Religion vs Spirituality…

They say there are 3 things that you’re not supposed to discuss in polite company… religion, politics and sex…

So… I guess I probably don’t keep polite company but the company I do like to keep, likes to discuss pretty much anything and everything and the best company I keep is with those who don’t expect everybody to agree with everybody all the time…

Religion and Spirituality as topics are frequent flyers that land around me in all sorts of ways…

And it’s not people’s views and opinions that bother me as such…

But… I am less than enamoured by people’s assumptions and their views on what they seem to imagine that my beliefs are…

Particularly when they are so convinced that I support their view of the world by agreeing/disagreeing with what they agree/disagree with, based solely on the fact that  I happen to have a deck of tarot cards in my hand…

Whether it be – Oh! I’m not allowed to talk to people like you as I’m a Christian!

Yes! I have had that said to me… I just smiled as she continued with justifying her statement as in my head there were too many… way too many ways that I could have answered that…

• Me too actually… I have Salvation Army blood in my veins! (ok… so I don’t follow that way but it’s left some traces nonetheless and sometimes I like to say things just for sheer devilment… 😀 )
• People like me? What? Fat? White? Female? Science Graduate? Mother? Married? Facetious? Sarcastic? 😀
• Jeez!!! Not ALLOWED?! What are you FIVE??
• Meh… Christianity… it’s just synchretic eclectic paganism…

Instead I said… Lovely… and how’s that working out for you…

Or on the other end of the scale…

Hail and well met Sister Witch!

Seriously??? I’ve never met you before and you think just because I have a deck in hand that I follow your beliefs? No… and even if I did… well that greeting has just made me less than inclined to embrace you into my inner circle…

I observe neither the Sabbath nor the Sabbats…

I object to the either/or stance on this…

Religion in one corner and Spirituality in t’other with ne’er the twain shall meet…

There are many valuable insights to be found within Religious texts and why should we throw the baby out with the bath water?

It’s not Religion that makes people bad… Bad people are bad people and yes… there are people who do bad things under the banner of Religion… but that’s the same with Spirituality… and all of those people who pass off their actions as being some sort of way of expressing their faith/beliefs/spirtuality/whatev’ …. well…. they can all Love and Light me all the way to hell…

If you want to polarise this topic into two distinct areas then what I read then is not…

Religion vs Spirituality

but rather

Group Think vs Group Think

I know people who say they are Religious…

I know people who say they are not Religious…

I know people who say they are Spiritual…

I know people who say they are not Spiritual…

I know people who say they are both…

I know people who say they are neither…

I see a mixture of good and bad everywhere…

I really do not care HOW you define yourself…

Though… I am interested in hearing…

WHY…

And so endeth my sermon for today…

😉