Religion Vs Spirituality Vs Church

If you ask 100 people about the issue of religion vs spirituality, you will get 100 answers. Everybody is adamant in holding their own position on the subject and this really shows how important this issue is. Just try to start a conversation about it during a party. You might end up with some really interesting results, among them a fight (one which I observed a while back). It can become so heated!

This distinction is mostly noticed in the Western world, especially in the US. Usually people who are trying to separate the two say that they are spiritual but not necessarily religious. They are learning meditation, yoga and other spiritual practices, because they know that they have a thirst for something more than the secular life is offering them. To be honest, I am in this camp as well. However I do have to be unbiased since nobody else seems to be.

The reason for this distinction is because religion usually gets a bad connotation associated with it, while spirituality is always being referred to as bringing the best in people. Everybody should attain higher spiritual goals and should become purer and cleaner in heart and soul.

It is no wonder that the non-religious people are so against religion. Just think back in history to all the damage the church did in its wake. And I think this is really where the problem lies.

The religion is usually equaled with the church.

The church is the people who are leading others and are condemning others if they don't follow them. It has been true in the past as it is now. It is the power of authority that the church has that really scares everyone who say negative things about religion in general.

The truth is, religion is not something tangible, it is a concept, just as spirituality. However the church is more tangible than that. It is the place where people to go pray and it is the religious leaders that are corrupt in many cases. We can "touch" the church but we cannot touch religion. That is the main distinction.

Personally I find that spirituality is a rather private form of religion. I do believe in a higher entity (God or anything else that it is called by everyone), however I do not go to church and I do not trust church. How many times have we seen scary stories on the news about priests doing the deeds with children whereas they should be almost saints? How many times we see a country where the church has more power than the president himself? In too many countries to count on one hand. How many times has the church let us down? More times than we want to admit.

While earlier on I was of the opinion that religion is something to be avoided, I have recently realized that it's not so. It is only the church hat is trying to keep people from praying or meditating at home. Only the church leaders want people to go to church and confess and pray, so that the priests are still seen as a necessary entity. As afterall, without the people to go to church, where would the priests be and where would the church as a whole be?

So religion and spirituality are not at the far ends of the pole. They are - if not the same - on the same side. For those who don't agree with religion, it is the church that they should put at the opposite end of spirituality. If you really look deep down in yourself, you will realize that it is true. It is because of the church that you say you are not religious - but you are spiritual.

I wrote this article in response to another hub that I just came across today on the topic if religion vs spirituality. I don't completely agree with that hub so I thought I would put forward my position on the same issue.