusive and\/or profoundly distorted the Gospel.<\/p>\n
* I am an American in 2013 and I have no interesting thoughts on this subject, but don\u2019t want to piss anyone off. I like God, you like me, let\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n
* I\u2019m a better (more sensitive, more sincere, more open-minded) person than you. [Literally any sentence can also mean this!]<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So today I learned that I\u2019m bizarrely defensive of this much-mocked self-description. I think my basic defense is that \u201cspiritual, but not religious\u201d means radically different things to different people, and some of those things are the result of profound and painful attempts to love and serve God. (\u201cGod, as you understand God,\u201d as they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[256,131,307,51],"class_list":["post-7793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mackerel-snapping","tag-chuuuuuuuurch","tag-it-is-very-dark-you-are-likely-to-be-wrestled-by-an-angel","tag-meta-pharisaism","tag-so-far-from-god-so-close-to-the-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\n