Religion V Spirituality
A sundance brother recently asked my views on the differences between religion and spirituality for possible inclusion in his doctoral thesis. An interesting question, I thought, as the common assumption is that religion is spiritual, that the two terms are interchangeable, even synonymous. To question that is to ask if religions actually lack a true spiritual foundation. This is not only a large topic, but borderline heretical in some circles. To do it justice requires an exhaustive study of the teachings and actions of literally every known religion and every nonreligious, but spiritual practice, including an extensive lexicon, all of which are well beyond the scope of this article and capacity of its author. But so what, let’s consider these two phenomena anyway through the device of some admittedly homemade definitions, loaded with limitation and opinion.
As I see it, all religions throughout time and throughout the world, are human-made constructs that attempt to define some higher power, both temperamentally and attributively, in what are essentially self-serving terms. From this, a hierarchy usually evolves, what we call a “clergy” in this country; professional social engineers. Another common characteristic of corporate religion is to impose itself at large, and sometimes violently as witnessed in the Inquisitions prosecuted by the Catholic Church spanning some 600 years, to the recent exploits of the Talibahn in Afghanistan, to a number of Christian churches gleefully acting as Indian reservation agencies in the late 1800s US. The inconsistencies here of preaching love while advancing war or trampling other cultures under foot are not at all limited to these religions, either. The Pews of History are filled with