I hear a lot of people say that they aren’t religious, but they’re spiritual, and even I’ve said it. However, I sometimes find myself pondering what that even means.
Like, are you agonistic, is your belief in a God, but you just don’t go to church? Is spirituality better for all of us rather than being religious? I decided to do a little research to clear up the confusion in the difference between the two and why people believe one is better than the other. During my time digging, I found that there is a lot of different opinions between the two and what is best, so here’s my take on it.
According to Shahram Shiva in a Huffington Post article, religion or being religious involves adhering to a set of established rules or “religious order." This involves bowing or praying to gods or other deities. A common example is Christianity. They follow a strict set of rules and pray to God. However, some individuals, such as those on bibliotecapleyades.net, potentially see this as created by humans for control and remove you from God or whatever deities you believe in. Not to say that everyone who considers themselves religious does such things.
Spirituality can overlap with religion. Ultimately, from my little bit of research, spirituality has no rules and is based on love. Spirituality is all about discovering the truth on your own, instead of having it told you through a set of rules and texts, coming mainly from a blog, mindvally. Many people believe in a God or deity, but don’t believe in or agree with all the established “rules” that come along with it. While spirituality has no rules, one is free to determine what is right and wrong based on their moral compass.
Furthermore, according to an article on bibliotecapleyades.net, spirituality is chosen, while religion is force, which is why more and more people are choosing to say they’re spiritual rather than religious. Furthermore, there are individuals who believe religion separates and spirituality unites. This is because if focuses on “the quality of the message shared not the details." Thus, arguing that spirituality is better because it brings us together even if we see things differently.
I’m not trying to attack anyone’s religious views or beliefs, I'm only trying to open minds and conversation about the differences between religion and spirituality. Both seem so different, yet they go hand and hand.
If you read this let me know in the comments what your take on the differences are!
