'SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS'

MOST OF MY FACEBOOK FRIENDS are clear about their religious views. They identify as Lutheran, Catholic, or atheist. I also have friends who view their religion as a canvas of self-expression. ... My cousin tells her online friends, "I'm spiritual, not religious ... and I enjoy checking out European cathedrals."

She's not alone. The number of people who self-identify using the long-popular phrase "spiritual but not religious" is still growing. In 1998, 9 percent of American adults told the General Social Survey they were spiritual but not religious. By 2008, it had risen to 14 percent. Among those aged 18 to 39, the increase was even more dramatic, and 18 percent now say they are spiritual but not religious.

The growth is not because people are less likely to identify as religious, but because nonreligious people are more likely to say they are spiritual, says Duke sociologist Mark Chaves....

"Spiritual has, in some sense, come to mean 'my own personal religion with my own individual creed,'" Timothy Paul Jones, a Baptist seminary professor, told the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The word religion comes from the Latin religare (re: "back," and ligare: "to bind"), so the term is associated with being bound. In that sense, defining oneself as "spiritual, not religious" couldn't be more apt, reflecting a desire to not be bound by any rules, community, or belief. Being spiritual but not religious is the perfect fit for people who don't like the demands of religion but aren't quite ready to say they have no soul.

Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft has noted that our culture's fear "is not the fear of death, as it was for the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, nor is it the fear of hell," as found in the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic societies of the medieval period. No, the fear of the age "is the fear of meaninglessness itself."

Yet those who oppose organized religion may be missing out on some of the best tools for staving off meaninglessness.

It's not that spiritual people are less likely to say they're religious. Instead, nonreligious people are more likely to say they are spiritual. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that only 5 percent of the religiously unaffiliated attend church weekly or participate weekly in group prayer, and that only 9 percent read Scripture weekly outside of religious services. Yet what are worship, prayer, and study but "spiritual" disciplines that strengthen faith in a mature Christian?

And that's the problem. How different are we from the group that admits it's not religious? We too bristle against the binding demands of our faith. We find it easy to justify not tithing or praying. We disrespect authority, fail to take care of our neighbors in need, and covet the materialism of the world. We barely qualify as spiritual or religious.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the "Spirit of truth." True spirituality is not an emotion, experience, or set of behaviors, but rests on the truth found in the Scriptures. That Word of God, that truth, that Spirit, is what we are bound to as Christians.

In his Small Catechism, Luther describes the work of the Holy Spirit by saying, "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith."

Paul lists the fruit of the Holy Spirit as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

If we want to be truly spiritual and genuinely religious, then let us pray for the Holy Spirit to let those gifts characterize our interactions with our family members, friends, neighbors, and especially those who do not yet know the gospel of Jesus.

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway
"Faith Unbound"
Christianity Today. September 2010.

'Forgive, and you will be forgiven'

ALL FAITHS WORLDWIDE recommend it. There's universal agreement among religious leaders about its benefits. Every avatar of the Supreme Being and all His prophets have preached it. It's a prayer often recited by devotees in places of worship. And nonbelievers, too, are convinced of its great value. Doctors tell patients about its health benefits. Old and New Age gurus will break bread to celebrate its virtues. Pranic healers and reiki masters consider it a powerful healing tool.

Forgiveness is not as sublime as love, but it's a divine virtue, without necessarily being godly. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness thus: "To grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offence or debt." But forgiveness is much more than that. Cynics see the act of forgiving as being one of weakness, resorted to by the meek and the cowardly. The more enlightened say only the strong are capable of it, as did M. K. Gandhi: "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

Pure happiness is achieved because when you forgive a person who has done you harm, you detoxify yourself of all negative energy, free your mind, and purify your soul and body. Perhaps that's why Martin Luther said: "Forgiveness is pure happiness."

Studies at the University of Wisconsin found the more forgiving people were, the less they suffered from a wide range of illnesses. The benefits included improved functioning of their cardiovascular and nervous systems. Anger and resentment towards our so-called oppressors will bring us nothing but trouble and unhappiness....

"How often do you forgive one person? Up to seven times?" Jesus Christ was asked by his disciple Peter. Jesus replied: "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." Jesus even asked God to forgive those who had crucified him: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." In the Lord's Prayer, Christians pray: "And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."

The message is clear: Only when you forgive others will you, too, be forgiven....

Forgiveness has great power. It is a glorious and selfless act that could radically transform the lives of both the forgiver and the forgiven—for the better.

Oswald Pereira
"Healing with Forgiveness"
The Times of India. October 26, 2010.

CIVILITY'S PLACE IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE

If there's anything about politics on which Americans might agree, it's probably that our pitched battles over elections, policy, and power are not summoning our better angels....

[Jim Wallis, in announcing a civility campaign in October sponsored by his Christian group Sojourners] laced his declaration with Biblical references that show how civility should be a special calling of Christians active in the public square. Among them: James 1:19 ("Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry"), Ephesians 4:31 ("Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice"), and Ephesians 4:25 ("Put off falsehood and speak truthfully"). Wallis also invoked the Sojourners motto: "No permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent issues."

To say the idea has deep historic roots and an eminent source would be an understatement. In his farewell address to the nation in 1796, George Washington spoke of the perils of "inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate attachments for others," which could, Washington warned, make the nation a "slave to its animosity or to its affection."

Washington was talking about America's relationship with other countries, but his words have profound relevance to religion and politics.

Tom Krattenmaker
"In God-fearing USA, where is the decency?"
USA TODAY
October 25, 2010