(September 4, 2023 at 12:28 am)Ahriman Wrote: I think every person has a religious impulse inside of them. For a lot of people, this impulse maifests as one of many known world religions. For others, such as atheists, this impulse manifests in different ways. I don't think this means every person is spiritual. It is possible to be "spiritual and religious" or "religious but not spiritual" but never "spiritual but not religious"
I don't know what you mean by religious impulse, but I think religion is, as Oxford says "a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance." Of course religion can be atheistic or theistic. I would classify myself as theistic irreligious, but I prefer the terms believer or unbeliever because all of the variations are too many and complicated. I'm spiritual but not religious in the sense that I have ever or would ever join an organized religion. In the same way I'm apolitical and would never join a political affiliation. I use the term spiritual in a very practical way. In fact I would define my religious beliefs as practical spirituality. Spirit from the Hebrew/Greek (ruach/pneuma) word for spirit meaning an invisible active force which produces visible results. Wind, breath, compelled mental inclination (broken spirit, mean spirited), so spirituality to me is an interest and awareness of those sorts of things. Could be anything. Art, music, poetry, culture, tradition, groupthink, religious, secular, etc.
Religion, in practice, to me, means an adherence to a specific set of beliefs or principals and repetition. Everyone is, in that sense, religious. My objection to religion is specifically to organized religion due to the potential for abuse (similar to politics) and neglect, for example, the transmogrification of the original teachings corrupted by mass appeal and the political leverage garnered through that appeal.