which one feels better to you? spirituality or religion?

[suzy123]

spiritualiy versus religion

spirituality says that god is within us and that we don't need anyone else to make that divine connection for us


religion says that we are separated from god and that we need "them" to make that divine connection

spirituality says that we are free to make choices on our own and that we must take personal responsibility for our actions


religion says we must make their choices and act their way

the theme of spirituality is unconditional love


the theme of religion is fear and guilt

spirituality does not require us to make donations


religion has become big business

spirituality says there is no hell, no judgement, no angry god... that we are loved unconditionally


religion says there is a hell, god gets angry and judges us... therefore, we are not loved unconditionally

spirituality says we are free to choose our own path to god


religion commands us to do it their way

spirituality says we go to god to lighten our burden


religion has taught us to fear their god

spirituality says we should not be ashamed of our sexuality... that it should be a sacred celebration of love


religion has taught us to feel ashamed, guilty and dirty about our sexuality

spirituality teaches us to honor and respect mother earth


religion has told us to "be thou fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth" i repeat... "subdue the earth"

spirituality reminds us that we are one with god and one with each other


religion teaches disunity and separation which is the opposite of god

spirituality says god is within


religion says he is in heaven and that "they" are the

[suzy123]

continued: spiritualiy versus religion

spirituality says we are born in innocence and purity


religion says we are born with sin

spirituality teaches that we are on a long spiritual adventure and journey which will ultimately end by reuniting with our source


religion says we've got one life to get it all right and there is nothing but heaven or hell after that

spirituality says we are free to express


religion gave us the dreaded inquisition

spirituality teaches unconditional love for all


religion gave us the crusades in which many were killed and slaughtered in the name of god

spirituality teaches that we should love one another unconditionally and always honor the rights and choices of others


religion treated native americans, the mayans and other indigenous cultures as savage primitives who "must be saved"

spirituality teaches peace and harmony


religion has caused more wars and more killing than any other reason

spirituality says respect all living things


i never once heard any religion say stop slaughtering millions of trees every year for christ's birthday

spirituality teaches us to have faith in ourselves


religion teaches us to have faith in them

spirituality says we have all the answers... that we can find them by "going within"


religion teaches us that it has all the answers and only its answers are the right ones

spirituality teaches us to search for the universal truths and our hearts will tell us when we have found them


religion teaches we have no choice but to accept their version of the truth



go to your heart for the answer it will never lie to

[khoey]

very interesting but i dont need religion or spirituality.i always think with my heart,well on major decisions i do i never go into any think half heartedly.i have to be 100% certain before i play around with emotions and feeling,i never do nothing on a whim i know exactly what i want,

[femnety]

spirituality is what any one with natural feeling i.e without anything to go with God will want, however, religion help to know what God want for us and how we should love each other and obey God. Some children of devil may have turn religion to business or anything they like, but God will bring them to judgement in the last day.

Religion is the path way to know God and is the best

[suzy123]

Spirituality is not about not believing in God - it is very much about belief and faith. I guess the way I see it is that spirituality comes from a different interpretation of what God wants for us. Cuts out the middle man so to speak.
We all were born with the gift of free will and a conscience - not wishing to get into an argument here - just was interested to hear what others think

[jake-the-peg]

Would you get on a plane being flown by someone who had never flown before but had great faith and spirituality within themselves?

If not why?

[suzy123]

No Jake I would not unless I was on a death wish. A religious person may if leaders told them too.
Why not - I trust my own instincts and never just believe and accept what is told to me.


spirituality teaches us to have faith in ourselves
religion teaches us to have faith in them

[jake-the-peg]

So basically then you'd place your life in the hands of science and engineering but not in spirituality or faith.

Spirituality, faith all this stuff has emotional, warm feelings - it is poetry - it does not exist outside of us.

It doesn't cure cancer, it doesn't fly planes it doesn't feed the hungry.

