Secular Spiritual Research
Secular Spiritual Research
Cover Letter
As I reflect on this 2024 Fall semester, I recognize the growth I’ve experienced as a student, thinker, writer, and speaker. Coming into the course, I was definitely eager to immerse myself in academia since I'm a non-traditional student with a colorful background. While I had some preconceived notions of what university level work might entail, this course revealed that learning comes in many forms. It seemed less about meeting expectations and more about discovering new ways to approach something familiar, this is at least how I felt since I had some familiarity with the concepts of rhetoric.
The community focused writing assignments and project challenged me in ways I didn’t anticipate. My initial struggles really came down to narrowing a specific topic. Coming from a background as a preacher in a high control fundamentalist religious group, I’ve wrestled with the concept of community. I’ve seen community’s necessity and its darker tendencies toward tribalism and manipulation. My misgivings toward the concept of community definitely shaped a negative attitude toward the topic at first. Yet, through the project, I was reminded about the undeniable value of community as spaces for connection, perhaps growth, and even collective purpose. Though, I may still maintain some reservations about the intrinsic good or bad of it.
My strengths this semester certainly came from my background in public speaking and the skills I developed in my previous community. While I initially approached rhetoric with a sense of superiority, assuming I had mastered it, the course gave me more to consider. I realized I had relied on a narrow range of rhetorical styles, particularly identifying problems and presenting solutions; a sufficiently easy logic to follow. One of my most meaningful takeaways was learning to appreciate broader nuance in rhetoric and how it can facilitate honest discourses rather than my former specialty of isolating individual social levers to pull in a more manipulative persuasion.
Despite my reservations about the concept of community, this course helped me soften my critical stance and recognize its value in various contexts. For instance, exploring the difference between space and place was eye opening. Before this course, I associated community solely with physical locations. Learning how it can also exist through intangible connections gave me a vocabulary to articulate ideas I had long felt but struggled to define. This was even explored a bit in my final project where the discussion of finding non religious spiritual communities often brought people to online spaces.
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I am most proud of the enthusiasm I developed for research during this project. Crafting surveys, hanging them, collecting data and conducting interviews helped me identify effective methods for engaging people on subject matter and methods that are actually effective in getting people to fill out surveys. One learning being that a survey placed in someones hand is way more likely to get filled out as compared to one hung on a light post or left in a public place. The process of data collection reignited my curiosity in exploring big questions, whether through writing, future scientific research, or simply engaging in meaningful conversations with people that can add perspective.
One of the interviews I conducted on the community of secular spiritual people was with Charles. His perspective on finding community really resonated with me. He found community through martial arts and friendships and I believe this shows how much range community can have both big and small. It also reinforced the idea that rhetoric isn’t inherently manipulative, but rather it can be a tool for building understanding and shared purpose. We might not think of rhetoric in Jiujitsu but they have regular practices and expectation which are espoused and these points bond people in that group, however, those expectations don’t restrict an individual to that community only.
Moving forward, I will think differently about both community and rhetoric. I’ve come to see that smaller, localized communities rather than a single, global one will offer unique opportunities for growth. I also now am leaning into the idea that we can be a part of many communities at one time or even over a period of time we can shift in and out of different communities. I’ve also gained more appreciation in that rhetoric can facilitate honest communication rather than divisive or controlling arguments only. I am regularly tempted to look at underlying principles in human tendencies but this project has left me with a deeper appreciation for the diversity of human experiences and how I can be more curious to explore them for personal reasons or for that of future projects.
Research on The Secular Spiritual Community
What is Secular Spirituality
When we think of community, the first image that often comes to mind is a tangible gathering, it could be a group of people sharing a physical space, united by shared values, beliefs, or goals. We might think of a church, a yoga class, a sport, and even a local bar. What about communities that lack these physical markers though? I found myself pondering on the communities that are more religiously or spiritually inclined, and about individuals whose spirituality don’t align with organized religion. I wondered if they still long for a sense of connection even if they are somewhere in the middle as secular spiritual people. These curiosities guided my exploration in the community of secular spiritual individuals. Those individuals who blend personal spirituality with an openness to science, philosophy, and individual growth.
