Why Do People Embrace Religion Instead Of Only Spirituality?

Well, some pick religion because they have reason to believe it's true.

reply to post by John_Q_Llama


I think I have had a similar experience to yours, however, my parents never required me to attend mass. I, for whatever reason, desired to go from a very young age. My father is/was atheist, my mother is technically Catholic although she is on her own spiritual journey. It was always me who asked to go to Mass, I don't know why I have always had a yearning to get closer to God from my earliest memories, before any religious education or anything, I just knew there was a God and I wanted to learn how to be close to Him.

Now, in my teenage years and through the earlier part of my adult I too was not "getting anything" out of Mass. It seemed overly repetitive, I could and would simply go through the motions, as you said up, down, up, down, knees, communion, shake hands, etc I didn't feel anything, really. So, I took a break and focused on prayer.

As I got a little older, I found myself wanting to go back to at least to the service. Now, I find it incredibly fulfilling, but that could obviously just be me. During my time away I researched other options, other religions, no religion, personal "religion", etc and I found it to be incredibly enlightening.

I also have a severe aversion to the intolerance that many people practice. Overall, I could sum it up as "if you think you are completely correct why would you be afraid to let some come to that determination on their own" and I think the only way to really do that is to research not only one's own religion, but the others available (and that includes basic personal spirituality).

Now, there have been many times in my life where I almost wished that I could be one of those people that 100% without question believed in the religion part of God, unquestioning, seemingly unfaltering.

I have come to terms to the fact that that is not in my nature. I know that if I was born to Saudi parents I would most likely be Muslim, Chinese most likely Buddhist, etc. I was not, I was born to Irish parents and I am Catholic, and I'm ok with that.

I think ultimately people, or at least some people, are predisposed to a belief in God, I know I was and I think religion is our attempt to understand God, even if on only the most basic level.

Originally posted by 547000
Well, some pick religion because they have reason to believe it's true.

My problem is most people are assimilated into god belief from birth. They just accept it as truth - because they've been told it is truth.

Some people search for a belief - - - but they probably already believe in a god - - - and are just searching for the right god belief.

The phenomenon that bugs me is - - - people leave the church - - sometimes become Agnostic or even Atheist - - - but when they have children - - they go back to church so their children can be raised in a god belief.

I find that weird.

Originally posted by John_Q_Llama
After heading to bed last night, I realized that I neglected to make a point that I had originally intended to include in my original post.

I have seen people post here on ATS who state that they are still involved in religion. Those are the kinds of people who I am wondering about. People who understand what religion is, how it is separate from spirituality, and how it dictates spiritual practices, yet remain involved in it. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, but it seems strange to me.

It may to strange but here is my answer.

I believe that spirituality is deeply personal, it is the personal relationship with God.

I think religion is the method that people use, it is the education that our predecessors have left us on how they were able to foster that relationship.

Originally posted by Annee

Originally posted by 547000
Well, some pick religion because they have reason to believe it's true.

My problem is most people are assimilated into god belief from birth. They just accept it as truth - because they've been told it is truth.

Some people search for a belief - - - but they probably already believe in a god - - - and are just searching for the right god belief.

The phenomenon that bugs me is - - - people leave the church - - sometimes become Agnostic or even Atheist - - - but when they have children - - they go back to church so their children can be raised in a god belief.

I find that weird.

Well, it's kinda the opposite for me. I kinda never believed in God but then had a strong experience that lead me to believe.

Originally posted by searching4truth
I, for whatever reason, desired to go from a very young age. . . . . It was always me who asked to go to Mass, I don't know why I have always had a yearning to get closer to God from my earliest memories, before any religious education or anything, I just knew there was a God and I wanted to learn how to be close to Him.

Well that was me too. My mom actually believed in "many roads" and each person must find their own. My experience is a bit different - because my mom was disabled - and neighbors often took us places. So we went to various churches with different neighbors.

So you can see at an early age - - I was exposed to different "styles" of Christianity. They were all Christian churches. My gramma was Catholic and tried to make me Catholic. But even at 5 years of age - - the ornateness of the church and the elaborate rituals were a turn off to me. I did not want anything to do with a god that needed all that crap.

My mom's friend was from a long line of psychics and metaphysical beliefs. (this is back in the 50s). So I was exposed to that as well - at an early age. They all joined Dr. Ernest Holmes - Science of Mind church - power of positive thinking. So I was brought up in that thinking as well.

I married a Mormon and tried that out for about 5 years.

And today - - I am an Atheist.

Originally posted by 547000

Well, it's kinda the opposite for me. I kinda never believed in God but then had a strong experience that lead me to believe.

