When I got back from Dallas, I had the opportunity to attend the Indiana Network for Higher Education (INHEM) Connections Conference.
Keynote Presentation: “Allergic to Religion: The
‘Spiritual but not Religious’” by Dr. Linda Mercadante (Professor of Theology at the Methodist Theological
School in Ohio; Healthy Beliefs- Healthy Spirit at www.healthybelief.org)
· Religion
is not an alien territory, it is God’s home for us.
· In
her family, religion was not a good thing—her Jewish mother associated
religion, particularly Christianity, with the killing of Jews.
· She
was a newspaper reporter on a diocesan paper and then became an atheist.
· “Unfettered
Beliefs, Untethered Practice” – her Henry Luce Theology Award… she was
investigating an ethos which
o rejects
all organized religion
o feels
all religions are the same
o minimizes
belief—belief doesn’t matter
o is
highly individualistic
o verges
on the non-theistic
o experiments
with monism, pantheism, paganism, and dualism
· This
is a generalized, large ethos that is coming on like a tsunami and we’re on the
shore
· Outline
for her talk:
o What’s
going on
§ social,
intellectual, demographic changes
o Changes
within organized religion
§ “Spiritual
but not Religious” movement (SBNR)
o Strategies
going forward
§ What
to avoid, what to promote
o Hope
and Challenge
· Surveys
confirm a dramatic change
o Pew
Forum
o News
Week (“A Post-Christian Nation”)
o Parade
Magazine
o every
few months since 2007, there’s another survey about religion
· Decline
in religious loyalty: 6 in 10 Americans have switched religions at least once
· A
less “Protestant” America
o In
1992, >66% was Protestant
o In
2007, <51%
o In
2011, even lower
· There
has been a rise in the “Unaffiliated”
o This
is the largest growth of any group
o In
1990, 8%
o In
2007, 16%
o In
2011, 20-25%
o And
this is especially among millenials (among millenials it may be as high as 75%)
· Decline
in Religious Involvement
o 50%
rarely or never attend services
o 22%
say Religion has no place in their lives
o 24%
say they are “spiritual but not religious”
· Why
is this happening?
o Changes
in social landscape
o Changes
in intellectual landscape
o Demographic
changes
· Social
Changes
o Rise
in diversity of religion and ethnicity
o Decline
in “felt” importance of religion
o Disaffiliation
and unaffiliation
§ The
millenials and gen x’s are not bothered by a lack of identity (as a member
of one of these groups, I would disagree with this. We’re ALWAYS talking about
“finding ourselves.”)
o More
(religiously) mixed marriages
o Less
children are being raised with religion
o Competition
and the “Spiritual Marketplace”
§ America
is like a spiritual mall
o Mix
of religion and politics
· Intellectual
Changes
o Fragmentation
of knowledge, information, roles, meanings, etc.
§ There
is an information explosion, but it causes fragmentation
§ We
have fragmented roles that keep us from having a core identity
o There
are no longer claims of a universal truth—we hide behind subjectivity
o Humans
have lost their place—we’ve lost the sense of being human beings created by God
and having a special place in the universe.
o In
the midst of the chaos, each human is alone to create their own meaning.
§ Bricolage
§ Spiritual
Tinkerers
· Changes
in Belief Patterns
o Believing
without Belonging?
o Hybridity
o Syncretism
o Anti-rationality—reason
is not to be trusted
§ In
AA, they say that “your best thinking got you here,” in other words, don’t
trust your own reason
§ “Leave
your mind at the door.”
o Retreat
into emotive, experiential
· Demographic
Changes—Seven Key Trends
o Delayed
marriage—this means we’re waiting longer and longer for the prodigals to come
back to church
o Fewer
children and later
o uncertainties
in work and money—maybe I’ll have to move, so I don’t want to make ties at this
church or parish; maybe I’ll have to work on Sundays; I don’t want to join when
I don’t know if I’ll have money to tithe
o Higher
Education—young people are exposed to more and more
o Loosening
Relationships—people are afraid to commit
o Globalization—leads
to spiritual tinkerers
o Information
Explosion
· Spirituality
has become a big business—look at all the different ads on tv for “spiritual”
or religious groups
· SBNR
ethos is shaping American faith
o many
are less loyal
o many
within religion are increasingly attracted to the eclectic spirituality of SBNR
· “Unchurched
Spirituality is gradually reshaping the personal faith of many who belong to
mainstream religious organizations.” –Robert Fuller
· Example:
one of her friends is Mennonite, but claims to find God through Buddhist
meditation.
· “Moralistic
Therapeutic Deism” (Christian Smith at ND) is what my generation is looking
for.
