“Spiritual but Not Religious,” my friend told me, is a phrase many young Evangelicals now use to describe themselves, in order to highlight their personal relationship with Jesus. “Religion” suggests rules and customs, the Pharisaical legalism that Jesus condemned. Young Evangelicals distance themselves from all that—from religious traditions, including Christian traditions, which distract believers from what’s really important. My friend sent along this You Tube video from a few years ago, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus,” to demonstrate the point. The video has more than 30 million views.
As someone who studies law and religion in America, I’m embarrassed to say that this was new to me. I’m familiar with the term “Spiritual but Not Religious,” of course. But when sociologists of religion use the term, they invariably mean the “Nones” – people who say they lack any religious affiliation at...
