“Spiritual but Not Religious”

While defining spirituality is ‘like shoveling fog’, an increasing number of Americans self identify as spiritual but not religious. One political scientist sees it as an outgrowth of the 1960s. Laura Olsen, professor of political science at Clemson University says: “Rejection of organized religion by some Americans is hardly a new phenomenon, but the degree to which it has become socially acceptable is a rather recent development. The extent to which eschewing traditional religious teachings and practices has become ‘cool’ in the present era is in part a legacy of the 1960s (when being countercultural became oddly de rigueur in certain circles), as well as a disorganized but palpable backlash against the moral absolutism of the religious Right.”