One in ten Americans is not religious at all, but another 30% of secular Americans are actually religious * In a decidedly secular world, religion without churches thrives
Robert Fuller, Boston Globe
The United States is probably the most religious nation in the world. About 60% of the population are members of churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. The Catholic Church is the largest in the United States: almost every fourth American is a member of it. In second place, the Baptists - about 12% of the population, followed by the Methodists, 7%, and the Lutherans whose rate ranges from 3% to 4%, however, none of these churches can claim to be the largest group of religious Americans. This title belongs to those who are not members of any church. Although four out of ten Americans have nothing to do with organized religion, most consider themselves religious, or as they call it, spiritual on a personal level. In fact, spirituality that is not connected to churches is thriving.
One in ten Americans is not religious at all. He rejects a supernatural view of the world and instead sees himself as a secular humanist, relying on reason and common sense. But the vast majority of those who are not members of churches, about 30% of the entire nation, should nevertheless be considered religious in the broadest sense of the word.
Some of them have an ambivalent relationship with a place of worship. They attend a religious ceremony from time to time, but refrain from joining a church for various reasons. A large group of Americans who are not members of churches include those who are concerned with spiritual matters, but choose to pursue them outside the context of a formal religious organization. More and more such people define themselves as "spiritual, but not religious". For them, spirituality is a matter of private reflection and personal efforts to reach a greater harmony with the sacred. Many others go so far as to view organized religion as an enemy of spirituality.
A recent survey shows that 54% of the total population believe that "churches and synagogues have lost the true spiritual component of religion". One out of three respondents supported the more extreme conclusion that "God is in humans, so churches are not really necessary".
From Mashalim, it appears that one in five Americans fit into this category of spirituality without being religious. Before the twentieth century, the words "religious" and "spiritual" were generally considered synonymous. But in recent years, the term "spiritual" is gradually associated with a private realm of thought and experience, while the word "religious" is associated with public affairs, for example, formal membership in churches, participation in formal ceremonies, and acceptance of traditional doctrines. This means that those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious are less likely to think that prayer, rituals, or theological teaching are valuable to their spiritual growth.
There are those who do not reject the existence of God but cannot be sure of his existence, and are not sure that any system of doctrines has a monopoly on religious truth. Others are interested in "New Age" beliefs. Polls show that as a group they are more likely than other Americans to be college graduates and to work in white-collar jobs, and are liberal in their political views. However, there is still no complete answer to the question of why so many of our contemporaries prefer a religion without houses of prayer and worship, and what are the consequences of this situation for the religious future of the country.
Most of those who pursue their spiritual interests outside of churches, synagogues and mosques have intellectual difficulties when it comes to traditional religious beliefs. Their formal education introduced them to the main forces of modern secularism: the scientific method of argument, the evidence supporting biological evolution, the weight of cultural conditioning on the beliefs of different cultures, and the results of the study of the Holy Scriptures that sheds light on their historical origins. They cannot in good conscience claim that they believe that one religious organization holds a monopoly on the truth.
On a more personal level, many have been hurt in one way or another by the churches. Some have had their curiosity or doubts silenced by force, others have felt repressed because of gender issues or have been victims of some sort of moral enforcement, and some are simply bored with conventional religion.
Those who ask for a religion without houses of prayer also come up with spiritual ideas. They believe that it is the right - and even the duty - of each person to determine his own standards for religious belief. Furthermore, they want religion to be relevant to their daily lives, and even tend to be metaphysical, meaning many are captivated by the possibility that we are part of some broader spiritual location. In their spiritual journey they go through unconventional areas of interest, starting with yoga, tai chi, Jungian psychology, alternative healing practices and ending with trying to contact beings or spirits through trance.
What effect does this wave have on the moral and spiritual life of the United States? A positive effect, it seems. All in all, houses of worship are still functioning well and full of activity. The most conservative of them thrive and seem unaffected by the spiritual-but-not-religious wing of American culture. Many moderate churches and currents, on the other hand, have suffered a great loss in the number of their members in recent decades. Many of their friends share the personal and intellectual doubts that drive people to convert to a religion without churches.
According to research, many Baby Boomers have weak ties to their mainstream churches and are most likely to move away from them once they start their own families. They will most likely join the ranks of those with spiritual interest, but will not command the church. In fact, more than half of the baby boomers who are members of a house of worship already hold beliefs related to unchurched spirituality.
The possible drift of people who rarely visit the church into the ranks of those who do not visit it at all should not cause concern. Most of us are too quick to make an equal distinction between religion or moral teaching and the existing churches. The unconventional spiritual groups have developed new images of God – mostly pantheistic – that often connect better with our everyday lives. It follows that they define moral responsibility less in terms of obedience to a heavenly judge than as promoting the development or evolution of life on every level: psychological, social and ecological.
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