Spiritual but not religious: The end of belief

God is not a man in the sky

Traditional religion is in decline. But figures like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Jordan Peterson are transforming faith for the 21st century. With over a quarter of Americans now claiming to be ‘spiritual but not religious’, what does this new era of belief look like? George Adams argues the new face of religion is predicated on a move away from dogmatic belief and an anthropomorphised God, and towards a more expansive, experiential, spirituality.

 

Churches closing at an alarming rate, reputable polls showing a dramatic decline in the percentage of the population identifying as believers, a chronic shortage of pastors and priests, seminaries struggling to find students, and popular culture that is increasingly detached from any connection to the traditional religious beliefs and values of Western society: clearly religion as we know it in much of America and Europe is in a state of dramatic decline. While some believers (in decreasing numbers) continue to follow traditional religions and other more adventurous seekers (in similarly small numbers) embrace the many variants of New Age spirituality, where does that leave the vast, “silent spiritual majority” who find the old religions to be obsolete and the new religions to not yet be credible? For the 21st century citizen who feels the pull to believe but is unwilling to sacrifice their intellectual and moral integrity, what alternative is there?

related-video-image SUGGESTED VIEWING The shadow of spirituality With Barry C. Smith, Sophie Grace Chappell, Michael Shermer, John Vervaeke

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