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Define Ur Religion or Theology

i am not religious, but i am spiritual
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Spirituality is Ur religion or way of life-living. If U mean "following Ur spirit" or heart, I'll hafta agree, that's one aspect of my religion tempered by Logos/logic.

My peeve is these ppl that take it on faith without questioning it with logic, these ppl are blind. Blind Faith! Faith should be tempered with Logic.
 
^ Not exactly. Without other people joining you on a similar spiritual journey, you don't really have religion. Not that all people need religion to be spiritual.
 
MyDoorsAreOpen said:
Unfortunately many people don't have a good handle on what religion and spirituality are, and what the difference is between them is. It took me a while to get them straight too. In short:

* Spirituality is anything one says, does, or thinks, with the explicit intent of rendering one's life connected and meaningful.
* Religion is people practicing spirituality as a group.

Just because you have no interest in either spirituality or religion (which is perfectly normal and OK), doesn't make these two terms vague or meaningless. It just means they're not for you.

TheMatador, I think you'll find you're in good company here -- a lot of drug users are individualist seekers, who wander off on their own, as it were, to find their own spiritual path.
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You defined your terms here thus giving them meaning. They have so many different meanings for each individual thus I find the assertion "i'm not religious, I'm spiritual" to be vague and imprecise and thus in my mind meaningless within a discussion of religion, perhaps personally meaningful but in a philosophical debate that statement is with very little value or substance as far as I am concerned. Your definition of spirituality is interesting, under that evolutionary theory, genetics, astronomy, physics and such are spiritual systems as well.
 
^ Yes, they can be used that way. If I study astronomy because it fills my inner world with a sense of connection to the source of all existence, then it most definitely can be considered a part of my spirituality. Studying medicine has been a very spiritually moving experience for me, in fact. It's given me a greater appreciation for what it means to be a transient wave in the fabric of the great oneness, by which this great oneness can look at itself.

Granted, spirituality is not the most common or useful use of any of the disciplines you mentioned. Most people study them for their technological applications. But then again some people use China's finest sorghum liquor (Maotai) as paint thinner, too; takes all types.

You defined your terms here thus giving them meaning.
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This is not just my definition. There's actually quite a bit of scholarship -- lay and academic, religious and secular alike -- over the questions 'What is religion?' 'What is spirituality?' and 'What is the relationship of spirituality to religion?' As a child of two theologians, I can definitely point you in the direction of some good readings on the topic, if you're genuinely interested.

but in a philosophical debate
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What philosophical debate? Last I heard this thread was just people sharing their metaphysical outlook.

You do allude to a valid point -- when making or defending any philosophical argument, it's always good practice to start off with a working definition of all the key terms you're going to use.
 
I do not believe in any religion, i would like to think of there being some higher power out there. But i really can't think of why i should.
 
If someone asks U, "What is Ur religion," U could answer, "I have my own form of sprituality." Hence, "Spirituality" = U'r religion. Religion dosn't hafta be organized or defined with common dogmas.

Unitarian church has ppl with all kinds of different theologies, ideas. Is Unitarianism a religion? (I don't think so.) Humanism is a religion. Atheism is a religion.

It's kinda like the arguement we've had here about defining a "cult" vs a religion. (I consider Mormonism and Scientology a "cult.")

Everyone has a religion/theology = their way to live-life or belief/non-belief in a higher power, call it karma, god, love or whatever.
 
I believe that the universe is the only thing, which means it stands alone in isolation. Thus it created others, so that in the process of relating to others, it could come to terms with its own isolation (the deepest common bond of all sentient beings is our shared isolation).

I believe we are a fleeting fantasy of the cosmos, a yearning for communion, even though deep down we know that the communion is fleeting, transitory, and ultimately only an illusion. We know this life is an impossible illusion, a mirage, but we choose to believe in it anyways. I don't care if god exists or not, because even if he does, he has the same problems that we do (ie Who the fuck am I, and why the fuck am I here?)
 
