Britt Hartley
| Britt Hartley | |
|---|---|
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| Name | Britt Hartley |
| School/tradition | Metamodern theology; Post-religious spirituality |
| Known for | Articulating grounded faith and meaning-making beyond dogma |
| Notable ideas | Grounded faith; Post-religious spirituality; Metamodern meaning-making |
Britt Hartley (also published as Brittney Hartley) is an American spiritual teacher and writer known for helping people find meaning and community after leaving organized religion. Raised in a devout Mormon (LDS) family in Idaho, Hartley later became an atheist and trained as a spiritual director. Today she blends science, mindfulness practices and a feminist perspective to build what she calls “no-nonsense spirituality” — a grounded, secular form of faith. Her work encourages people to reclaim rituals, awe, and ethical values without requiring belief in the supernatural, a style sometimes described as a metamodern or post-religious approach to faith.
Early life and education
Hartley’s background deeply shaped her mission. She grew up active in the Mormon Church, even teaching LDS seminary classes as a young adult. (In her youth she clashed with strict doctrine – she has recounted being briefly “kicked out” of her home at age 16 over religious issues.) Later she earned a Master’s degree in theology (focusing on Gen Z and the Future of American Religion) from Northwind Theological Seminary. She also completed training as a spiritual director through a Center for Non-Religious Spirituality program. At one point she was pursuing a PhD (“open and relational theology”) and was ordained in a Sufi (Islamic mystic) lineage — yet she lost her faith in God during those studies. In her own words, Hartley became a self-described “mystic atheist”: an atheist who still follows a mystic path of connection and wonder.
Faith transition and early writings
After leaving Mormonism, Hartley turned her attention to post-religious spirituality. She literally wrote the book on it: her No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools, No Faith Required (2024) lays out a secular spiritual program. It reviews practices like meditation, gratitude exercises, art, storytelling and nature immersion, but explicitly strips away doctrines and dogma. As one description notes, the book “draws on [Hartley’s] work as an atheist spiritual director to provide practical guidelines for navigating a secular approach to ritual, morality, awe, transcendence, wisdom, community, intuition, connection, and meaning that can withstand the harsh truths of reality.” In other words, Hartley teaches that people can use time-honored spiritual tools (ritual, community, wonder, service) to flourish, without needing any metaphysical beliefs. She emphasizes paying attention to what truly makes us feel connected or “alive,” rather than following a checklist of creed or tradition.
Before writing No Nonsense Spirituality, Hartley published Mormon Philosophy Simplified (2019), a book intended to bridge everyday questions with LDS theology. But by the early 2020s, her own faith had eroded. As she researched controversial Mormon history (such as early polygamy), she found herself in a “dark night of the soul,” facing the void of no faith, no God, no religious community. Drawing on philosophy and psychology, she found secular answers to the questions that religion had promised to solve. She tells her audiences that this journey led her to a new “box of heirlooms”: bits of past tradition and ritual (like holiday customs or family stories) that she chooses to keep for their meaning, while discarding supernatural beliefs. For example, she still decorates a Christmas tree and says a mealtime blessing, but now she frames them as family rituals of love rather than acts of worship.
Philosophy and key ideas
In her view, spiritual life is ultimately about connection – to ourselves, to others, and to “something bigger” like nature or the cosmos – rather than about literal doctrines. Hartley defines spirituality simply as waking up to the present: being mindful while doing everyday tasks (washing dishes, walking the dog, chatting with friends), and feeling moments of awe and reverence. She argues that everyone has “rituals, community, and moments of awe or transcendence” in their lives, even if not labeled religiously. By calling this spiritual, and using secular tools like meditation or storytelling wisely, one can rebuild a meaningful life.