· “Moralistic”
to my generation means
o act
so other people will like you (Jesus didn’t do this)
o fulfill
your personal potential
o don’t
be socially disruptive (He certainly didn’t do this)
o Don’t
be interpersonally obnoxious
o Feel
good about yourself
· “Therapeutic”
o The
goal is to feel good, happy, secure, and at peace.
o Gain
subjective well being
o Able
to solve problems.
o get
along with others
· “Deism”—a
mild form of theism
o 18
Century Deism with a twist… the distant God is selectively available for taking
care of your needs.
o God
is a divine creator, lawgiver, keeps a safe distance, and is not demanding.
o God’s
job is to solve your problems, make you feel good, not get too personally
involved
o God
is the divine butler and cosmic therapist.
· Basic
tenets of “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (MTD):
o God
exists, created, watches over
o The
central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself and your life
o Good
people go to Heaven
o All
religions teach these things, so we don’t have to choose one.
· What
does it mean to be SBNR?
o 3rd
largest group among young adults, after Roman Catholic and Baptist.
o More
among Gen Xers and Millenials (can I just say I hate these terms?)
o Less
likely to attend services of any kind
o about
20% of Americans and 50% of unaffiliated are SBNR
o Show
little interest in church attendance and orthodox beliefs
o Ethos
prevalent in much of the industrialized west (I saw it particularly in
Italy).
o More
likely to practice alternative spiritualities
o More
interest in mysticism
o More
likely to experiment with unorthodox beliefs and practices
o Negative
feelings towards clergy and churches
o The
idea that being an SBNR is a badge of honor
o Religion
is seen as a roadblock
§ Many
reject claims to absolute truths
§ many
believe religion demands abdication of personal liberty
§ many
feel entitled to be patrons rather than subscribers… not have to have loyalties
to partake
o Trying
to separate spirituality and religion
§ spiritual
vs. material
§ individual
vs. institutional—people don’t trust institution/authority
§ Interior
vs. exterior
§ private
vs. public
o What
do they believe?
§ there
is something sacred—a universal energy source… no actual God, it’s an energy
that you plug into and use as you like.
§ human
nature—the self becomes God, the self is sacred… there is no God that is
outside you.
§ community
vs. freedom—not a lot of community, there is no long term relationship or
commitment to community
§ life
after death—balancing between feeling of eternity and individuality with a
droplet going back into a pool of water… energy returning to energy
o There’s
a lot of hybridity here.
· There
is an emerging meta narrative here…
o We
are all one.
o There
is no personal God out there. Instead, he’s a universal energy source that
exists but is non-conscious, non-communicative.
o We
are on par with nature
o The
self is sacred
o You
need to find your “true self”
o Tradition
stifles the individual
o nothing
left when we die, except perhaps energy
· How
different is this? She gives a long comparison to the Abrahamic traditions, but
I think we all know these.
· What
are possible outcomes?
o secularization
like Europe?
o highly
individualized spiritual practices?
o Changes
in social structure?
o More
egalitarian, less community?
o New
Reformation?
o “Leaner”
more effective religions?
· This
may be the most dramatic religious, intellectual, and social change since
Christendom took root in Europe.
· Strategies
that WON’T work:
o Condemning
o denying
o minimizing
it
o ignoring
it
· Style
vs. content
o Some
congregations won’t change their style, but will change their content.
o Some
change style but won’t change their content… won’t address contemporary needs…
or, more positively, won’t give up their basic beliefs.
o Can
we change our style while still promoting our core content?
· A
generalized spirituality is inadequate to provide
o a
moral compass
o individual
and corporate responsibility
o real
human identity
o guidance
for spiritual formation
o true
moral freedom
o lasting
conversion
o clear,
guiding vision
· Promising
strategies
o revitalizing
our own faith
o communicating
our spiritual experience
o creatively
encountering SBNRs
o Thinking
theologically about our culture.
o Becoming
the alternative—the counter culture (isn’t this what the Catholic Church was
originally?)
· Possible
Scenarios?
o Organized
religion as
§ counter-cultural
§ niche-oriented
§ believing
and belonging
§ community
and credibility
§ open
minded yet confident and trusting
· Good
news…
o this
generation is seeking
o many
want to talk theology
o searching
for meaningful spiritual practices (Catechetically, this means we need stop
saying, “We do this because it’s tradition” and start showing them why what we
do has meaning.)
o searching
for spiritual community
o 31%
of millenials list being spiritual or close to God as one of their life goals.
· Things
to avoid:
o unclear,
anemic worship
o lack
of confidence and joy
o over
organizing
o judgment,
intolerance
o stunting
enthusiasm and creativity
o top-down
leadership
o minimizing
the spiritual experience
o separating
mind and body in worship
o squelching
honest questions and doubts
o theology
disconnected from life experience
· Things
to do:
o be
hopeful
o show
vital community
o listen,
listen, listen
o figure
out what’s been missing in their lives
o renew
your own faith
