The Religiously Unaffiliated and the Post-Religious Era

As increasing numbers of people turn to yoga classes and mindfulness meditation instead of a church, mosque or schul, the links between understanding spirituality as the work of the spirit, or of the soul, become less and less meaningful. And as traditions rooted in Asian culture and tradition are stripped of their religious roots and are co-opted as one-size-fits-all “spirituality,” the term itself is so vague as to be nearly useless. Seen in this light, the designation “spiritual but not religious” does not mean much of anything. A group of white women chanting Hindu sutras in a hot yoga class is not spirituality: it’s an exercise class with a Sanskrit soundtrack.