Marginal Christianity

  Jana Bennett John Berkman Thomas Bushlack Charles Camosy Meghan Clark Patrick Clark David Cloutier Dana Dillon Nichole Flores Kathryn Getek Soltis Beth Haile Andrew Kim Jason King Ramon Luzarraga Emily Reimer-Barry Julie Hanlon Rubio Matthew Shadle Christopher Vogt Jessica Wrobleski Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman posted by Jana Bennett on Oct 24, 2014 in Current Events | 0 comments   I’ve been teaching for almost a decade, and in past years, if there’s been anything I’ve been more annoyed with (in a gentle, mild, non-violent way) in class, it’s been when my students try to wriggle out of difficult discussions about faith and being Catholic by saying, ‘Well, I’m spiritual but not religious.” It’s a famous phrase – one that even New Atheist Sam Harris extols, suggested that it is possible to achieve the benefits of meditation and spiritual encounters without believing in God . It’s often seemed an arrogant kind of...

Scot McKnight relates Linda Mercandante's findings in her new book "Belief without Borders": Instead of the traditional view of God, they transpose God into the sacred or divine self. Instead of a sovereignty or freedom of God, they move into “readily accessible, even impersonal, divine energy” (232). Instead of the traditional 3d person of the Trinity, the Spirit becomes “self-generating personal intuition” (232). Instead of a savior figure or a prophet as in the major faiths, there are multiple gurus that help in self-healing. Instead of trusting God, one trusts one’s inner voice. Instead of praying to a God who listens, we have “self-generated positive thinking” (232). Instead of the providential God, there is an “impersonal law of karma” (233). Instead of guidance through God or tradition, there is self-guidance outside the tradition or intervention of God. Instead of sin against God, it is about violating the authentic self. Instead of justifica...

            http://religiondispatches.org/what-the-surveys-dont-and-cant-say-about-the-rise-of-the-spiritual-but-not-religious/   Timothy K. Snyder       It all begins with “survey says….” The pollsters now regularly tell us that religion is on the decline and commentators can’t say enough about the so called, “ Spiritual, but not Religious ” (or SBNR)—the now common moniker for many (but not all) of the religiously unaffiliated. But analysts often misunderstand what the surveys actually tell us. Some overplay their hand and try to predict the future. Others fail to acknowledge that different surveys measure slightly different categories: “no preference,” “nothing in particular” and “spiritual but not religious” can’t easily be lumped together. And yet others actually underplay the research. For instance, this past Friday, the NY Times ‘ Mark Oppenheimer wrote about four new books on ...