Religion Vs. Spirituality - what's your opinion?

[mentallystressed]

religion is shit........ don't trust it

spirituality is good

and you are cute

[cpnkd7]

Spirituality to me is individual inner peace, self exploration and freedom. Christianity (don't know enough about other religions to comment) is inflexible, suppressive and is part of the male dominator culture that rules our planet with an iron hand. It also takes poetic teaching too literally as if the words in the bible were some kind of accurate historical document.

[forwardvision]

Hey,

Great post. You're not dumb at all. Very intelligent question that I have asked too (check out the video on my channel).

Personally, I think that there is a big difference between religion & spirituality. As others have already said in previous comments, religion can have a tendency to divide. I also think that it can hold people back from reaching their full potential & finding their true calling in life. It can be very limiting.

[TheOptimusprime9]

Pitting religion against spirituality as if they are somehow separate or different create a false dichotomy. All that a religion really consists of is a belief system that someone devotes themselves to as a point of morals or conscience. That's from the dictionary. So to say someone can be spiritual without having a belief system, and therefore without a religion, is not only untrue but also counteracts the whole point trying to bring people together b/c it just makes another separation.

[Drakeybaby]

spirituality= freedom and happiness

religion= enslavement and sadness

...plain and simple =)

[kholoblicin]

Interestingly enough, Buddism is the only real religion out there. All the others say in their "holy" books that if you ar not a member of their faith, you must die. WTF?! I call, "Bullshit!"

[goodmannaorem]

spirituality is the essence/basis of all the true religions. when a person is truly spiritual he/she is already religious but not the vice versa. while religions divide people, spirituality unite them, while followers of religion hate & fight, spiritual people remind them of the essence of their religions i.e. love.

[Str8Pretzel]

My understanding is religion is a turning again (re) to be bound (ligion). Ironically, the word has no *religious* meaning, but this application is a proper use of the word definition. A wilfull return to the one from whom previous ties had been severed is to accept again, a teaching presumably, which one embraces. The embrace, understanding and development of that teaching in the individual results in his ability to discern, judge and speak, or spirituality.

[iloveher316]

Religion tends to be based on "belief" rather than "realization" and tends to foster fundamentalism and division. It can be good but only when guided by spirituality. There are some good articles on the internet pitting "churchianity" against christianity that might be helpful to people searching.

[wireless213]

Spiritual is knowing.. having direct relation with god... finding the god within you.. Religion is faith without knowing.. they do have some spritual messages in religious but it 2 different thing.. Religion can be very dangerous because you have belieing something without knowing that's why there is religious war... killing is ungodly but they do with under gods name... when you have intimacy with god you'll know that god is love and we are here to be loved and lover others.

[apetrowsky1]

Hey everyone go to 2012 revolutionary paradigm shift and 2011 solar flares or click my channel.

[wildreams]

Religion is an organisation, an institution, a formalized beliefs system, a culture, a tradition, a sum total of all the above and more, it is related to spirituality. Some religion focus more on the spiritual aspect, the cultivation of mind, philosophy and wisdom and knowledge. Some religion focus less on spirituality and more on social activities, dogma and other activities(preaching, social work etc.)

A person doesn't need to belong to a specific religion or believe a deity to be spiritual.

[ishachan]

I think religion is more like a set of rules people believe they have to follow. Spirituality is the connection people make with whatever god/entity they worship.

Personally, I would like to find God on my own terms, with less dogma and rules.

[apetrowsky1]

Look in the mirror. There is no being higher than yourself. All of these dogmas were created to enslave the minds of those who fall for these scams. We are one with each other and with all that exists. And we all need to start acting like it.

[Hi2A2j]

Through time this has been the idea of most concern. Seeing the world, life, the night sky and thinking. The hard part is two opposing ideas cannot both be true. At home, work and life we discriminate everyday. We pick one brand over another. Ask one person for help not the other. Christianity has a founder and his claims place him alone due to the exclusivity of his statements. Supported by history and the impression left on it he is like no other. ttyl