Spiritual but not religious

According to the Fetzer Institute’s Study of Spirituality in The United States done in 2020, 86% of people consider themselves to be spiritual. 88% of people engage in some religious or spiritual practice such as attending a religious service, praying, meditating, spending time in nature, with art, etc. at least once per week. 75% believe in God or some Higher Power, and 68% believe that their spirituality guides how they act in the world.

People who say that they are spiritual but not religious has increased from 1998 from 18.5% of Americans to 33.6%. (Fetzer, Spirituality In America Today, March 10, 2020)

It is interesting to note that as the mainline churches in Europe and the United States are losing members. People report that they are not religious, but they still report that they have some sort of spiritual life. If religion no longer serves the function of encouraging spirituality in our society, what part of our secular society does? How is spirituality nurtured and facilitated? Sports? The Arts? Politics? Civic organizations? Media? Health Care? Educational institutions?

To what extent does the failure to provide more intentional and predictable nourishment for spiritual development manifest in the poor mental health of the population resulting in the deterioration of public health? The rise in suicides, anxiety and depressive disorders, addiction and gambling disorders, use of pornography, social media and internet addictions, political polarization, authoritarianism, consumerism, and causing harm to the climate and ecological systems might be accounted for by low levels of spiritual intelligence in the members of the society. If there is any merit in this diagnosis, the question might be asked “how do we provide the resources to enhance the spiritual intelligence of the members of our society?” How do we promote the true, the good, and the beautiful?

There will be a series of articles on spiritual intelligence coming up. To access the articles on spiritual intelligence on this site, click the link spiritual intelligence in the upper right hand row under the banner.