1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Although the US is nominally a secular state, the majority of its citizens think of themselves as spiritual. That's one of the central findings of a recent major study of spirituality in the United States. &quot;About three quarters of the respondents said that spirituality is either very important to them, or somewhat important,&quot; said Bob Boisture, the president and CEO of the Fetzer Institute, which sponsored the 2020 report, What Does Spirituality Mean to Us. &quot;As we probe more deeply in terms of what that translates to.... we found that it's not just important in the abstract, it manifests in these very real ways.&quot; In this podcast, Boisture discusses the different ways that people define spirituality, how they express it within and apart from organized religious frameworks, and the degree to which spiritually-oriented people get engaged in civic life. Among the report's conclusions: 86% of survey respondents considered themselves spiritual; about 66% aspire to be more spiritual; and people who identify as spiritual are more liable to be civilly engaged,, get involved in politics, and vote. &quot;A cross-cutting theme of what spirituality meant to people was around this theme of connection to a higher power, to other people, to the natural world, in whatever combination. And that connection was not just a physical connection, it was a connection of moral significance,&quot; Boisture said. The Institute funded the study as part of its core mission of helping build the spiritual foundation for a living world. The Kalamazoo, Michigan based organization has a long-standing commitment to supporting research that deepens our understanding of spirituality and how it can animate concrete and positive change.&amp;nbsp; Links: The Fetzer Institute - https://fetzer.org Interactive Spirituality in the US Study site - https://spiritualitystudy.fetzer.org/ PEW Religions Landscape Study - https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/ Sacred Inclusion Network -- https://sacredinclusion.com Sacred Inclusion Network's Facebook Group -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/sacredinclusion/ Sacred Inclusion Network's YouTube Channel -- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCptUrK9qMlIPIA3I4gbntpQ Like the podcast? Support us on Patreon! &amp;nbsp; The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network https://sacredinclusion.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/18274799/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/98051525