Well ya - - but you were exposed to god - - to belief in god - - because we have churches on every corner - - etc. No one can avoid being exposed to god in this country.

And Please - don't think I'm saying you are wrong to believe in a God. It is peoples actions in the name of god that cause problems. And people following blindly.

I think its great you had an experience and get to expand on that in your belief.

Originally posted by Annee

Originally posted by searching4truth
I, for whatever reason, desired to go from a very young age. . . . . It was always me who asked to go to Mass, I don't know why I have always had a yearning to get closer to God from my earliest memories, before any religious education or anything, I just knew there was a God and I wanted to learn how to be close to Him.

Well that was me too. My mom actually believed in "many roads" and each person must find their own. My experience is a bit different - because my mom was disabled - and neighbors often took us places. So we went to various churches with different neighbors.

So you can see at an early age - - I was exposed to different "styles" of Christianity. They were all Christian churches. My gramma was Catholic and tried to make me Catholic. But even at 5 years of age - - the ornateness of the church and the elaborate rituals were a turn off to me. I did not want anything to do with a god that needed all that crap.

My mom's friend was from a long line of psychics and metaphysical beliefs. (this is back in the 50s). So I was exposed to that as well - at an early age. They all joined Dr. Ernest Holmes - Science of Mind church - power of positive thinking. So I was brought up in that thinking as well.

I married a Mormon and tried that out for about 5 years.

And today - - I am an Atheist.

I understand, my family overall is pretty mixed up. The majority of my immediate family is Catholic or at least started out that way. There is now some of mixed Christian belief systems, spiritualists, atheists, and I always had my Jewish cousins but I didn't meet them until I was 5 bc they lived on the east coast.

I grew up knowing of other religions but ultimately I decided upon Catholicism (actual the older part of Catholicism that still uses the Latin Mass, which had been largely done away with by the time I was born).

I like the tradition of the Church, it has always appealed to me, but I don't think that God requires anything material, elaborate Churches and such. I do think though that it is us trying to physically demonstrate how important we feel the place is.

I suppose I could explain it as if I were to buy my parents a gift would I buy something worthless? No, I would would give them something, the best that could find and afford to show my appreciation. I think it is the same thing here, we gather the best of what is available to us and assemble it together to give a physical manifestation to the gratitude and appreciation that we feel to God.

I, however, know that God has no use for our physical trinkets but I think people felt/feel that they need to express it in some way.

Originally posted by searching4truth

I like the tradition of the Church, it has always appealed to me, but I don't think that God requires anything material, elaborate Churches and such. I do think though that it is us trying to physically demonstrate how important we feel the place is.

Ever been in a Mormon ward (church)? Its almost shocking the first time because of its plainness.

I really enjoyed the organization of how the Mormon's run things. I wouldn't mind belonging to a similarly run secular organization.

But - they are (no matter what anyone says) a fundamental Patriarchal Christian religion.

My husband who was born and raised in it officially resigned because of their involvement in Prop8. He is now more into the Power of Positive Thinking Spiritualism.

Originally posted by IandEye
Reply to post by sticky

 

I disagree with you. 'spirituality' feeds the ego as it is a completely personalized thing.

Does it really? And I disagree with you. Let`s look at the words spiritual and spirituality and see how they are defined.

Main Entry: 1spir·i·tu·al
Pronunciation: \ˈspir-i-chə-wəl, -i-chəl, -ich-wəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French espirital, spiritual, from Late Latin spiritualis, from Latin, of breathing, of wind, from spiritus
Date: 14th century
1 : of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit : incorporeal
2 a : of or relating to sacred matters b : ecclesiastical rather than lay or temporal
3 : concerned with religious values
4 : related or joined in spirit
5 a : of or relating to supernatural beings or phenomena b : of, relating to, or involving spiritualism : spiritualistic

Main Entry: spir·i·tu·al·i·ty
Pronunciation: \ˌspir-i-chə-ˈwa-lə-tē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural spir·i·tu·al·i·ties
Date: 15th century
1 : something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a cleric as such
2 : clergy
3 : sensitivity or attachment to religious values
4 : the quality or state of being spiritual

So, how does that feed the ego when the same spirit is within and without each of us? When one goes on that journey to find the spirit within, to balance the physical with the spirit, how does that feed the ego? It`s only bad, if you allow it to feed the ego, just like anything else in life.

emotionalism isn't really the truth and the best part about religion is that you have to trust that the wisest people in history have been working so that you can continue their work.

It`s the lack of trust we have in the spirit within us that keeps us tied to old religious practices of looking to "those wisest people" for all the answers.

I am sick and tired of the sense that 'freedom' means individuality.