There’s a fundamental need or curiosity that people must have satiated which all too frequently is satisfied through religion. This could be considered true by considering the sheer volume of religions in existence on the planet today. But then, what if the satisfaction isn’t that of a spiritual need or curious itch in the mind that needs to be scratched but rather, a sense of community that must be felt as human. I felt it was important to examine both deeply religious communities as well as that of spiritual people who might not have a bricks and mortar location to satisfy that need for spirituality in community. I felt that examining the binary could help me identify that which seems to fall in the middle and whether or not they commune.
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I thought about the variations of religion and why people seek community in varying forms. Why do some people prefer this religion or community over that one? I then considered how some religions updated their doctrines to reflect the realities that science has revealed and how some stay staunchly affixed to outdated thinking processes that at times ignore tangible scientific discovery. These updates could lead many former participants to the exit of that community and attract others. I think about how the earth was eventually recognized as a sphere circling the sun and not the flat center of the universe but for a long time it was considered heresy to think that way and people like Galileo paid the price. I then think of how a cardinal of the catholic church delineated science and religion when he stated, "We cannot say: creation or evolution, inasmuch as these two things respond to two different realities". (Catholic Answers) Any kind of update to a religious thinking system creates divergent paths and fragmentation of thought. We can see this to be true in the vast array of christian denominations, with 2024 estimates indicating approximately 45,000 distinct groups worldwide. (Center for the Study of Global Christianity)
My research on the subject included surveys, interviews, and reflections on my own experiences. A key part of this process was an interview with a 22 year old named Charles. He had a deep perspective on spirituality. His thoughts on religion, psychology, philosophy and how people socialize revealed a fascinating tension between the need for connection and the desire for individuality.
This project really focused on a few narrow dimensions of secular spirituality. I focused on space, place and language. Through these lenses, I aim to show how secular spiritual individuals create meaning, find belonging, and engage with the broader human experience by finding connection in tangible locations or online, in groups big and small and with early research examining the involvement of plant medicine or ecology rather than communion with people. (Abram; The Bible; McKenna.) More than this, surveys and interviews of secular spiritual people revealed that they seem not to restrict the interpretation of language such as ‘spirituality’ to that of religious doctrines.
Space and Place in Secular Spirituality
For many, spirituality is closely tied to physical spaces such as churches, mosques, temples, or meditation halls. These places serve as anchors for communal worship and personal reflection. But what happens when spirituality transcends these traditional boundaries?
Charles seemed to put himself in the category of secular spiritual people and he provided an illuminating perspective. He grew up in a devout Catholic household, but his current spiritual practice is not tied to any formal religion at all. Instead of finding connection in a church, he describes feeling spiritual in everyday moments such as in his practice of Jiu Jitsu or looking at a squirrel dart through the trees. Charles said, “I think God is kind of like the universe in creation of love itself,” and he went on to say, “We have to turn God into a human being to connect with them, but really, God is everything around us.” (Frankly Human Insights.)
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This idea of spirituality existing beyond physical spaces really aligns with my own reflections on community as well. Traditionally, I viewed community as something rooted in a specific place with a group of people. I felt the concept of being a community even globally was too abstract and that it doesn’t become real until people come together, but this project challenged me to think differently. A secular spiritual community, for instance, might gather in online forums, hiking trails, or local coffee shops. The "place" becomes less about bricks and mortar and more about the connections forged within those spaces, however temporary they may be.
The Power of Language in Spirituality and Community
Language, as Charles pointed out, is one of humanity’s most powerful tools for making sense of the intangible. “Human beings are really just storytellers,” he said during our interview. “We pass things down through stories, and that’s how we make sense of the world.” I really connected with that since I had recently submitted a philosophy paper with a similar conclusion. (Frankly Human Insights.)
