"Spiritual But Not Religious"
I seem to have seen the above phrase a lot recently, for example in 'Rumors' about people who say they're 'spiritual but not religious' or the recent book title Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America by Robert?C.?Fuller.
Here's an interesting paragraph from Spritual tourism:
A typical case study is Alice, a 29-year-old north Londoner who - having achieved remarkable doctrinal synthesis - describes herself as both a Muslim and a Christian. She is "spiritual" but not "religious", and also enjoys a righteous tarot reading now and then. "Pliable, transient and convenient for many," the report concludes, "this bespoke belief system consoles without constraining, cares without condemning."
Muslim and Christian, huh? Gee, if we had had more people like Alice during the Middle Ages, maybe the crusades wouldn't have happened.
I wonder what the Christians of Northern Nigeria, Southern Sudan, Egypt, Pakistan, Ambon or any of the many other islands of Indonesia would think of Alice's "remarkable doctrinal synthesis." For that matter, what would St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, or Pope John Paul II think of Alice's groundbreaking theological discovery?
And what's this about a religion that "consoles without constraining, cares without condemning"? Isn't that what Oprah is for?
I seem to have seen the above phrase a lot recently, for example in 'Rumors' about people who say they're 'spiritual but not religious' or the recent book title Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America by Robert?C.?Fuller.
Here's an interesting paragraph from Spritual tourism:
A typical case study is Alice, a 29-year-old north Londoner who - having achieved remarkable doctrinal synthesis - describes herself as both a Muslim and a Christian. She is "spiritual" but not "religious", and also enjoys a righteous tarot reading now and then. "Pliable, transient and convenient for many," the report concludes, "this bespoke belief system consoles without constraining, cares without condemning."
Muslim and Christian, huh? Gee, if we had had more people like Alice during the Middle Ages, maybe the crusades wouldn't have happened.
I wonder what the Christians of Northern Nigeria, Southern Sudan, Egypt, Pakistan, Ambon or any of the many other islands of Indonesia would think of Alice's "remarkable doctrinal synthesis." For that matter, what would St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, or Pope John Paul II think of Alice's groundbreaking theological discovery?
And what's this about a religion that "consoles without constraining, cares without condemning"? Isn't that what Oprah is for?
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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