Feb 25, 2013 TheWashingtonPost
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/dont-call-us-the-nones-in-praise-of-religious-independence/2013/0
2/25/68a4a5ea-7f54-11e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df_blog.html#license-68a4a5ea-7f54-11
e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df)
Don't call us ‘the nones': In praise of religious independence
By Christian Piatt
I’ve heard a lot about “the nones” lately. No, don’t conjure up images of
cantankerous ladies in penguin-like habits enforcing Catholic-school
order. These “nones” are the new “spiritual but not religious.”
The_ Pew Center, a major force in the socio-cultural research world,
issued a report last fall that found one in three young adults in the U.S.
chooses “none of the above_
(http://www.pewforum.org/unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx) ” when asked
about their religious affiliation or identity. We
humans love ourselves a meme, so of course, the “nones” became a new category
of person that hadn’t exactly been labeled as such before.
So what’s the big deal? Who cares if they’re a “none?” For me, it smacks
of a dying modernist mindset that simply doesn’t fit anymore. That, and it
also imparts a negative connotation on them, as if they lack something
everyone else has.
Maybe, but not necessarily.
In politics, someone can officially identify as “independent,” and they
are considered to be a cut-above the fray. We think highly of those
independent thinkers. So why is it that, when it comes to religion, you can’t
be
independent, but instead you have to be a “none?”
The United States was built on principles of religious and political
liberty, which meant both freedom of choice, as well as freedom from being a
part
of the system all together. It seems that, while political independence is
seen as at least a virtue – or at least as socially benign – there’s
still negative baggage attached to those who seek freedom from religion, and
not just freedom of religion.
Calling religious independents “nones” suggests, like I said above, an
absence. But increasingly, there are intentional communities that provide much
of what religion has historically offered, but that would not formally be
defined as “religious.” For example, what do we call someone who gathers
regularly with friends to discuss a book they’re reading (maybe even the
Bible), and who also donates to charity and gets involved in causes that
matter to them? What if they seek wisdom and guidance through regular prayer
or
meditation and yet don’t darken the doors of a church? What if they meet in
a friend’s home once a week, led by an unpaid but intentionally trained
facilitator that walks them through Scripture?
Or what if they do what they can to live their lives more like Jesus, but
they’re not particularly concerned about bearing a religious identity?
This isn’t to say there’s not a benefit in being a part of a religious
group, but truth be told, there are plenty of RINOS (“Religious in Name Only”
) folks among those surveyed who did claim a religion. By doing so, do they
really have anything the independents lack? What if being freed from the
institutional trappings of the church was what some independents needed in
order to truly find a meaningful connection with God and/or one another?
Of course there are plenty of folks who simply don’t put that much thought
or effort into it. Their response to a survey like the Pew study is more of
a knee-jerk response, and it may be the first time they’ve put any thought
into their religious identity or affiliation in a long, long time. But
that isn’t necessarily limited to the “nones.” In fact, there’s a tendency
within modern Christianity to think much less about one’s faith after being
baptized, making a statement of faith or even signing a church ledger,
especially if the whole process is for that person little more than a holy
fire
insurance policy.
So what does the fact that one in three young adults are now “nones” tell
us? To me, all it really lets us know is that people care less and less
about labels. And yet we go about labeling them, often with monikers like “
nones” that are loaded with negative implications. But we get no closer to
really knowing the hearts, minds and spirits of the folks in question, whether
they claim a religion or not.
If we have to call them anything, “Independents” seems more fitting. But
this still tells us little or nothing about ourselves, except that we love
labels. But as one who spent a decade of my young adult life among these
folks being called “nones,” it smacks of the same old guard, framing the
conversation based on their personal values and experience, which is largely
why I became a “none” to begin with.
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