This perspective resonates with me because of my own experience too. As someone who once delivered sermons in a high control fundamentalist religious environment, I understand how language can sculpt beliefs, change behavior, and create a group identity that people want to attach themselves too. Unfortunately, it can also isolate, manipulate, and create a sense of problematic tribalism and ‘othering’ which I’ve seen and embarrassingly taken part in.
In secular spiritual communities, language often serves a different purpose. Rather than dictating dogma, it seems to becomes a medium for explaining personal experience and opening up conversation on the subject. Charles’s explanations on his learnings from Carl Jung's thought of ‘embodying Christ,’ for example, highlights a shift from a dogmatic way of thinking to a more interpretive one. “It’s not enough to be a Christian; you must become Christ himself,” Charles said, paraphrasing Jung. “It’s about embodying the good and evil aspects of being human.” (Frankly Human Insights.) The words ‘christian’ or ‘christ like’ become language that is now open to interpretation based upon individual learnings.
This nuanced approach to language allows secular spiritual individuals to grapple with big questions without the constraints of rigid doctrine. It fosters a sense of intellectual and emotional freedom, encouraging individuals to find their own paths rather than adhering to predefined ones.
What Secular Spirituality Reveals About Community
One of the most striking insights I gleaned from this project was the diversity of needs that community fulfills. For Charles, community seems to be about camaraderie and mutual growth. He finds this in his Jiu Jitsu practice where discipline, trust, and shared goals create a sense of belonging and mutual growth. “Everything I do is about giving up to something higher,” he said, “not just for myself, but to develop as a better, higher spiritual being.” (Frankly Human Insights.)
This idea of 'something higher' varies widely among secular spiritual individuals. For some, it might be the pursuit of knowledge, artistic expression, environmental stewardship, growth, making the world better, or simply connecting with people to which they have common ground. What unites these diverse expressions is a shared desire to transcend the self and contribute to something greater. Outside of a spiritual perspective too, communities pull different levers for different people making an attraction to each highly dependent upon the individual. Just think of what might drive someone to join politics, alcoholics anonymous, or attend business and marketing events. Everyone has different problems or needs that they’d like to be satisfied through a community.
However, as mentioned before, the absence of bricks and mortar locations for secular spiritual people can pose a challenge. Without a dedicated space or regularly established rituals, individuals must actively seek out opportunities for connection in varied ways. Charles acknowledged that tension also, saying that while community is important, it’s difficult to find one that aligns perfectly with every single one of an individuals personal beliefs. “You have to create your surroundings,” he said. “Everything’s an energy transfer, and the people you keep around you will shape your actions, feelings, and emotions.” (Frankly Human Insights.) This insight highlighted the importance of being intentional in building communities for oneself. Whether through martial arts, book clubs, or online forums and social media, secular spiritual individuals must navigate the balance between individuality and connection.
Challenges and Opportunities
Throughout this project, I grappled with my own biases and preconceived notions about community. As a former preacher, I’ve seen the value in community when people consider each other like a family and actually help each other in even extreme ways like through disaster relief, but I’ve also seen the dangers of tribalism as well as manipulation that can lead to shame, shunning people, and psychological blows that can truly scar individuals, families, and friends. This research helped me recognize the value of community when approached thoughtfully. Instead of going all in on one community that requires full dedication, a person might involve themselves with several that still serve their needs.
I felt that was the most compelling aspect of secular spirituality; It’s adaptable. Without the constraints of organized religion, an individual has freedom to define and carve out their own spiritual practices, values, and subsequent communities. Unfortunately, this freedom can also be isolating, especially for those who lack a clear sense of direction. The negative extremes of a high control religion create the space for the extreme goods. It seems a fundamental Yin and Yang must exist in any community. Inside of something pure, there must be corruption because we have to feel some bad to know what good feels like.
