Religion or Spirituality? A Checklist

Religion may involve spirituality, but spirituality does not necessarily involve religion. Here’s how I differentiate (your mileage may vary):

Religion

Relationship with a God or Gods

  • Beliefs
  • Metaphysical or Supernatural Reality
  • Faith
  • Dogma
  • Ritual
  • Prayer
  • Salvation
  • Eternal reward

Spirituality

Qualities of the Human Spirit

  • Love
  • Compassion
  • Patience
  • Tolerance
  • Forgiveness
  • Sense of Responsibility
  • Sense of Harmony
  • Things that bring real happiness to ourselves and others
  • Contentment
  • Joy

One Response to Religion or Spirituality? A Checklist

  1. I suspect that the spirituality/religion distinction has been overdrawn, particularly in the modern context where the two blur. I have just posted on it. In case you are interested, here is the link. http://deligentia.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/spirituality-and-religion-a-false-dichotomy/

    Your article is well-written, but sounds like a semantic issue to me. The distinction that I drew is quite clear.

    Thanks for commenting.

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