So, in your terms, an individual can`t have freedom? Any individual can have freedom from the constraints that organized religion places on people. Though the spirit within us is the same, the physical body we walk around in, gives us the freedom to see reality differently as an "individual".

just like everything else there are good and bad fruits found in any religion but the truth can be found in any religion if you look hard enough too.

The question would be, why does religion obscure the truth? That in itself can be a good thing. It forces us to go looking for truth as an "individual", it`s where we go to find it is the main thing. Truth is within the spirit that is within each of us.

'religion' comes from the latin 'religare' which means 'to rejoin'.

The term religion (from Latin: religio meaning "bind, connect"). In todays world, it has many meanings.

you can not rejoin yourself you can only lose your self to rejoin reality.

To a degree, you are right. We all have a common individual reality. I can see you, you can see me, we can see each other. Only, what many don`t understand is, that is where individuality ends. Ego doesn`t like to believe, or even understand, that we are all just one spirit within different bodies, seeing reality from many different levels of spiritual growth.

reply to post by John_Q_Llama

Hi, John_Q_Llama and "pure spiritual" ones !

Why do people embrace religion instead of only spirituality?

We do NOT embrace.
We are **brain washed**, when young and defenceless !
And. . .later. . . you **wake up**. . . B-)

Blue skies.

Originally posted by Tripple_Helix
reply to post by Trudge

 

Lol. You know you can edit out your edits. It will only leave one, so people are still able to see that you edited your post.

I see, thank you for letting me know I never knew that until I read your post you sent me.

I can't remove the edited parts because if I edited more than once and didn't say anything it would be a negative on myself because I wouldn't be telling the whole truth. Thank you for letting me know though

Added- See, I think not telling the who truth is one of the main negatives with the church. The people in power in the church seem to know more in the hidden truth about religions and hide that information from the common people which is why no one religion is 100 percent truth but only enough truth to get enough positive people to follow them (the negative).

Just like the governemnts and all people who hold the truth from others who ask to know the truth. See if you ask anyone a question and they answer you in either a half truth or in a way to try and bend the answer but seem to be telling the truth or flat out lie to you then they are very negative people. Once you start seeing all the lies it becomes aware to you that negative and positive surround us but it is up to us to learn the truth before its to late which is why we also see all the problems going on in the world.

Its not that "GOD" doesn't hear us, its that many of us are to negative to hear the positive. This has been going on for a very long long time but it has been slowly building and its ready to all come to a boiling point very very soon. If you can keep being positive and not negative and try to remember this as best as you can you will be more positive then negative and that will equal a positive for you in the after life because you will be getting rid of your negatives two at a time and turn them into a positive as long as you can find the two negatives in each situation it will equal a positive for you and have more positive then negative in the end. We are a scale of positive and negative, the more of one the more the scale tips that way.

Remember to be able to see the negatives you must be true to yourself and not lie to yourself. If you see the negative but you lie to yourself that it somehow is a positive, then you will have a negative outcome because you will be dumping positive into a negative. You must learn that its a negative and leave it be and know that only the negative can change to a positive by realizing its a negative and doing something about it.

[edit on 13-8-2010 by Trudge]

Whether your into spirituality or religion, everything we go through and all that happens to us has a reason in my opinion.

Some people wonder why people are religious but neglect to see the meaning it has to others. Im not religious but I understand that all things happen for a reason even if we don't see the reason at the moment.

Spirituality without religion is meaningless.

I laugh at all you people going around thinking you are so spiritual when without religion you have no true guidance. You cannot even understand what being spiritual is really about without the guidance of religion.

You have spirituality because of what religion (or the bible) teaches you. This idea that you can truly be spiritual without this teaching is made up by non believers to claim you can be spiritual without really having to have God in your life and actually learn and do the things religion (or the bible) teaches you.

People that do not follow a good honest religion won't ever see the difference because to them, it's all the same. Many religions or factions of them (churches) have twisted and misrepresented the teachings of the bible so that people can not find the true guidance to a correct spiritual path. This is sad and casts a bad light on religion.

Even non christian religions all base their spirituality on what their religion teaches. Without religion there can be no true spirituality.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix

Even non christian religions all base their spirituality on what their religion teaches. Without religion there can be no true spirituality.

That may be subject to debate by some. I think your above statement is more of an opinion than a fact.

Let's see - - my spirituality would be that we are part of a very evolved holographic experience similar to a video game - - where thought energy creates.

No - - don't see any religion in that.

To me, it's more than just a difference of "being spiritual," and "being religious." For a disclaimer, I am an extremely spiritual person, yet I despise organized religion, as I believe it breeds hatred, anger, war and attracts the more weak-minded.

