{"id":41732,"date":"2019-05-22T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T10:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=41732"},"modified":"2019-05-20T03:19:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T07:19:34","slug":"why-spiritual-but-not-religious-doesnt-help-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/05\/why-spiritual-but-not-religious-doesnt-help-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Why “Spiritual but not Religious” Doesn’t Help Much"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Most of the \u201cNones\u201d who have no affiliation with any particular religion do hold religious beliefs.\u00a0 But they claim to be \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d\u00a0 They often believe in a deity of some kind (only 21% don\u2019t believe in God<\/a>), and they may even pray and do other religious exercises, but they reject \u201corganized religion.\u201d\u00a0 For them, religion is a purely private, internal affair, and they cannot stand the \u201cinstitutional\u201d dimension of the world\u2019s different religions.\u00a0 But research is showing that the \u201cinstitutional\u201d and corporate dimension of religion is exactly what makes it so beneficial, both to individuals and society.<\/p>\n

\n

As the number of these \u201cNones\u201d increases, now numbering some 23% of the population,<\/a> as many as evangelicals (23%) and Catholics (23%), social scientists can start to see the effects.\u00a0 Ericka Anderson reports:<\/p>\n

The rise [of the \u201cspiritual but not religious\u201d] is contributing to a concerning pattern. It\u2019s concerning not only because people are losing faith, but because of what faith represents as a component of civil society and how it contributes to our lives as a whole.<\/p>\n

Numerous studies and polls\u00a0provide evidence<\/a>\u00a0that the faithful are generally happier and healthier overall. Religious devotion contributes to stronger marriages, families, friendships, and what appears to be significant protection from\u00a0depression<\/a>\u00a0or addictive behaviors. . . .<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not simply the hope found within a \u201chigher power\u201d that makes the difference. The social community, rituals, and practices found within the context of faith\u2014no matter the religion\u2014are the cornerstones that help individuals and society most.<\/p>\n

These \u201corganized\u201d parts of religion that so many \u201cnones\u201d claim to despise are actually invaluable pieces of our lives.\u00a0\u00a0As \u201corganized religion\u201d has decreased, rates of depression, anxiety, and addiction have increased comparably.<\/p>\n

Not only are people happier and less likely to sink into isolation and despair personally, but research also points to some fascinating numbers regarding charitable giving, volunteering, and participation in a number of civic duties.<\/p>\n

In their data-packed book \u201cAmerican Grace,\u201d Robert Putnam and David Campbell found that Americans who attend church regularly give more than double to charity than their unchurched counterparts, and volunteer in even higher numbers for both faith-based and secular causes.<\/p>\n

The authors posit that \u201ccommunities of faith seem more important than faith itself,\u201d because of the social engagement, neighborly support, and likelihood that one will extend himself or herself for others in a variety of ways.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus saith the social scientists.<\/p>\n

But I would have to take issue with the notion that \u201ccommunities of faith\u201d are \u201cmore important than faith itself.\u201d\u00a0 Also that the \u201cbenefits\u201d of religion have to do with mental and social health.\u00a0 The only reason to believe in a religion is the conviction or faith that it is true, whether or not it makes us happy or not.<\/p>\n

And yet, religion\u2013I speak particularly of Christianity\u2013does have a corporate dimension.\u00a0 That is, it involves other people.\u00a0 It has to do with \u201clove,\u201d which, by definition, entails a relationship with someone else, both with God and with one\u2019s neighbors.\u00a0 The Gospel calls us into a \u201cchurch,\u201d an assembly of other believers who, together, constitute \u201cthe body of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Though Christianity entails personal beliefs, it is never purely \u201cprivate.\u201d\u00a0 Worship, the sacraments, good works, vocation, and the Christian life in general connect us with other people.<\/p>\n

There have been and are highly individualized and internal kinds of spirituality that purport to be Christian\u2013both in radical Catholicism and radical Protestantism, which have much in common, with desert hermits and \u201cme and Jesus\u201d evangelicals.\u00a0 But these are highly truncated and problematic versions of Christianity.<\/p>\n

So it is true that Christians, in being involved with other people, do have a support system and social interactions that are highly beneficial.\u00a0 And such support and interactions have become increasingly hard to find in today\u2019s society.\u00a0 \u201cVirtual communities\u201d are not actually communities\u2013being more likely to tear you down than help you\u2013and the virtual \u201cfriends\u201d on social media are not the same as having actual friends.\u00a0 The church is one of the few places these days where one can find healthy interpersonal interactions.\u00a0 (Another, I suppose, is the workplace, which is why work plays such an important role in people\u2019s sense of well-being, while being the occasion of problems of its own.)<\/p>\n

Being \u201cspiritual\u201d in an internal, mystical, privatized, highly-individualized way is not going to give you these benefits.\u00a0 Rather, it uses spirituality as yet another means of escaping from the external world ever deeper into one\u2019s own self.\u00a0 That kind of religiosity is isolating, with the potential of intensifying our loneliness and lack of connection with the external world.<\/p>\n

We need institutions, with their rituals we can participate in with others and the obligations and relationships they impose.\u00a0 Not only for religion to give us better lives, but, I would add, for our religion to be true.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image by\u00a0Stefan Keller<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pixabay<\/a>, Pixabay License<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of the \u201cNones\u201d who have no affiliation with any particular religion do hold religious beliefs.\u00a0 But they claim to be \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d\u00a0 They often believe in a deity of some kind (only 21% don\u2019t believe in God), and they may even pray and do other religious exercises, but they reject \u201corganized religion.\u201d\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":41765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,39,42],"tags":[6755,2507,1861,2067],"class_list":["post-41732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-religions","category-social-science","tag-benefits-of-religion","tag-nones","tag-religion-demographics","tag-spiritual-but-not-religious"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy "Spiritual but not Religious" Doesn't Help Much<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nones who say they are "spiritual but not religious" are missing the social and corporate dimension of religion, which is what makes it so beneficial. 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