Across families

Spiritual But Not Religious and Unitarian Universalism

Different families with 12 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.10 (0 would be identical).

Spiritual But Not ReligiousUnaffiliated

Something more than the material, approached personally and eclectically, with institutions declined on principle. This is a described population rather than a doctrine, which is why its dispersions are the widest in the matrix after Unitarian Universalism.

Unitarian UniversalismLiberal religious

A covenant rather than a creed: members hold theist, humanist, pagan and Buddhist positions inside one congregation, bound by shared principles rather than shared beliefs. Has the widest dispersions in the entire matrix, and that is the tradition working as designed.

Where they agree

B1 Source of truth
Both sit at reason and direct experience — a gap of 0.00.
B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at individual conscience decides — a gap of 0.00.
D3 The body
Both sit at leaning to be celebrated — a gap of 0.00.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at ignorant but fundamentally sound — a gap of 0.02.
E1 Exclusivity
Both sit at many valid paths — a gap of 0.03.
A4 Locus
Both sit at leaning fully present within it — a gap of 0.04.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Both sit at leaning achieved by effort or insight — a gap of 0.04.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at leaning animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.04.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Both sit at metaphorical, or no text at all — a gap of 0.05.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at leaning optional or absent and between essential and prescribed and optional or absent respectively — a gap of 0.06.
E3 Locus of belonging
Both sit at an individual choice — a gap of 0.07.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address and leaning impersonal principle or order respectively — a gap of 0.08.

All seventeen axes

Axis	Spiritual But Not Religious	Unitarian Universalism	Gap
A1 Divine reality	leaning a divine reality certainly exists	between nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly exists	0.32
A2 Personhood	between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address	leaning impersonal principle or order	0.08
A3 Plurality	between strictly one and many powers and spirits	leaning strictly one	0.18
A4 Locus	leaning fully present within it	leaning fully present within it	0.04
B1 Source of truth	reason and direct experience	reason and direct experience	0.00
B2 Reading of sacred text	metaphorical, or no text at all	metaphorical, or no text at all	0.05
B3 Institutional authority	individual conscience decides	individual conscience decides	0.00
C1 Survival of the self	leaning continues in some form	leaning ends at death	0.33
C2 Shape of time	between one life, then judgment and cyclical return	leaning one life, then judgment	0.28
C3 The human condition	ignorant but fundamentally sound	ignorant but fundamentally sound	0.02
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good	leaning achieved by effort or insight	leaning achieved by effort or insight	0.04
D2 Centrality of ritual	leaning optional or absent	between essential and prescribed and optional or absent	0.06
D3 The body	leaning to be celebrated	leaning to be celebrated	0.00
E1 Exclusivity	many valid paths	many valid paths	0.03
E2 Origin of the cosmos	between an intentional act and beginningless or natural	leaning beginningless or natural	0.14
E3 Locus of belonging	an individual choice	an individual choice	0.07
E4 Standing of nature	leaning animate and itself sacred	leaning animate and itself sacred	0.04

Positions for Spiritual But Not Religious rest principally on Survey scholarship on the spiritual-but-not-religious (Pew, Fuller, Mercadante); for Unitarian Universalism, on UUA Seven Principles and Six Sources. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.

Which of the two is closer to you?

The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.