Americans becoming more ‘spiritual’ than ‘religious’

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Carol Forsloff - Are Americans especially religious? Many people respond they are more spiritual than religious. What might be the difference and why do some people separate religion from spirituality?

The group called the Millenials, which are those young people coming of age after the turn of the 21^st century, are less religious than their parents, according to research results from the Pew forum. On the other hand, many of these same young people have shared values with reference to having a belief in God and valuing prayer in their daily lives. In those ways, they resemble individuals from previous decades, including their parents.

Despite having spiritual values associated with belief in a Supreme Being,  1 in 4 young adults do not have a specific religious affiliation and actually consider themselves “agnostic” or “atheist” in their views.

Results of various surveys indicate most people will express themselves as spiritual as opposed to identifying with a particular religion. Belief has increased portability, as more and more people move from group to group, taking their basic belief in God and prayer with them.  That may be the reason why many groups claim to be one of the fastest growing religions in the world,  including Hinduism, Buddhism as well as non-believers, as people join a group, then may move elsewhere to actually swell the numbers in both places where affiliation had been made.

Many people separate the institution of religion from spirituality. The connectedness to “spirit” is often identified as belief in loving one another or recognizing the special nature of man as a special being that has evolved in some way. Americans underline a difference between being religious and being spiritual. Atheists and agnostics, for example, claim not to be religious but say they are spiritual.

Robert Fuller tells us, “The word spiritual gradually came to be associated with a private realm of thought and experience while the word religious came to be connected with the public realm of membership in religious institutions, participation in formal rituals, and adherence to official denominational doctrines.”

These different views are a fairly modern phenomenon, as folks used to consider being spiritual and being religious much the same with the unifying feature a belief in a Supreme Being. That no longer is the case, however, as people distinguish themselves as being either or both. Nevertheless, despite these differences, most people adhere to either category and fewer consider themselves having no belief system at all.

Group says VA discriminates about prayer, God at funerals

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GHN Editor - "The hostile and discriminatory actions by the Veterans Affairs officials in Houston are outrageous, unconstitutional and must stop," said Jeff Mateer, Esq., general counsel of Liberty Institute.

With this the Liberty Institute sets forth its concern that the separation of church and state in its interpretation by the Veterans Affairs has gone too far.  So with VFW District 4, American Legion Post 586, National Memorial Ladies  they have joined a lawsuit against the VA as well as the Director of Houston National Cemetery for Religious Hostility.

This lawsuit represents the continuing controversy over how much religious symbolism and behavior and of what type should be presented in a public place.  Some organizations have even been set up to fight for the right to celebrate Christmas publicly.

Recently the Louisiana legislature passed a bill allowing a monument of the Ten Commandments to be placed on government grounds in Baton Rouge.  A similar memorial was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court.  But there are instances where the conflict has been over Christmas displays, prayers and religious meetings that take place in areas and gatherings that have no intrinsic religious orientation.

Liberty Institute protests the inability for people to have Christian readings and prayers at veterans funerals at a national cemetery.  The organization maintains this level of restriction in religious practice is discriminatory.  In a recent press release, the Liberty Institute points out how it successfully represented a Houston pastor by the name of Scott Rainey in a suit in federal court where the Houston VA had prohibited him from saying a prayer in Jesus name on Memorial Day.

“Government officials who engage in religious discrimination against citizens are breaking the law. Sadly, this seems to be a pattern of behavior at the Houston VA National Cemetery."Mateer maintains.

The VA has violated the First Amendment is Liberty Institute's claim, describing its concern that the VA will not allow God to be mentioned at the funeral of Veterans and that prayers have to be submitted to the Government for approval.  The Institute further maintains that the one of the government officials, Jose Henriquez, had told key VFW leadership that the word “God” is forbidden  on greeting cards and at burial services.

In 2010 the Supreme Court in a vote of 5 to 4 overturned a decision that had been made by a federal judge objecting to the erection of a white cross that had been constructed in the Mojave desert 75 years ago to honor World War I war dead.   The objection to the cross had been made by the ACLU that had contended practitioners of other faiths, such as Judaism, would not want to be memorialized by a cross and that it did not represent all people since the cross was a religious symbol only for Christians.

Liberty Institute believes there is precedent for veterans to have prayers and religious symbols at their funerals whether on public or private property, and in doing so it brings up the argument once again over church and state, one that continues despite the previous decisions made on the subject.