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Today's
will go to:
Proudly Paranormal Blog Hop.
The Proudly Paranormal Blog Hop! A group of Paranormal Authors are coming together to visit each other's blogs, promote their books, give away goodies, and a whole bunch of other goodies!! Starting March 1st this will happen the entire month. So stay tuned, tell your friends, and keep an eye out!
Tootley Tootles!
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Question of the Day:
Spirituality vs Religion. Can one be spiritual without being too religious? Does one have to go to a religious institute often to enhance/identify one's spirituality? Which is more inportant in your opinion.
Today's
will go to:
Proudly Paranormal Blog Hop.
The Proudly Paranormal Blog Hop! A group of Paranormal Authors are coming together to visit each other's blogs, promote their books, give away goodies, and a whole bunch of other goodies!! Starting March 1st this will happen the entire month. So stay tuned, tell your friends, and keep an eye out!
Tootley Tootles!
Lots of warm hugs and love, free from me to you!
As a teen, I often went to those AA/NA meetings with my parents. I learned how to be spiritual through these groups and through Alateen meetings as well. I started getting into a whole psychic thing and I'm still on a spiritual path. I am not religious, and I have not picked a religion. I come from a Jewish family, but I think of it as more of a heritage rather than a religion...
ReplyDelete--Diana
Thanks Diana!
DeleteCan one be spiritual without being too religious? - Yes, without a doubt. I know people who follow no religious path, but are far more spiritual than others I know who do belong to a church or religious group. They have something within that allows them to see beauty in the world, to be kind to their fellows and to live exemplary lives, full of joy, each and every day, without once turning to a 'higher power'.
ReplyDeleteDoes one have to go to a religious institute often to enhance/identify one's spirituality? - As I think you know (I could be wrong) I'm a pagan. I don't follow a particular branch (Wicca/Druid etc), but walk my personal path with the Goddess. I have no church, no written word set in stone to follow, no place I must be to define who I am spiritually. I am spiritual. I have deep an abiding beliefs and I am free to talk with my Goddess whenever and wherever I will. So the answer is no, there is no need for attendance at a given place. My spiritual identity is strong, personal and needs no more than my voice to be expressed.
Which is more inportant in your opinion. - Not sure what the final question was asking exactly but, for me, being spiritual is more important than belonging to any given group or place associated with a group. It is also more important than being labelled under any given religious group. As I said, it is personal, intimate and uniquely mine, even if I share core beliefs with others.
That is a wonderful answer. Thanks Mojo!
DeleteIf I am not mistaken, you are an agnostic, yes? In that case, I'll give you an answer you're more likely to understand, but not necessarily agree with. Although I am a heathen deist, I follow and recommend Thunderf00t's video-blog for "Science & Education on the Win", however in one of his videos I disagree about his viewpoint on religion as a "self-indulgent fantasy" and community religion as "pornographic propaganda".
ReplyDeleteReligion is at least 70,000 old. They found the oldest religious artefact in South Africa - a snake carved into a stone. That means that religion has accompanied us for a very long time. Of course, as our society evolves and becomes more sophisticated, so does our religion, and it doesn't matter what you call it: spirituality or religion. That's also like if some looks at the sky and one person says, "It's blue" and the next person says, "It's azure". This religion is the same.
(By the way - I'm not here to discuss semantics with people who have sold their souls to some American fascistic pseudo-religious social organisations whose organisation names end in 'Anonymous'! Please indulge in your Himmler-rhetoric elsewhere - http://www.orange-papers.org )
I understand many secularist and atheists would like to eradicate religious practice from society in the name of reason, science and education, but I seriously think that's a lost cause, because the inner need for religion/ spirituality has accompanied us for so many centuries, that one must consider it a integral part of our social structure and our social-psychological biology. Humans have specific needs, such as the need to communicate, to belong to a group or a community, to interact with other humans, and to have some form of spirituality/ religion. Humans who lack these things become mentally ill - that's a fact.
Therefore, you cannot replace religion/ spirituality with nothing, because human psyches don't function well without some sense of religion or spirituality. If find the Hebrew Book of Goat Herder Mythology not to your liking or tastes, or doubt that it has any relevance in your life to day, then you must replace it with "something". Religion must evolve to suit our culture - including its science, education and understanding - however, you cannot eradicate the instinctive need for religion any more than you can eradicate the human need to communicate.
No, I'm not agnostic.
DeleteThanks for participating, Celeste!