Around 30% of Americans now identify as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR) and almost a quarter of them are former Catholics. Many of them point to sexual abuse scandals as the reason they left the Catholic Church, and many of those remaining left due to other disagreements with the Church’s leadership, not because of spiritual or doctrinal disagreements. Sometimes, it isn’t an issue with the specific Church leadership at all, but with the very fact that the Church is organized by other people—whoever the Pope is at that time is irrelevant. Many of these former Catholics still hold Catholic beliefs in all but name, but for one reason or another have distanced themselves from the institution of the Catholic Church.
These former Catholics have left a large mark on the growing group of the “spiritual but not religious”—“religious” in this context meaning “belonging to an organized church.” Some people view the term as an ambiguous avoidance of labels, but others are very adamant that it accurately describes their religious affiliation (or lack thereof). During my internship at a non-profit religion research center in Boston, I worked with a pastor who has made it his mission to help SBNRs find their community—even if the only way to do so was through organization.
To be very clear, he was not trying to form a religion that SBNRs could agree with; that would go against the purpose of being spiritual but not religious. In his work down in Australia, he had talked with many people who, for many various reasons, couldn’t find a church community that they felt represented them. They told him about their frustration and extreme spiritual isolation from others—after all, without a church they didn’t have a community to share their beliefs with. In the center’s research studying the psychology of religiosity, it became clear that community is an important part of spiritual belief, placing SBNRs in a tough position. Some broke down in tears as they described their exasperating faith journey. This tells me that at least some of these people are not finding fault in religious communities as a whole; many of them simply haven’t found a faith that they believe represents them.
This pastor’s solution was to help publish and promote resources that helped SBNRs define their own beliefs rather than convince them to convert—to bring them together through shared struggles rather than through shared beliefs. Under this idea, there wouldn’t be a “church” for SBNRs, but a community of people that all believe slightly different things about the nature of God and the human condition and are held together by their “otherness” from mainstream religions.
My work in promoting spiritual dialogue between SBNRs led me to connect this idea of bringing them together in dialogue with the Catholic concept of “the primacy of conscience.” While Catholic spiritual principles are important for making moral decisions, members of the Catholic Church must also sharpen their conscience to think for themselves; they cannot blindly follow whatever they believe is the most “Catholic” course of action if it deeply betrays who they are as a person. While this is a very rough oversimplification of the concept, it certainly makes me understand why so many SBNRs are former Catholics.
As has been said throughout Western history, Catholicism’s strength lies in its emphasis on the Truth; over time, this leads people to question Catholicism itself and undermine the religion from within. SBNRs are, in many ways, a reaction to this Catholic emphasis on Truth; their “truth” begins to move beyond what Catholicism defines as the Truth, and thus they move away from the Church to follow it. This is why the Church is a living institution—it will always be chasing the Truth as humans continue to decipher the human condition. What does this mean for the Truth? It doesn’t mean the Church is wrong, or that the SBNRs are wrong; it means that organized religion can suppress the type of spiritual dialogue and critical thinking that all humans desperately need. This is the strength of the SBNRs that Catholicism can learn from: perhaps the Church would lose fewer members if it made clear the importance of the primacy of conscience and “disorganization” in Catholicism, and perhaps SBNRs are less “anti-Catholic” than we thought.
Grant is a senior studying Information Systems at the Carroll School of Management. He keeps busy by studying and writing for The Torch.
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Grant, fantastic article. Your in-depth thought into why SBNRs have grown is very refreshing. I think it is a vital skill to question the Church, as at the end of the day, it’s just another organization run by humans (mostly men at that). I believe as Catholics we have a lot to learn from SBNRs. The ability to truly think for yourself is necessary. We need to study why certain Catholic traditions exist and if they are still appropriate in current times. The strict, judgmental, and often exclusive attitude of the Church is harmful. Thank you for bringing light as to why such a large percentage of people have become SBNRs from Catholicism. It highlights the urgency for the Church to adapt.