ABSTRACT

This chapter begins by noting the popularity of the phrase “Spiritual but Not Religious” (SBNR), moving quickly to draw attention to its problematic definition. Rehearsing the various (mis)conceptions that abound about being SBNR, the chapter offers a preliminary definition of the phrase followed by the need to qualify said definition by investigating its (1) history and the cultural strands that helped form it; (2) its contemporary manifestation and its various critiques (e.g., that it fosters spiritual narcissism; evinces a lack of community and a superficial consumerism; harbors an unarticulated ethic, metaphysic, and parameters for social activism and ambiguity concerning its viability, sustainability, and future relation to organized religion); and (3) its possible future developments. In so doing, it offers a general three-part frame (i.e., roots, circumscriptions, futures) that is useful for its exploration, summarizing how the various chapters in the volume fit within their appointed parts.