A key idea Hartley emphasizes is that meaning and well-being come from practice, not just belief. Echoing scholars like John Vervaeke, she argues that well-being arises from embodied, participatory engagement (like meditation or communal rituals), not from holding certain propositions. Hartley often points out that ancient mystical practices (driving a sense of awe or unity) can be justified today by science and psychology. She cites research showing that awe (feeling overwhelmed by something vast or beautiful) makes people more humble, empathetic and curious – effects that modern science confirms in the brain. Whether it is watching redwood trees or listening to grand music, awe reliably “turns off” our self-centered mental mode and rewires us for kindness and openness. By framing these effects in scientific terms, Hartley “gives permission” to enjoy them without feeling it’s irrational – you’re simply training your brain.
Feminist perspectives on spirituality
She also draws on feminist perspectives to reshape spirituality. Hartley observes that most traditional spiritual leaders have been men, and thus our ideas of what’s “spiritual” have often reflected male experiences and schedules (e.g. strict morning yoga or ice baths). In her popular social-media lecture “I don’t take spiritual advice from men,” she noted that household acts typically done by women – cooking, caregiving, community gatherings – are often overlooked as spiritual work. She advocates “depatriarchying” spirituality: recognizing the sacred in everyday tasks. For example, the love a parent pours into making a meal or a poet’s heartfelt writing can be just as spiritual as climbing a mountain or chanting in a temple. This shift allows many (especially women) to see their ordinary lives as infused with meaning and connection.
Methods and practice
Technically, Hartley works as a spiritual director and coach – an advisor who asks questions and suggests practices (much like a therapist or mentor), but without religious texts. She has certified in meditation and directs others through personal guidance. She also creates podcasts and online content (notably her TikTok/YouTube “No Nonsense Spirituality” channel) where she discusses topics like navigating deconstruction of faith, healing from religious trauma, overcoming nihilism, and cultivating gratitude or awe. In these forums she often weaves together science (neurology of joy, psychology of happiness), secular philosophy, and her own narrative. For instance, she will note neuroscientific findings about the brain’s “default mode network” quieting down in awe-filled experiences, or point to positive psychology research on gratitude. The method is pragmatic: try a mindfulness exercise, notice if it uplifts you, and keep what works, rather than accept it on faith.
Reception and influence
Hartley’s work has resonated with many people in faith crisis, particularly former Christians and Mormons in the US. Her podcasts on Mormon-focused networks and secular spirituality platforms have garnered a wide audience. One Mormon Stories episode about her journey drew over 180,000 views online. Fans praise her practical yet compassionate style: she “meets people where they are,” often saying that losing belief can be terrifying unless you also gain tools for meaning. A contemporary blogger wrote that Hartley does “incredible work helping people navigate existential nihilism and crises of faith,” offering not just abstract philosophy but caring, concrete support. Her TikTok videos and virtual coaching offer tips on everything from building new rituals to conversing with religious family members over holidays.
Hartley’s influence seems to be part of a larger cultural shift sometimes called metamodern spirituality. This trend moves beyond postmodern cynicism and the rigid dogmas of older faiths, seeking a coherent pluralism that fuses rational science with deep inner life. As one expert explains, metamodern spirituality “seeks to bridge modern science with spirituality,” encouraging development, reflection, and a grounded approach to transcendence. Hartley fits this mold: she freely embraces awe, storytelling and the idea of “something greater,” yet she insists these experiences must be compatible with evidence and reason. She once noted that even Einstein and Spinoza used the word “God” metaphorically (as when Einstein spoke of “the mysterious” in science), implying we can honor that sense of wonder without unsupportable metaphysical claims.
Criticism and debate
Nevertheless, skeptics raise criticisms. Some hardcore atheists worry that “secular spirituality” smuggles religion back under a new label. Hartley addresses this by drawing a line between experience and belief. For her, saying “I felt God while watching the stars” is merely a poetic way to describe awe; it should not be taken as an objective truth claim. She explicitly warns against using subjective feelings as proof of supernatural facts. As she puts it, if someone says “I feel God here” when in nature, she is happy to agree “I feel that too” – but she stops short of endorsing any theology about a literal deity. She believes that a sense of connection (even if some call it God) can be preserved while separating out unprovable doctrines. This stance is fairly unique: she calls it fully honoring the emotional depth of human experience and giving epistemology its due.
