Spirituality vs Religion
11/05/07 09:49 PM *Spirituality
The ultrarunners group got into a rare discussion of
spiritual issues recently. I stayed out of it until
some misconceptions about "spirituality" vs
"religion" cropped in. I wrote the following and to
my surprise it had its intended effect as numerous
runners wrote back to thank me for giving them a new
perspective to consider...
I've been trying to stay out of this, but one small factual correction. This is a common misconception:
Spirituality is a goal. Religion is a means to it.
Spiritually and religion both have the same goal: a right relationship with God/god (however defined).
The difference is this:
Religion is when you do it in community, with others (think: Francis of Assisi)
Spirituality is when you do it by yourself, your way (think: Frank Sinatra)
America is highly individualistic and thus Americans tend to prefer "spirituality". Numerous sociologists have analyzed this phenomenon. We tend to look at various belief systems, pick and choose different elements like at a buffet, and create our own customized personal religion: this is spirituality (as distinct from religion). A little Buddha, a pinch of Jesus, a cup of Ayn Rand, a smidge of yoga, a dollop of Oprah, a bowl of organic food and there you go- your own personal faith-system! Spirituality generally makes no claims to present universal truth about anything (God, humans, right and wrong, etc); it's about "what's true for me" and what makes me FEEL spiritual. If any parts of it ever start to make you feel uncomfortable you can just chuck them and replace them with others (unless it is a nice warm "spiritual" sort of uncomfortableness).
Religion is messy. You have to deal with other people. It's called "organized religion" (disparagingly) because doing things with other people always requires a certain amount of "organization" - easily avoided if you keep your spirituality as a strictly private matter. Common and shared beliefs and practices require not doing everything your own way, submitting to ancient traditions and teachings, etc. "Submission" is historically at the very core of religion and is probably the main reason most Americans don't cotton to it. The beliefs of religion are considered by believers to be either universally true (as in Christianity) or at least binding on the community of faith (as in Judaism). Within religion, personal spirituality is considered a subset, not a substitute.
I've been trying to stay out of this, but one small factual correction. This is a common misconception:
Spirituality is a goal. Religion is a means to it.
Spiritually and religion both have the same goal: a right relationship with God/god (however defined).
The difference is this:
Religion is when you do it in community, with others (think: Francis of Assisi)
Spirituality is when you do it by yourself, your way (think: Frank Sinatra)
America is highly individualistic and thus Americans tend to prefer "spirituality". Numerous sociologists have analyzed this phenomenon. We tend to look at various belief systems, pick and choose different elements like at a buffet, and create our own customized personal religion: this is spirituality (as distinct from religion). A little Buddha, a pinch of Jesus, a cup of Ayn Rand, a smidge of yoga, a dollop of Oprah, a bowl of organic food and there you go- your own personal faith-system! Spirituality generally makes no claims to present universal truth about anything (God, humans, right and wrong, etc); it's about "what's true for me" and what makes me FEEL spiritual. If any parts of it ever start to make you feel uncomfortable you can just chuck them and replace them with others (unless it is a nice warm "spiritual" sort of uncomfortableness).
Religion is messy. You have to deal with other people. It's called "organized religion" (disparagingly) because doing things with other people always requires a certain amount of "organization" - easily avoided if you keep your spirituality as a strictly private matter. Common and shared beliefs and practices require not doing everything your own way, submitting to ancient traditions and teachings, etc. "Submission" is historically at the very core of religion and is probably the main reason most Americans don't cotton to it. The beliefs of religion are considered by believers to be either universally true (as in Christianity) or at least binding on the community of faith (as in Judaism). Within religion, personal spirituality is considered a subset, not a substitute.
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