^roger, what you call the universe, I call god. Nice post.
 
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I've been over this a million times in my head. I usually try to be logical and rational but with this topic the amount of possibilities effectively quell that. I sometimes relate to nihilist just because theres so many possibilities that it can seem meaning less to even try to define it.

Of all the conclusions I've came to, this one is my favorite so far.

I don't exist. Have fun.
 
y4h, i just deleted my post here cuz i guess , as i first thought, there really is no way for me to believe in one set thing
 
As far as I know, in Sociology religion is separated from spirituality by a definition along these lines: Religion is a set of laws (usually, but not always, claiming divine authority( that aim to show people how to live and die well. Spirituality is a subjective experience and may or may not fall within the laws laid out by religion.

This is the accepted academic view on the two, and one that I agree with and would prefer is used in this forum for clarity purposes.

Thus, religion is actually a tangible thing that can be operationalized and measured. There is a lot of research on the level of religiosity, for example.
 
Okay, so Religion is following someone else's laws (of "god") and spirituality is following Ur own laws? Religion is organized whereas spirituality is made up by an individual?

Once a person studies spirituality they form their own, individual religion, they could write a book about it and form their own religion.

Spirituality = unorganized religion or evolving religion?

Maybe that's why organized religions and the ppl that attend them seem dead, 'cause the religion isn't evolving . . . it's based on old, unchanging, failed, irrational dogmas. . . unwilling to change, evolve, mature.

That's what Jesus (if he existed) tried to do . . . evolve the Judaic religion. Now, "Christianity" has become "Saint" Paulianism." Christianity needs to evolve again . . . I really like the teachings/spirituality of Jesus.
 
Spiritual movements have events or persons in their locality and time period. They are connected to a live current. Within a generation someone starts codifying things. Persons and events are distant and hazy. Then its a religion. There is no live current again unless the religion is attacked or new reform figure or movement comes along. I think the paranoia about persecution or subversion so prominent in so many religions is a wish to get back to being a dynamic movement focused on the living present.
 
^ That's a really interesting thought, Enki.

It always struck me that not all religious communities offer nearly the same quality of spiritual journey. But I think you may have just put a finger on one of the main factors determining this quality: is the community's spiritual dynamo still turning?

I know this is a serious issue that comes up a lot in Catholicism (the religion I was raised in), and Judaism (my wife's religion). Both religions have their share of self-professed adherents these days, who are just fine with seeing their congregations' spiritual sides atrophy, in favor of something like a fraternal order.
 
I don't follow an organized religion.

I can't really say I'm an atheist, because I believe in some things with no scientific backing.

I have ideas about:
Life after death/ reincarnation
Consciousnesses being, at a higher level, one mechanism.

But not really anything about a higher power, or single deity (or any for that matter).
 
i think things like that have verry little relevance to what god is in that context.

i beleive in reincarnation of the spirit while in a living body (one lifetime)
 
ThorMasterSlim said:
I believe that the second coming of Christ, rather than Christ returning in human form, is humans allowing Christ into their lives and acting in the way Christ did. They need to find their Inner Christ and act with LOVE towards each other and Earth. With that, the world can be saved...
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You are aware this is an original and core Christian principle (albeit an often forgotten one), no?
 
^ Fundamentalists are barking up the wrong tree. They're imagining the Second Coming as being some kind of paranormal event, while in truth, it's quite a natural recurrence that happens all the time. You can be a repeat appearance of Christ if you choose to live your life a certain way.
 
I'll hafta agree MDAO about fundamentalists. One of the leading "Christian" book series, which was waaaay off and simply crazy was the "Left Behind" series. Where these ppl actually believe U will be raptured into the sky!

The 70's film Godspell had a song called "Day by Day":

Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day


Kinda brings tears to my eyes but I really believe in a Messiah saving the world. It would be simple, 12 prominant ppl behind me when I tell the truth about 666isMONEY, the 9/11 fraud, CIA Killed JFK, etc.
 
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