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Posted: May 8th, 2007 at 12:52am By: Rev. Jay Speights
I am growing increasingly more annoyed each day about the debate over religion vs. spirituality. There have been many scholarly writings and research projects on the subject. From what I have been able to discern, after reviewing a lot of this information, it's more about who's right and who's wrong, and another example of how labels divide and do not build community. That's certainly no shock.
What does it mean to be religious as opposed to being spiritual? I will attempt to define the two in my own words. From what I have been able to surmise from my readings, being religious means that you are an adherent of an organized group that espouses certain absolute truths as it relates to the relationship between God and man and how we as humans relate to the rest of existence. Religion provides a structure for how you are to live your life, and relate to your fellow humans and of course God.
Being spiritual, as I see it, means that you have a personal set of beliefs, which define your relationship with God and the rest of existence. Many scholars or experts feel that the spiritual label is something mostly American, because most people in the rest of the world, particularly in Europe, define themselves as either religious or irreligious. This is interesting, because it seems that Americans are reluctant to step away from faith altogether. Well, that's a good thing. The term "spirituality" became popular in this country in the 1960s, when Americans began to deeply question many authoritative institutions.
Those claiming to be spiritual seem to fall into several categories. Some spiritual people believe that much of what is wrong in the world and their lives can be blamed on organized religion; they developed a personal approach to relate to God and live their lives. Others claiming to be spiritual, like my mother, believe that they need no middleman such as a religion to define their relationship with God and that most organized religions do not offer a broad enough umbrella to accommodate their eclectic views of the divine and existence in general. There is also a third group under the spiritual category that has an "if it feels good, then it's OK" philosophy about life.
So what do the two say about each other? Well, of course, the spiritual folks believe that religions are man-made institutions that come between man and God, and have rules and structures that limit our ability to achieve a God-like higher consciousness.
From what I have gathered, most religious folks feel that those who say they are spiritual have no clearly defined set of beliefs that link them to God. They believe that spiritual people are circumventing established or institutional ways of worshiping in order to live a life void of personal responsibility, instead of adhering to what they believe are the revealed absolute truths about how we are to relate to God and live life.
You are probably wondering where I stand on this debate. Well, you should know by now, if you have been reading my column, that I am an interfaith guy. Hey, here we go with yet another label. I have a reason for inserting another label in this discussion, because my interfaith label means that I don't care if you are religious or spiritual. Under an interfaith approach, we look at what the various religious and spiritual traditions share, and not their differences.
What matters under an interfaith approach is that you believe in The Divine Universal Presence, or whatever name you have for God, and that you adhere to a set of principles that help you to move toward a higher consciousness of love, peace and compassion for all, as well as tolerance for the beliefs and traditions of others. These are called shared common moral values that I believe are inherent in most religious and spiritual beliefs and are the fundamental building blocks of a civil society.
So let's look beyond labels and find out what's behind them. I would urge both groups to re-examine the beliefs of the other. I think once you peer beyond the labels of religious and spiritual, you will find a lot of shared beliefs, which can be celebrated. It's not about who's right and who's wrong. It's about realizing that while you have a set of beliefs and values that you adhere to and define your relationship with God, you can also allow for others to live according to their own set of beliefs, which may vary from yours, without judgment. Let's continue to look for that which unites us and not divides us.
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Rev. Jay Speights, with an MA in public policy, is an interfaith minister and main U.N. representative for the New Seminary in New York. You can learn more about his work at the United Nations at the New Seminary website. His email address is {email jayspeights@newseminary.org}jayspeights@newseminary.org{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Jay Speights.
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I am growing increasingly more annoyed each day about the debate over religion vs. spirituality. There have been many scholarly writings and research projects on the subject. From what I have been able to discern, after reviewing a lot of this information, it's more about who's right and who's wrong, and another example of how labels divide and do not build community. That's certainly no shock.
What does it mean to be religious as opposed to being spiritual? I will attempt to define the two in my own words. From what I have been able to surmise from my readings, being religious means that you are an adherent of an organized group that espouses certain absolute truths as it relates to the relationship between God and man and how we as humans relate to the rest of existence. Religion provides a structure for how you are to live your life, and relate to your fellow humans and of course God.
Being spiritual, as I see it, means that you have a personal set of beliefs, which define your relationship with God and the rest of existence. Many scholars or experts feel that the spiritual label is something mostly American, because most people in the rest of the world, particularly in Europe, define themselves as either religious or irreligious. This is interesting, because it seems that Americans are reluctant to step away from faith altogether. Well, that's a good thing. The term "spirituality" became popular in this country in the 1960s, when Americans began to deeply question many authoritative institutions.
Those claiming to be spiritual seem to fall into several categories. Some spiritual people believe that much of what is wrong in the world and their lives can be blamed on organized religion; they developed a personal approach to relate to God and live their lives. Others claiming to be spiritual, like my mother, believe that they need no middleman such as a religion to define their relationship with God and that most organized religions do not offer a broad enough umbrella to accommodate their eclectic views of the divine and existence in general. There is also a third group under the spiritual category that has an "if it feels good, then it's OK" philosophy about life.
So what do the two say about each other? Well, of course, the spiritual folks believe that religions are man-made institutions that come between man and God, and have rules and structures that limit our ability to achieve a God-like higher consciousness.
From what I have gathered, most religious folks feel that those who say they are spiritual have no clearly defined set of beliefs that link them to God. They believe that spiritual people are circumventing established or institutional ways of worshiping in order to live a life void of personal responsibility, instead of adhering to what they believe are the revealed absolute truths about how we are to relate to God and live life.
You are probably wondering where I stand on this debate. Well, you should know by now, if you have been reading my column, that I am an interfaith guy. Hey, here we go with yet another label. I have a reason for inserting another label in this discussion, because my interfaith label means that I don't care if you are religious or spiritual. Under an interfaith approach, we look at what the various religious and spiritual traditions share, and not their differences.
What matters under an interfaith approach is that you believe in The Divine Universal Presence, or whatever name you have for God, and that you adhere to a set of principles that help you to move toward a higher consciousness of love, peace and compassion for all, as well as tolerance for the beliefs and traditions of others. These are called shared common moral values that I believe are inherent in most religious and spiritual beliefs and are the fundamental building blocks of a civil society.
So let's look beyond labels and find out what's behind them. I would urge both groups to re-examine the beliefs of the other. I think once you peer beyond the labels of religious and spiritual, you will find a lot of shared beliefs, which can be celebrated. It's not about who's right and who's wrong. It's about realizing that while you have a set of beliefs and values that you adhere to and define your relationship with God, you can also allow for others to live according to their own set of beliefs, which may vary from yours, without judgment. Let's continue to look for that which unites us and not divides us.
— — —
Rev. Jay Speights, with an MA in public policy, is an interfaith minister and main U.N. representative for the New Seminary in New York. You can learn more about his work at the United Nations at the New Seminary website. His email address is {email jayspeights@newseminary.org}jayspeights@newseminary.org{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Jay Speights.
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