I realized that I had put God in a box-a very small and uncomfortable box. That, in effect, God was on the payroll of the Catholic Church. Most of the people on the retreat that weekend had been raised religious, most of them Catholic. But when they finally found the power that would redeem them, if it happened in church, it wasn't upstairs in the main congregation. The first warning I pick up in that statement is that popular culture perceives religion as an empty shell, and the practice of religion as constricted and devoid of meaning.
People see religion as hypocritical, juridical, and exclusive.
They see religion stressing outward form and adherence separate from one's experience or conscience. Wherever this is true, we need to ask God's help to change it. Another message I sense wrapped in this claim of being spiritual and not religious is that religion is only for those who live neat and tidy lives, that there's no room at the altar for the messiness people find within themselves. A friend of mine was down on his luck. He held a low-paying job and had suffered a number of medical setbacks.