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Is "spiritual" also religious? Clearly we can identify religious folks -- belief in god(s), afterlife, etc. However, some people simply describe themselves as spiritual. Often they're new age neo-hippie types who love crystals and dream catchers and such, but you don't find them talking too much about god. They do often talk about "universe" in the same way as some might talk about god, but in a much more neutral manner.

I admit I'm envious of people with the hippie new age vibe as they seem fun and happier. They have great music, awesome art, good parties and raves, and cool stores filled with candles, Enya CDs, buddha statues, and various trinkets. They go to Peru for spiritual awakenings and go to Mexico for cocoa ceremonies. It's a warm, fun vibe -- but, alas, I'm not one of those folks. I'm just on the outside looking in.

Scoobs 6 Apr 27
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I use the terms 'theist' and 'deist'

Theists believe in a supernatural being who is interactive in the day-to-day running of existence - answering prayers, sending hurricanes, performing miracles, and so on.

Deists believe in a supernatural being who is not interactive in the day-to-day running of existence - a 'spirit of the universe', or so on.

I would say both are 'religious', but in different ways.

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Faith is a personal relationship with whatever extra-natural being or set of rules that govern the universe, if such a thing exists.

Religion is...utilizing faith as a focal point for an organized subculture heirarchy. It provides social status and moral authority within the heirarchy, and therefore becomes a tool of politics.

Spirituality is...a more complicated idea because the words 'spiritual' and 'spirituality' have a number of varied interpretations:

  1. A classifying term for one's belief system system and/or philosophical leaning as a collective whole.

  2. A person who, regardless of their religious affiliation or belief in a deity or set of deities, does believe in the existence of extranatural phenomena, like ESP or ghosts or nature spirits or whatever. I don't believe the UFO and Alien visitation crowds necessarily fall into this category, unless there's an overlap, though I could be wrong given the possibility for interpretive error.

  3. Someone who actively wishes not to be associated with a major religious organization, but does believe in a deity, regardless of whether or not they also believe in other extranatural phenomena.

  4. As a synonym for the above definition of faith.

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Don't we each hold our little tweaks on our own definitions?
Why does "moist" creep some folks out? Is "this" color green or blue? Are cranky and grouchy different words for the same thing
SO, in my opinion, religion is ALWAYS tainted with politics and control.
REAL spirituality, to me, is inside the person, however that individual perceives it.
Yet every time I am around any so called spiritual person, or group, it turns into ritual and dogma, leaning so slightly into control.
"No, you aren't doing that right!”, either verbalized or the look.
Sigh, my tangent took on a life of it's own.
Suffice to say, real spirituality is rare, or nonexistent, in my book.

I'm with you on this. I believe spirituality is within and in touch or in harmony with the universe. Whatever supreme intelligence or life force exists, it is in all of us. There for us to harness as we see fit.

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Spirituality is the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. l just don't believe in spirits or souls, so l'm out on this one. 🙂

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I've had a number of moments that I can best describe as 'spiritual', but none of them was remotely connected with religion. I'm sure it's different for others - the definition is nebulous.

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I would say that we're aware energy exists and can't be destroyed, yeah? So being an audio engineer and studying lots on frequencies...even light frequencies...all frequencies are, is energy moving at a certain speed and it's proven energies can have positive or negative impacts on people, or even plants and other animals well-being, whether anyone realizes it or not. So I feel being "spiritual" is essentially chasing positive vibrations, (frequencies of any sort) to better oneself or just simply feel more positive...like listening to major scales in music, etc. And surrounding yourself with positive people adds positivity to your life too, sort of the "law of attraction" theory, (which I'm skeptical of because I feel there's not enough evidence).

That's how I view spirituality as.

Brings up a theory I had of how people have experiences of "ghosts" etc, is that what if people's energy just changes into a form of energy our bodies or technology can't pick up or understand yet. Sometimes they cross the radio frequency realm, hence microphones pick it up or antenae, whatever. Like, if everything is made of stardust and material from space, what if we just become dark energy, or dark matter of some sort? Similar to how a dog can hear whistles that we as humans can't. I know it sounds a little far-out and absurd, but it could explain the ghost stories and experiences people have had in certain areas where bad things have happened.

This is something I believe. I am a retired engineer. Physics law says energy can be transformed but not destroyed, except for some very small losses, the process is occurring. Like a worm turning into a butterfly is a simple example of transformation.Or a snake shedding its skin. In some occult and scientific worlds, death is referred to as transformation.Your earthly body decays and your energy, your soul is free to continue on its journey. Ghosts are energy that usually has for some reason refused to complete the full transformation process. They are harmless. They sometimes don't get all their goodbyes in. I know ghosts don't kill people. Sadly, people kill people. I enjoyed your share. Sounds like we have some mutual ideas. Hope to comment with you more.

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I used to be of that ilk, even when I was working and had a family, but as I've gotten older I'm becoming a lot more reality-based. And no, I did not consider myself to be "religious" at all.

@Scoobs Actually, I don't recall hearing that line,but I know what you mean. Around here though, they are proudly religious.

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