Are you spiritual?

 Once, when someone asked what my religion was, I replied: Equanimity.

I was popping off, and I should have had the decency to apologize to Antoninus for stealing his material.

But when the questions are serious, I don’t know what to say.

Are you a “spiritual” person? A “religious” person? Am I?

I don’t know what to say because I don’t know what the terms mean.

I’ve been searching for light on this puzzle for years. Recently, I came across the Fetzer Institute’s “Study of Spirituality in the United States” (September 2020).

Here’s what I took home:

• First, “spiritual” and “religious” don’t have any concrete meaning. We tend to use “religion” in referring to institutions now. “Spirituality” is more personal, more private. And “spirituality” is all over the map, a suitcase term big enough to include astrology, Alcoholics Anonymous and remarks by scientists — Albert Einstein and E.O. Wilson are favorites —about the connectedness of all things.

• Although the meanings of these basic terms are mushy, they are highly predictive. People who identify themselves as “spiritual” or “religious” are more likely to vote, donate to worthy causes, join social protests, etc. (There are also patterns that would interest advertisers. If you self-identify as “spiritual,” you’re more likely to buy certain kinds of cars, although this study just mentioned other research on that point.)

• One of the striking features of the talk about spirituality was the idea of connectedness. You’d expect some talk of a connection with a “higher power.” But being connected with nature or with mankind also seemed to count in many people’s minds as being “spiritual.”

The report suggests that this sense of connectedness seems to activate this social activism. Where people feel a connection, they also feel a responsibility.

However, Dr. Ruth Braunstein, a sociologist at the University of Connecticut, suggested that we assume that this sense of connectedness causes the action, that my sense of connectedness with all people causes me to join a protest in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement. She points out that the cause could be the reverse: I could feel a sense of connection with people as a result of joining a protest — of rubbing shoulders with so many who had suffered injustice.

I’m not belittling “spirituality” because it’s hard to define. To me, some of the most interesting words, some of the most interesting concepts, are difficult to define. I’d have a hard time telling you what “philosophy” means. Difficult terms are sometimes profoundly interesting.

After reading the study, I was struck by similarities between the concepts of “spirituality” and of “education.” The overwhelming majority of Americans consider themselves to be spiritual. The more spiritual a person considers himself to be, the more spirituality he wants to have. Almost unanimously, those who say they are spiritual report they are more spiritual today than they were.

I’d love to see a similar study on American views on education.

As for me, I still don’t know what to say.

If you’re interested, the report is at https://spiritualitystudy.fetzer.org.