Charles’s reflections highlighted some of that duality because he indicated that he finds fulfillment in his spiritual practice, but also indicated the limitations of human created organizations. He said, “Religion is corrupted anytime you mix people together… But community is still needed. Even if it’s not spiritual in the traditional sense, it fulfills something essential.” (Frankly Human Insights.)
In addition to interviews, I conducted a survey where I had a list of ten questions. I explored the interplay between spirituality, religion, and community by gathering responses from varying demographics. The majority of respondents were individuals aged 18-25 since the survey was found through a QR code that was placarded around campus bulletins and light posts. Of the 18-25 year olds; their spiritual and religious practices, their sense of belonging, and their satisfaction with their chosen communities was the target of the questions. Participants could represent themselves as spiritual, religious, both, or neither. Across those spectrums, some found community in religious organizations, while others found connection in nature or with family and friends. The variety and overlap added credence to my theory of how people navigate spiritual and communal needs in a diversity of ways that are difficult to track.
So we see overlaps and tension, but the tension between the flaws of human made organizations and the need for connection feel deeply relevant to our modern society. Though difficult to track, it seems a project worth concerning ourselves with if we ever hope to truly conduct ourselves as a human community. Society is becoming increasingly fragmented, but the lessons of secular spirituality seem to offer an enlightening blueprint for creating inclusive, intentional micro communities for oneself while considering themselves a part of a broader community.
Key insights
Overall, The data extracted from the interviews and surveys as well as my personal experience and planned reading in the annotated bibliography revealed a dynamic between religious and spiritual practices. People identifying as both religious and spiritual emphasized the importance of structured communities that create a sense of purpose and shared value. While some overlap existed, secular spiritual individuals, or those identifying as neither, seemed to lean more towards nature and individual expression as sources of connection, suggesting that community doesn’t have to be tied to formal practices.
Common ground was most clear in the question of community though. Nearly all of the respondents acknowledged that community enhances human connection, and they also highlighted the challenges like biases inside their communities and the potential for them to stagnate, stop growing, or become wildly problematic without concerted and purposeful effort. This crossover really highlighted our shared desire for belonging, even as the paths to fulfillment differ. The project started to feel less about identifying how secular spiritual people find community and instead turned into a philosophical exploration on how humans find connection and survive with or without community.
Personal Takeaways
This project has been as much about understanding others as it has been about understanding myself. Through my research, interviews, and reflections, I’ve come to see community in new light. Instead of expecting a proper community to be an all serving perfect monolith, or a series of warring religious fiefdoms, I now see community as a dynamic, multifaceted concept that I don’t mind shifting into and out of.
Charles’s insights keyed in on the power of individuality within a collective. His ability to find spirituality in everyday moments and in his micro communities was a good reminder that community is not a one size fits all method but rather a series of personal decisions. Those personal decisions though, I think highlight the importance of intentionality. Whether we identify as religious, spiritual, something in between, or even if we reject the concepts entirely; the communities we join or build should reflect our values and aspirations.
By approaching community with thoughtfulness and authenticity, we can create spaces that build connection, encourage growth, or even align with our purpose.
As a neuroscience major at The University of Kentucky, I’m excited to continue exploring these ideas, both academically and personally. Whether through future research in neuroscience and cognition or simply engaging in meaningful conversations, I hope to contribute to a broader understanding of what it means to 'belong' and do more exploratory research on technological interventions in human biology, but I also want to more clearly identify and unravel our seemingly inextricable ties to spirituality. This research has served as an excellent practice and a jumping off point for future endeavors.
Works Cited Page & Resources
Resources that shed light on the community of secular spiritual people and individual philosophical theists can be found below. I have included some articles and mentions in this first jumping off point of research but I felt further reading into the authors noted below could shed more light on the subject as I delve into human communion in a broader sense. Early motivation in the research started with a notion that felt like justifying the existence of spiritual people and their alternative practices outside of organized religion, some of this being a look into plant medicine and pharmacology that could be used in rituals. I then took more clear notation of the delineation between spiritual people and secular spiritual people which is an interest arousing subject worth further exploration.