*sighs softly*
You just had to ask me. Fine. "Spiritual but not religious", and why it's such a trash phrase.
I'll elaborate on that thought just a bit further.
I promise not to let my passions get the best of me [spoiler: I break that promise], so I'll keep it short and sweet.
When I hear someone claim being "Spiritual but not religious", I can't help but think they have no idea what they're saying.
"Geez, 2B. Who the hell are you to criticize someone's deeply held and personal beliefs? Conceited much?"
I think that's a fair call-out, since spirituality is commonly seen as a personal affair.
Afterall, doesn't reformed Christianity stress a personal relationship with God and such?
Well, yes. True. However, that's where I take issue with the sentiment.
Professing to be spiritual but not religious carries with it a certain implication.
Namely, that one intrinsically possesses the capability of understanding and navigating the transcendental on their own.
That very notion is easily a thousand times more conceited than any critique I could levy upon someone else.
To me, these individuals make the audacious claim that they don't need God (in any capacity) to come to know the divine.
That, by their very own will and wit they can comprehend what lies beyond their own meager existence.
That they can come to know that which is, by it's very definition, out of reach of human understanding.
To me, that's just an insane proposition.
But it doesn't end there. That's just in a metaphysical sense. Let's not forget the structuralist/historical side of things.
"I don't need God, 2B. I don't need religion. I don't need the whole song and dance of going to church, chewing on a wafer, and sipping on some wine to know right from wrong."
Oh no? Then where are you going to get your sense of morality from? Reasoning, facts, and logic?
Okay, then why should we not kill other people once we reach 9 billion, for the betterment of the planet?
People are mere naked apes roaming around on this pale blue dot called Earth, drifting through the empty void of space.
The death of one person or even several billion does not matter much in the grand scheme of things, does it?
Easily, you can see that you cannot reason your way into virtuous behavior; utilitarian thinking only gets you so far.
Not only would you cause the worst possible outcome, but you're not smart enough to derive the calculus required for it.
Like it or not, if you're living in Westernized/Enlightened society, you're borrowing your morality from Christianity.
Borrowing from thousands of years of civilized, collective wisdom painstakingly acquired and documented by your ancestors.
So that stupid, limited, singular you can scoff, think you know better, or take credit for their brilliance? Disgusting.
"Spiritual but not religious". Is this really where this generation of modern man has found himself?
So cold, isolated, and anxious than ever before, that he has to warm himself with the viscera of that which he helped slay?
It's cowardice, the way I see it. I can understand it; everyone wants to feel like they're part of something grander.
But this phrase...it's a lazy way of trying to cop undeserved comfort without making a solid commitment.
It's all so very wretched if you ask me.
[end transmission]