My childhood was not one with a lot of religious or spiritual influence. My grandfather is an ordained minister, but neither of my parents are all that religious. My siblings and I attended Sunday school until we were old enough to decide we didn’t like it anymore. That was the extent of my religious experience growing up and I hardly remember it.
Fast forward a decade or so; I’m a 23 year old senior and if you asked me what my religious beliefs are now I would have to respond with a quote from Steven Kotler’s book, “West of Jesus:” “I had decided a long time ago that the universe is a place considerably bigger than my imagination and I shouldn’t rush to judgment until I had all the facts. Though, since the universe was bigger than my imagination, I would never have all the facts.”
What I never fully understood about religions was why we had to pick one. It always seemed to me that if all of these religious institutions have existed for hundreds of years, then they all must have some wisdom to offer. Why couldn’t I pick a few things I like from Christianity, throw in a pinch of Buddhism, and then grab a couple lines from Hinduism? Growing up in small town New Hampshire, I assumed that my views would be shared by a few, so I steered clear of religion and spirituality. It wasn’t until studying psychology, of all things, here at Keene State College, that I realized I might not be the minority. Among my generation, I may even be part of a growing majority.
According to a study by Paul Wink, Michele Dillon, and Kristen Fay, “A growing proportion of Americans express no religious denominational preference, report a ‘personal religion,’ and define themselves as spiritual but not religious.” We are seeing more and more people with what Wink would call an S-type spirituality.
Wink, a professor at Wellesley College, breaks spirituality down into two major categories, which help to illustrate the changes we are seeing. Traditionally we have seen what he calls R-type spirituality, but more and more people, especially in the younger generation, are reporting an S-type spirituality in which there is no external deity or source of authority.
S-type spirituality is based around the self and tends to be inspired more by eastern religions like Buddhism. It has the benefit of encouraging personal growth and development, but taken too far can be labelled selfish and narcissistic.
R-type spirituality represents the more traditional belief systems. The source of authority is external, usually a deity such as God or a church. These are your western religions such as Christianity and Catholicism. R-type spirituality can come under criticism by some for being too rigid but is touted by others for bringing people together and making contributions to the community.
Some argue that this growing S-type spirituality threatens to pull our society apart, that it encourages individuals to care only about their own spiritual journey, to find what makes them happy but not to care for their fellow man.
In a small way they are right. R-type spirituality at its best encourages individuals to work for the betterment of all people and to be a part of a community. S-type spirituality at its best encourages individuals to work for the betterment of the individual. Sure, this may seem selfish but is that such a bad thing? If you ask me we should all work to improve ourselves. We should grow and learn and test ourselves so that we can be better, happier people. I don’t think that we threaten the community by doing this; I think we only help strengthen it. Humans are social creatures. With or without a traditional religious structure, we would still have communities. The only difference is that those communities would have a variety of ideas on life and spirituality.
What I like about the S-type spirituality is that its lack of a rigid structure creates more choices for individuals. Many people are raised to believe what their parents believe, often out of obligation or because they were never exposed to anything else. Now those same people might develop their own belief system while still incorporating that of their parents. It seems to me that religious beliefs tend to change with society. There was a time when Zeus hurled lightning bolts from up high and Poseidon ruled the seven seas. The gods were savage, elemental and very, very vengeful. Over the centuries, we have tamed the elements and the world, and as a result, the gods we tend to worship aren’t so cruel. They’re powerful but a bit more forgiving. Instead of being terrorized by the gods, we have a relationship with them. Now we seem to be moving more and more towards a world where spirituality and religion are based less on gods and more around ourselves. If this trend continues, churches might have no choice but to adapt. Instead of serving one set of beliefs, a church might cater to multiple faiths. If they play their cards right this new wave of spirituality doesn’t have to take people out of the churches; it could bring people into them, fostering new communities with a diversity of ideas about religion and spirituality. We’ve been on this planet for thousands of years. Aren’t we all a little tired of fighting over differences in beliefs? Isn’t it time that we form communities celebrating not a uniformity of belief, but a diversity of them? Whether we like it or not I think we are finally hurtling towards an answer to that question.
Zach Pearson can be contacted at
zpearson@keene-equinox.com