spiritual, but not religious?

“I am very spiritual, I am just not religious.”

What does someone mean when they say this? Ask them. Chances are you will not receive a principled, reasonable answer based on evidence. Chances are you will receive an emotional and experiential response based on feeling.

When someone says they are “spiritual, not religious” it generally means they follow one of these religions.

• 
  All of life and creation is connected somehow and one becomes one with the universe. This is called, “monism.”
  
• They believe in a God or gods, but they don’t wish to explore too deeply. This is called, “theism.”
  
  

What is the common denominator in these viewpoints? Let’s look at some basic questions concerning reality.

What is the meaning of life?
What is my purpose in life?
What is good?
How do I become a good person?

Logically, you need a coherent system of beliefs in order to answer these questions. You have to have benchmarks to compare. Why do you believe what you believe?

Here is where it gets sticky. You can compare and contrast worldviews, but you have to do the work. Monism is simply a worldview. So is theism. If someone says “they aren’t religious they are spiritual” it is arguing, “I have a worldview but it is not like other worldviews.”

Generally, this usually means, “I haven’t really thought this out.” Why wouldn’t someone think this out? Perhaps their greatest religious principle is to not provide any opportunity for someone to be offended by their point of view. But that’s just the challenge, isn’t it? They have a point of view. To say “all is one” is an absolute truth statement. To say “there is a god or are gods but I don’t believe in following any specific religion” is a truth statement. What is your evidence that it is that rather than something else?

Maybe what is really going on is I don’t want to be responsible for how I live my life. If I make any value judgments about myself I will necessarily be calling myself into question. I will live by my feelings and react to how others respond to me.

However, because you have the consciousness to even consider these questions, making choices by instinct is not a viable option. If you don’t want to impose your views on others you cannot live in community because by simply being present with others you will influence them. Human relations and the decision making process don’t occur in a vacuum. Your choices are guaranteed to have some kind of effect on those around you.

You do justice to other human beings by examining the evidence in as thorough a fashion as possible to inform your choices. Your effect on my life can have tremendous impact. By not thinking deeply about the key questions of meaning, purpose, and goodness, I respectfully submit, you do me a disservice.