That being said however, how can I not argue the fact that spirituality is being weak-minded and having the need to believe in something greater than myself? There in essence lies the major debate that split most people apart. Weak-minded or not, it is human nature to believe in a God, gods, or a Source of being. How we fill in the void, myths and stories about that greater power describes our own personality traits, our fears, temptations, and most of all ourselves.

For example, a Christian will say " It is wrong to lie, because the Lord said so." However, I would say "It is wrong to lie, because it is being deceitful which can lead to hatred or a negative experience(s) between two entities." In essence, they are the same. We just describe the means differently. That Christian is likely to avoid lying, whereas I lie almost everyday to please people. But why you ask? If your belief is lying causes hatred, why do you lie? Unlike my Christian counterpart, I am not bound or governed by the rules of a book, a text, a prophecy, or anything else. I define the parameters for myself. Are there those that are religious that step outside of their boundaries? Hell yes, look at the Catholic pedophilia infestation.

Of course that is wrong, and the product of a sick mind, but back-tracking to my Christian friend as an example...if he/she lies, is that as bad? He/she stepped outside of the boundaries set forth by the bible and lied to somebody. Whether it was to please them, or cover a hurtful truth, a lie was told when, clearly, the Lord said "Thou shalt not lie." And what happens to the Christian? Nothing. No lightning bolt. No fire and brimstone. No eternal damnation. Will that lie be a pivotal moment in that person's life? It is highly doubtful, as most people have the ability to see different point's of view and get past the little nuances of life as they are not worth worrying about in the first place. Yet, the case is still not solved. The Christian did not follow the path of God, but the Christian was not immediately punished for it. For karmic believers, there's the prose that somebody will lie to the Christian to fulfill the debt.

The meat of the matter, is that the person did not follow his/her religious ways. So in turn I ask us, is anyone really "religious" at all?

reply to post by John_Q_Llama


Hi Mr Llama,

You asked...

Why Do People Embrace Religion Instead Of Only Spirituality?

From the moment people are born the Indoctrination into their Culture and Society begins.

As a person grows, the Indoctrination is modelled and supported firstly by Family and Friends, then in the Education Institutions, and is followed up by Media in all forms.

So whether you are born in a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, etc, culture you are "brainwashed" to fit in with that culture and it's limitations.

The outcome is to have good little replicants that choose to stay within the safe boundaries of their Cultural requirements. This is a Comfort Zone that people rarely ever look out of.

The Indoctrination produces a Box.. the comfort zone.. and that Box has limitations to it that most refuse to explore beyond.

The reason it is a Comfort Zone is because once a person looks and explores beyond the boundaries of their cultural indoctrination they start to become almost outcast, fringe dwellers on their society. Which is not a Comforting place to exist at all for most people who NEED to fit in.

What is the difference between religion and spirituality?

Many different people behave is various ways, some walk in the woods, some gaze at stars, some meditate, some pray, some do yoga, some smoke peyote, some smoke pot, take acid, sit in sweat lodges, just to name a few ways that people act and behave to get a "spiritual experience".

Many people believe that their specific and particular way produces the most pure, most real, most meaningful or most epitome of spiritual experience.

Very passionate charismatic persons then are so certain their method, practice, path is THE RIGHT ONE that they begin to turn others on to that path.

Soon enough there are practices, procedures and rules that refine and heighten their particular method of reaching the spiritual experience.
They begin to construct what years later with hindsight will be called a religion.

They currently in the here and now will insist it is just a PATH, but the future will call it a religion, a sect, cult, or whatever.

The true religion does not rest on man made ideas, man made procedures, rules, sequences or practices. It rests on God given rules, procedures, processes and plans.

Lots of these aforementioned PATHS are just a way to feed the vices and to place the emotional and physical pleasurable experiences as the goal of the path. This is not the true goal of spiritual experiences. The true goal of spiritual experiences is to honor and praise the CREATOR of the universe while at the same time seeking to know His will for us and the power to carry that will out.

The religion that is the oldest is Jewish, and the next one is Catholic. These religions have intimate communion with the Creator and are modeled around the rules and processes as dictated by God the Creator.

Looking at a meteor shower is awesome and awe inspiring, and gives a very great emotional high. If you just stop the reasoning mind there then you are missing the Man behind the Awesomeness of the shower God. Because moving from the emotional feeling and high, the spiritual experience of the meteor shower with reason to the mystery and awesomeness of the Creator and praise and honor and marvel at the mystery of His creation is what it is all about.

And you need to use caution that the SPIRIT behind and producing your spiritual experience is a good and HOLY ONE.

Spirit in the absence of reason and conscience is playing with fire, so to say.