Once again this week in our course I was conforted with material that I had not previously given much attention to. I had never really understood the difference between spirtuality and religion and often would use the words interchangeably. The new working definitions I hold for these words are:
Spirituality: The connectedness and feelings one has towards a higher being, nature, and/or the world
Religion: beliefs, behaviors, feelings, and the connectedness one feels to a higher being, nature, and the world usually done through an institutionalized setting
It is interesting that most people are only thought of as religious if they express their beliefs by going to an institutionalized setting like a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple. If someone were to have similar beliefs but did not practice them in an institutionalized setting, we'd be more likely to think of it as spirituality.
I have been thinking a lot about my own beliefs about religion as I have identified as Christian for most of my life. There are many things about the Christian religion that I do not particularly believe/adhere to, however. As I develop my own beliefs and opinions on things like sexual orientation within the Christian religion I find myself disagreeing more often than agreeing. I also do not like the focus there is on the past that, in my opinion, is not currently relevant.
At this point, I think of myself as more spiritual person rather than religious. And it seems that I am not alone http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/us/examining-the-growth-of-the-spiritual-but-not-religious.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A17%22%7D
This is a very interesting read examining how many people are now considering themselves "spiritual, but not religious."
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