{"id":231,"date":"2011-08-07T15:41:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-07T15:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above\/"},"modified":"2011-08-07T15:41:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-07T15:41:00","slug":"none-of-the-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html","title":{"rendered":"None of the Above"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Amy Martin at the 2010 Winter SolstiCelebration<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I have been less than gracious<\/a> toward the folks who call themselves \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d While I\u2019ve always respected those seeking Wisdom and Truth in non-traditional ways, I\u2019ve come across too many people who use the spiritual-but-not-religious tag as an excuse for spiritual laziness and for avoiding religious communities. After listening to Amy Martin<\/a> this morning, I think I need to re-evaluate my gut-level response.<\/p>\n

In her sermon\/presentation at Denton UU<\/a> this morning, Amy laid out a bunch of statistics and demographics on the spiritual-but-not-religious, who she calls \u201cnones\u201d \u2013 for \u201cnone of the above.\u201d The takeaway from all the numbers is this: the \u201cnones\u201d are growing rapidly, and they share many values with both Pagans and Unitarian Universalists: a love of science, a concern for the environment, an acceptance of ambiguity, an intuitive belief in the connectedness of all, and of course, a \u201cfree and responsible search for truth and meaning<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean these folks are our future members. Though many \u201cnones\u201d find their way to UU churches (some temporarily and some permanently) their distrust of institutions in general and of religious institutions in particular makes them reluctant to join us. And, according to Amy, on the Pagan side they are less than enthusiastic about our talk of \u201cthe old ways\u201d and our anachronistic ritual garb. <\/p>\n

Are those deal-breakers? Maybe, but both sides should be careful before writing off what could be a helpful mutual collaboration. <\/p>\n

Any church \u2013 even a UU fellowship \u2013 is an institution. It is a living, breathing entity: it has a life of its own above and beyond the lives of the people who attend, direct and support it. This is a necessity \u2013 if a church doesn\u2019t have a life of its own, then when key members leave (and all members leave eventually, through death if not before) the church will be directionless and is likely to wither and die. By having things like by-laws, officers, committees, and mission statements a structure is formed that can withstand turnover in the people who operate in and through it. <\/p>\n

Those of us who operate inside institutions must insure our desire for preservation and continuity never prevents us from being open to new ideas, new processes, and new people. And we need to show the \u201cnones\u201d that the democratic process is more than a bunch of pretty words. The \u201cnones\u201d need to learn that institutions are just like the people who create them \u2013 there are good ones and bad ones and a lot that are in between.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m torn on Pagan anachronisms. On one hand, the ritual costumes and magical tools help create an atmosphere which promotes the shift in consciousness needed to create change. And they provide a tangible link to an earlier time when humans lived closer to the Earth. On the other hand, we live in 21st century America, and I like to emphasize that Paganism is a contemporary indigenous religion<\/a> \u2013 it is a response to our needs here and now.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the answer here is to make sure we\u2019re sufficiently grounded in the material world. Our religious practices must support our whole lives \u2013 material as well as spiritual \u2013 and not simply be a distraction from chopping wood and carrying water.<\/p>\n

UUs, Pagans and UU Pagans must be who we are and not attempt to pander to a group just because their demographics look favorable to us. But I, for one, am going to change my \u201cdefault opinion\u201d of the spiritual but not religious crowd. And when they\u2019re ready for some spiritual depth, I want to be able to help them find it.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Amy for the great service this morning!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amy Martin at the 2010 Winter SolstiCelebration I have been less than gracious toward the folks who call themselves \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d While I\u2019ve always respected those seeking Wisdom and Truth in non-traditional ways, I\u2019ve come across too many people who use the spiritual-but-not-religious tag as an excuse for spiritual laziness and for avoiding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNone of the Above<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amy Martin at the 2010 Winter SolstiCelebrationI have been less than gracious toward the folks who call themselves \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d While\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"None of the Above\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amy Martin at the 2010 Winter SolstiCelebrationI have been less than gracious toward the folks who call themselves \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d While\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-07T15:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-jwunWCi_lS0\/Tj73TZD90qI\/AAAAAAAAApU\/XvpodBVACBc\/s320\/Amy+Martin+WSC+2010.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html\",\"name\":\"None of the Above\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-07T15:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-07T15:41:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Amy Martin at the 2010 Winter SolstiCelebrationI have been less than gracious toward the folks who call themselves \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u201d While\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/08\/none-of-the-above.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"None of the Above\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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