People who identify as SBNR deny that an association with organized religion is the only way to attain spiritual growth.

“If you’re providing something that actually helps people’s lives, they’re going to come,” said Sven Erlandson, counselor and author. “So, if they’re not coming and they’re actually running away, that’s a pretty good indicator that you either have a crappy product or your salesmanship stinks. I would offer that it’s both.”

Erlandson, credited as the father of the SBNR movement, was raised in the Lutheran church and went on to join the ministry. Shortly after the release of his book, “Spiritual but Not Religious: A Call to Religious Revolution in America,” Erlandson said he was kicked out of the ministry.

“There was this palpable spiritual longing, even back then,” Erlandson said. “People were looking for something to believe in and the church was not meeting that need.”

The cultural significance of the church has shifted throughout generations, but understanding the meaning of the Pew Research findings is up for debate.

“Some scholars have argued that this category has no coherency,” said Finbarr Curtis, assistant professor of religious studies at Georgia Southern University. “That it’s kind of a made up thing that pollsters have invented because they don’t know how to count people who don’t fit within denominational boxes.”

However, the decline in church attendance has affected a local church significantly.

“I’ve probably lost 50 percent of my congregation in the past five years,” said Jonathan Edmisten, pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Statesboro. “Millennials are the people that we as spiritual leaders are targeting because we understand the church cannot continue on. It will die by nature of baby boomers dying.”

“In 1950s America, it was important to go to church on Main Street,” Curtis said. “Possibly, that social expectation doesn’t quite exist in the same way.”

Identifying as SBNR could also communicate to other people what kind of person you are via signaling theory, said Jason Slone, professor of religious studies at Georgia Southern University.

“One theory is by choosing to be SBNR, you’re managing your reputation,” Slone said. “So, the theory is that atheism signals intelligence and religiosity signals morality. SBNR could be a hybrid signal.”

The implications that come with a quarter of the population identifying as SBNR could have an impact on a wide range of topics, such as voting and politics, scientific literacy, marriage and fertility rates, Slone said.

“Fertility rates are correlated with religiosity levels,” Slone said. “The least religious women have the fewest babies and the most religious women have the most babies.”

The word ‘religious’ can carry a negative connotation in our society, Curtis said.

“For some people, what they mean when they say ‘spiritual but not religious’ is that they’re uncomfortable with religious institutions,” Curtis said. “They’re fine with some sort of what they describe as a ‘personal connection’ with something, whether that’s a figure like God or a spiritual connection to nature, but they don’t like the constrictions and rules of a church.”

“I think organized religion has a strength around it that has to do with collectivism and working for a group,” said Lisa Costello, associate professor and program director of women and gender studies at Georgia Southern University. “It also reveals something about what is becoming unattractive about organized religion in terms of strictures and rules.”

The SBNR movement has been targeted by critics who claim that its adherents refuse to commit to anything wholly and would rather pick and choose what works for them.

“When Nike came along and said, ‘We’re going to give you 1,000 choices,’ they engaged in consumer-based production of shoes,” said Erlandson. “The church is saying, ‘We have one shoe, we have one size, and it will fit you’ and if it doesn’t fit you, you’re the problem.”

“People who don’t go to church think they know everything there is to know about religion, and they don’t. People who do go to church think they know everything there is to know about religion, and they don’t.” – Dr. James M. Woods

Woods, a professor of history, believes that this statement is very important to point out when contemplating religion. He also points out that the South does have a fairly religious culture and even more so than any other parts of the country. “I think professors coming here [to Georgia Southern] from a more secularist part of the country are often very surprised at how religious the students are or at least more religious than maybe they are in Washington, California, or New England,” he said.

According to LiveScience, in 2013, 48% of Georgian adults considered themselves “very religious.” With Georgia being in the “Bible Belt,” there are many religious clubs on Georgia Southern’s campus that students could join.

Matthew Balte, student intern for the Wesley Foundation, says that being a part of this organization “gave [him] a good group of people to be around and not just on Wednesday nights.” He said, “It gave [him] people to confide in too. If you come to Wesley, expect to be loved and expect to be accepted no matter who you are.” The Wesley Foundation meets for main services on Wednesday nights at eight with an average attendance of eighty to ninety people. They meet for chapel in 103 Herty Drive.

Georgia Southern has other organizations like Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Catholic Campus Ministry, Hillel, Campus Outreach, YoungLife, UKirk (a Presbyterian campus ministry), Alpha Epsilon Pi and many other organizations. Students can access these organizations via MyInvolvment in their MyGeorgiaSouthern accounts.

  Some students at Southern do not believe in any religions. Elizabeth Sherer, international trade freshman, is an atheist. Sherer stated, “Whenever I mention it, people look at me funny because we are in the Bible Belt. They often look down on me. I’ve been called a heathen.” She also points out, “I’m an atheist, not antitheist.” An atheist is someone who does not believe there is a god while an antitheist is an opposition to god.

College is about finding yourself and who you are, and it is important to not judge anyone for who or what they believe in. We were all put on Earth to love each other not oppose each other. Through different religious organizations on campus, you can explore your beliefs.