Religion is an institution old as society itself. Gods of nature, anger, love, fertility, war and so much more came to be. More so, specific rites and rituals to praise or worship these different (or same) gods came to be. The evolution of religion is strange and seemingly cyclical. At its beginning, religions were founded based on personal beliefs , over time becoming popular practice among a civilization. As modernization and travel became common, these religions spread, finding new followers, new believers. Major religions popped up, spreading far and wide, squelching the existence of many small diverse practices. Once modernized, these large, overarching religions began to splinter into different practices within a specific "school of thought" or pillars of belief; splintered such as Presbyterian and Catholicism in Christianity, Hasidic and Reform Judaism, Sunni and Shi'ite Islam, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, and Vedanta and Yoga Hinduism. These religions continue to splinter, getting more personal while maintaining an overarching philosophy.
This brings us to modern day. The splintering and individualization of religion has influenced our generation in terms of our outlook on religion. Religion requires some amount of rite and ritual. However, spirituality is inherent, something unique to each and present regardless of its strength. The incredible stress in religion to cater to our individual needs and wants has pushed our generation toward defining our Devine beliefs as spiritual, not religious.
See, this generation is moving the direction of the world. We are breaking conventions, encouraging inclusiveness, embracing all views with understanding. By shifting out of the big "R" Religion and toward individualized spirituality, we embrace our personal differences, our right to explore, question and understand what we choose to believe, what we choose to adhere to in life.
Whether this change is positive, I leave to each of you to decide, but it is important to note that Religion and spirituality are ever-changing, fluid. The world continues to turn just as the societal constructs of the world shift, so we must find a way to not only love, but truly accept different views, different schools, different generations for who they are and what they believe, regardless of our personal thoughts of truth.
Disclaimer: I personally am a practicing Christian. I apologize for any specific Christian influence on the terminology and point of view of this article. I encourage challenges and responses from different views in the comments.
