To me, religious means that someone observes the form of faith. Like, going to Holy Communion, or wearing tzit-tzit, or writing prayers and the affixing them to branches outside a temple. Those are religious. I think the word presupposes a life-style--you can be a religious, after all.
Spiritual means that someone feels something...beyond themselves. I think the word as commonly used is kind of mushy and baggy and catch-all. New-Agey, almost--used by people who are consciously rejecting the "religious" label. "I'm very spiritual" can mean a lot, or it can mean nothing. That kind of undefined sort of thing bugs me. I think that spirituality should be real enough that people behave religiously, I guess.
I think of "spiritual" as a quality that exists within the person, where "religious" as a belief in something that exists outside of that person. Spiritual could be something less tangible, something without a written code and story. Religous cannot.
Spiritual is who I am, a spirit within a body. To me only "religious" has a somewhat negative meaning, one who adhers to the proclaimed dogma of various faiths. The sort of person who believes they have found the one true path to god. The only "one true path".
Religious is following religion, with rules, whether you yourself made them up or not. Spirituality is a looser sort of belief.
It's like working for the man vs. being self-employed.
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To me, religious means that someone observes the form of faith. Like, going to Holy Communion, or wearing tzit-tzit, or writing prayers and the affixing them to branches outside a temple. Those are religious. I think the word presupposes a life-style--you can be a religious, after all.
Spiritual means that someone feels something...beyond themselves. I think the word as commonly used is kind of mushy and baggy and catch-all. New-Agey, almost--used by people who are consciously rejecting the "religious" label. "I'm very spiritual" can mean a lot, or it can mean nothing. That kind of undefined sort of thing bugs me. I think that spirituality should be real enough that people behave religiously, I guess.
I think of "spiritual" as a quality that exists within the person, where "religious" as a belief in something that exists outside of that person. Spiritual could be something less tangible, something without a written code and story. Religous cannot.
Spiritual is who I am, a spirit within a body. To me only "religious" has a somewhat negative meaning, one who adhers to the proclaimed dogma of various faiths. The sort of person who believes they have found the one true path to god. The only "one true path".
Religious is following religion, with rules, whether you yourself made them up or not. Spirituality is a looser sort of belief.
It's like working for the man vs. being self-employed.
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