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Without submission to concrete authorities, the self becomes its own magisterium–But this is a lonely and sad thing.https://t.co/8I8eI15eeQ

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) August 27, 2016

The Nones' reluctance to commit to organized religion may also stem from the moral standards a traditional faith demands. Without submission to concrete authorities, the self becomes its own magisterium. In a privatized relationship with God, the believer has little motive for self-renunciation. Whatever is difficult may be dispensed with as optional or as an unattainable ideal. The defined creed, code, and cult of an organized religion like Catholicism, by contrast, makes individual deficiencies painfully clear.

TDE Reader: "Nones" refer to those Americans who claim no religious affiliation.