It was fascinating to read the responses to “Letting Doubters in the Door,” my Sunday Op-Ed on the “nones”  -- those who answer "no religious affiliation" when asked by pollsters -- and a new open approach to religion and spirituality in the United States today.  The responses nicely mirror the two major reactions that those of us working in the "emerging church" are  seeing across the country, from more conservative or traditional believers on the one side and from anti-religious folks on the other.

We call a person “conservative” when he or she seeks to conserve qualities from the past. There is nothing inherently wrong about this approach. For some conservatives, however, this desire becomes the conviction that all change is bad. Some say, “We possess the truth; we (or the Bible or the church) got all of it right centuries ago. Take it or leave it.” Of course, this becomes a bit more vicious when “take it” means heaven and “leave it” means hell! I presume this is what "Drive-By" meant when he or she wrote, “You take the Spiritual road, and I'll take the Religious road, and I'll be in heaven before you.”

See "Link to External Source Article" below to read further.

Everyone is trying to get a grip on the "nones" these days...please see the rest of this article for this person's attempt...

As usual, it is easy to find Urantia Book wisdom for these burning issues of evolutionary religion. For example:

^195:10.1 Christianity has indeed done a great service for this world, but what is now most needed is Jesus. The world needs to see Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men. It is futile to talk about a revival of primitive Christianity; you must go forward from where you find yourselves. Modern culture must become spiritually baptized with a new revelation of Jesus’ life and illuminated with a new understanding of his gospel of eternal salvation. And when Jesus becomes thus lifted up, he will draw all men to himself. Jesus’ disciples should be more than conquerors, even overflowing sources of inspiration and enhanced living to all men. Religion is only an exalted humanism until it is made divine by the discovery of the reality of the presence of God in personal experience.