Her method and message have drawn some dissent not from opponents of secularism, but from fellow secularists. Religious deconstructionists like Greta Christina have warned that atheism today often offers little comfort – it’s “not a safe place to land” for faith’s trappings. Hartley agrees: she recalls experiencing a brief “burn-it-all-down” zeal after leaving religion, but catching herself when she realized that pounding on beliefs without providing new support can be dangerous. She tells an anecdote of a deconverted friend who became so disconnected and depressed that they attempted suicide. This horror taught Hartley that mere intellectual ‘truth’ is not enough; people also need emotional tools. Thus, she emphasizes that truth should be handled with compassion. She argues it’s unethical to bluntly say “well, horror of horrors, God doesn’t exist” and leave someone in despair. Instead, she focuses on giving people rituals, community and meaning to grasp instead of dogma.
Other critics (especially from religious people) view her background with suspicion. For example, traditional Mormons or Christians might see her reinterpretation of sacred symbols (like the manger or Jesus’s story) as blasphemous or hollow. Hartley openly rejects the supernatural claims of religious faith, which predictably draws criticism from believers. In her public talks, she sometimes suggests reading the Gospel of Thomas or secular scholarship on Jesus rather than the literal Bible, which non-liberals might view as heresy. She also advises nonbelievers to focus on their friends’ core values rather than debating doctrines, a tact seen by some religious critics as avoiding truth. But Hartley frames these steps pragmatically: she is not promoting a new faith, only suggesting how to coexist peacefully and meaningfully in a pluralistic world.
Legacy
Hartley’s legacy is still unfolding, but she already stands out as a leader in the emerging field of secular or post-religious spirituality. Through her blog and social media she has helped mainstream the idea that people can be deeply ethical and “spiritual” without God. Her approach has blended what scholars see as modern and postmodern ideas into a coherent whole: using science to back up the insights of art and mysticism, valuing sincere belief while remaining critically aware, and affirming that meaning can be built from the ground up. In those respects she embodies the so-called metamodern sensibility: simultaneously hopeful and sober, earnest and ironic, yearning for something higher but rooted in reality. If anything, her influence may be as much in the practical changes she inspires — new rituals, support networks, ways of talking about big questions — as any formal philosophical legacy.
Selected Works (Books and Major Publications)
- Mormon Philosophy Simplified: An Easy LDS Approach to Classic Philosophical Questions (2019) – A book explaining philosophical issues through Mormon teachings (written while still identifying with LDS faith).
- No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools, No Faith Required (2024) – A guide to secular spiritual practices, stressing connection and meaning without supernatural beliefs.
(Hartley has also appeared in numerous podcasts and online forums on faith deconstruction, such as the Mormon Stories Podcast and others, where she discusses spirituality after religion.).
Timeline (Key Events)
- Early Years: Raised in the Mormon Church in Idaho; active in church youth programs. (Experienced a conflict with family around age 16 over church rules.)
- Early Adulthood: Taught LDS seminary courses; later attended BYU–Idaho.
- Mid-2010s: Earned a Master’s in Theology (Northwind Seminary); began losing literal faith during graduate studies.
- 2019: Published Mormon Philosophy Simplified.
- 2020-2022: Transitioned to atheist/spiritual director career; completed spiritual direction training; began building online presence.
- 2024: Published No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools, No Faith Required, laying out her secular spiritual framework. Extensive online and podcast outreach follows.
Britt Hartley continues to mentor individuals and speak publicly on spirituality beyond religion. She remains a prominent voice for those seeking depth and purpose after faith, fostering a community grounded in conscience, wonder and practical rituals rather than dogma.