It doesn't deliver

[123everton]

The question (what I could be bothered reading of it) appears quite loaded in favour of spirituality, what ever floats your boat.
Unconditional love was a paradigm discussed at length in the Confucian corpus, it concluded that unconditional love was a failure as it disresepected your parents/family.
Would you be as upset that I or say a close friend of yours died as you would be (God forbid) your own child parents or sibling?

[Sachs]

In my heart I'm spiritual.

[keyplus90]

Your question clearly indicates that you are in favour of spirituality, so why are you asking others opinion? But I believe that there is no spirituality without believing in God.

Then when you are talking about religion then I assume from all the things you have mentioned that you are referring to Christianity only as there are so many other religions that do not believe in many of the things you have mentioned.

For your unconditional love I can only say one thing, how much unconditionally would you love someone who rape you?

[suzy123]

I did not write these words - someone referred me to them a few years ago (author unknown) and the words gave me
quite a bit to think about on the subject. I have never had much time for religion - meaning christian or especially roman catholic.
I did not post this to promote spirituality I just thought it may be interesting to debate. Wow was I wrong !!!

Everton - I have never heard of Confucian corpus but I have an ever open mind and thank you for mentioning it - I will take a look at this on the net.

Unconditional love is also a Carl Rogers concept - about having a non judgemental and non conditional positive regard for those around me. Not strangers and certainly not rapists. And love can be measured in different degrees. I am fully aware that I have been sucked into reacting to responding but you know what I cant be bothered anymore.

[mibn2cweus]

Suzy, Your thread presents the thoughtful reader with a smorgasbord of assertions from a unique viewpoint that I found intriguing to contemplate. I am offering for your (or anyone else�s) consideration a few conclusions I have drawn in response to the thoughts those statements inspired me to contemplate.

I am all for cutting out the �middle man�, whenever feasible and wherever possible, especially one that serves not as a bridge but instead poses an obstacle to greater human understanding. I find that �god� in all its guises poses such an obstacle by enticing one to construct a virtual barrier of the unknown and unknowable between human comprehension and reality.

I see �spirituality� as a product of rather than a pursuit of consciousness, not as a means to an end nor an end in itself but a consequence of ones past subsequently serving as a template for a revised blueprint for formulating and guiding ones thoughts and motivating one to actively participate in determining the outcome of ones future.

That which sustains and promotes the existence of a being with the capacity to make reasoned choices is the basis for determining and what differentiates right choices from wrong choices. Defending personal freedom and acknowledging personal responsibility paves the path facilitating that process.

[mibn2cweus]

Respect for the Earth is an acknowledgement of our reliance on its well-being for our own with an appreciation for the realisation that nothing of lasting value is or can ever be gained in other than a mutually beneficial relationship.

There is nothing outside of reality and to believe there is creates nothing other than an illusion that robs the mind of its ability to comprehend, and navigate a course through reality that will bring one to a brighter, more spiritually fulfilling destination. To be truly united with another in spirit as well as in body requires a unity of the mind of both through a shared comprehension and understanding of reality. This is the condition which love demands for its manifestation and upon which we are enabled to fully appreciate what love is.


Whether this is the ranting of someone who has completely lost sight of their �spirituality� or someone who has, to what ever degree you comprehend it, learned to integrate their �spirituality� with a rational integrated view of existence, I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. Admittedly, much of what I have presented here has also been submitted, for the sake of brevity, to the reader in the form of assertions. But for anyone interested in challenging these assertions I am prepared to demonstrate their correlation to the reality we share and to which I believe they conform.

[Ankou]

i prefer a pint and a cheese sandwich, this gives me enough time and freedom to sit and contemplate the compexities of this life and to wonder at where i have arrived at, how and why.

i dont reckon you need a higher being and i dont reckon sitting on your jacksy doinmg some high faluting meditiating makes it any better, you just have to sit back and take stock of how wonderful life is and be glad you are alive. concentrate on making the best of this life, without al the mumbo jumbo.

in my op.