A few weeks ago, I read this definition of a new acronymn: SBNR. SBNR stands for "spiritual, but not religious". I was asked to comment on this notion and I've been thinking about it for several weeks. I think there's no way for me to do this without being very judgmental, but maybe the SBNR folks need a little push. (As do the RBNS- Religious, but not Spiritual- people.) First there is no real definition for "spiritual, but not religious". This tends to be offered as a self-definition when people are asked about their personal theological beliefs and they are not really connected in any way to a church, synagogue, mosque, prayer group, temple, fire circle, or whatever. I've found that many people don't want to be associated with church because it's 1) oppressive, 2) antiquated, or 3) boring. So a nebulous claim of "spiritual" makes one sound a like a believer, without dipping a toe into in the discussions around agnosticism or atheis
Thoughts on what it means to be a traveler on the Way of Jesus the Christ