Can you have spirituality without religion?

To me the words are interchangeable, but I know they aren't to a lot of people. In fact, a lot of people seem to use "religion" as a negative and "spiritual" as a positive. It's like they say you can be spiritual without being religious, but they somehow seem to think you can't be religious and be spiritual.

I think that they do go hand in hand but they can also be separte. People can be spiritual and not be religious. The word religion to many people means organized religion like particular demonations of faith(Bapists, Catholic, Methodist, etc..) and they dont want to beglong to an organization. The are spritual but do have ties to any one brand of religion.

Spirituality is tied to religion, to me it means that your activating your faith, you are living your beliefs.

Hi Ruthep, I believe there is a great difference between the two, although I agree that many people are both spiritual and religious. A great many religious people are not spiritual at all,but feel that attending church and performing certain rituals are all that's required of them. Many evangelical Christians seem to think that all they have to do is accept Christ as their saviour and tell others about him. The Spiritual person often never attends any church,mosque or temple but lives his/her religion in everyday life by working to make this world a better place for everyone. He/she is more concerned with helping others now than teaching a doctrine that some believe will assure them a place in a perceived heaven. Blessings.

hiya Ruthep

It does say that spirituality is closely realted to religion but not directly connected. Spirituality being a belief in something but not religiously following a religion. Religion is more devout such as going to church every day, or Jehovah witnesses who do not condone blood transfusions. To me spirituality is more of a feeling within oneself of righteousness and goodwill toward others, knowing right from wrong and living your life accordingly.
I feel all those things but do not follow any one religion, I believe there is a small amount of truth in all. Man should learn to accept and respect one another no matter what thier beliefs.
I normally as a rule try not to get into religious discussions as tempers seem to flare when one wants to be right and others won't follow.

Alice:)

I am firmly spiritual but not religious and i find an increasing number of people are the same way. All the main religions have spiritual aspects that are not dogmatic and ritualitic. That is truely spiritualitic, that which is common to all main religions.

Unfortunately North Americans are becoming more secular and I don't like it. I came here more than 30 years ago from socialist/communist country and I see a lot of that now here. If you are religious, you are religious. If you are not than you say you are spiritual. That's how I see it.

I do not think they have to be together. A lot of people that come to religion without being raised into it have experienced some type of "revelation" that lead them to it. I have also known those that have been full and happy within their beliefs and spiritually whole while not practicing the religion they were brought up in. They had the same basic beliefs but did not attend the church. I also once read that the most modern cases of stigmata reported are not by people of faith. I think I saw that on Wikapedia. Which tells me that all spiritual matters may not be directly related to a certain religion. Not just based on that though..it is the peace that some people show with their lifestyle. I think that it does directly relate to mental well being to feel spiritually whole but that can mean different things for different people. I am by no means a spiritual expert though..lol

To me, religion and spirituality are completely different animals. In the religion I grew up in, they always generalized spirituality too much for my liking. "You should be feeling spiritual right now." To me, spirituality is individual. Religion is general.

Now, I'm not against organized religion, far from it. I think that for a lot of people, religion gives their life meaning. For me, religion took away spirituality. Luckily for me, I've found it again.:D

Answering your question directly, I can say that a person can be spiritual without a religion, but one cannot be spiritual without Christ in the heart. The secret to spirituality is having trusted Christ in one's heart. Religion is not a very important factor in being a christian. But being a Christian, one must find a Church where the Word of God is being preached without compromise for the Christian to grow in his or her christian life!

I am a spiritual person in a certain way. But I´m not religious in the sense that I think that I´m not capable of reaching the trascendental. I feel there´s something but I can´t grasp it.But also, due to this incapacity I have, I respect all faiths and don´t think one is true and the others are falsehoods. And I respect people who have no faith at all too.
For me to belong to a certain church (or religion) is like belonging to a club. You follow certain rules and you accept without questioning some ideas. I can´t do that. I have been questioning myself, the world, since I remember. That´s my idea of soul (if you want to call it that way) or spirit, or religiousness.