How many times have you heard the phrase "I'm a spiritual but I'm not religious"?
Intuitive but Impossible...
Intuitive, because it alludes to an "a priori" understanding that there is a state of existence that transcends this physical world...that cannot be limited by physical restrictions or dictated by physical demands. This metaphysical world is home to the most intimate parts of our being...our emotions (what we feel), our intellect (what we think) and our will (what we want). This spiritual core...the part that truly defines us...is attached to, but not fettered by, our physical body that Plato called a prison.
We are all spiritual...
Impossible, because our spirits will always impel our bodies, more or less successfully, to act in conformity with our core spiritual convictions concerning the meaning and purpose of life. And, any action intended to support, defend, promote or confirm our spiritual convictions is a religious act.
So, we are all religious...
Now, that deeply held spiritual conviction about the meaning and purpose of life is called faith because spiritual truth can rarely be empirically confirmed in the material world...we just believe it. For example...I believe (have faith) that I am a good person even though my actions are not always good.
This makes Christianity a faith "and" a religion. The 16th century Christian catechism says "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever". Simply put, the meaning of my life derives meaning from being created by God...in His image (empirically unproven). My purpose in life is to acknowle dge my creator and build a life that keeps us in a satisfying relationship. The "religious" part of Christianity is the set of rules and expectations devised to help us live authentically according to our faith. But, make no mistake, the faith and the religion are not the same thing.
But, meaning and purpose can be found from sources far removed from any notion of God (Theism). Environmentalism, Hedonism, Capitalism, Narcissism, Atheism, Utopianism. The one thing all the "isms" have in common is the conviction (by their acolytes) that proper devotion to the "ism" will result in benefit for self...and possibly all mankind.
At this point we should be able to agree, philosophically, that we don't have a problem. After all, believing something is rarely problematic...until we demand
that authentic belief be evidenced by certain activities, and lack of that evidence makes a person undesirable.
And all that activity...that's religion.
Religion is the human response (and expression) to what we believe is required to live in harmony with the true meaning and purpose of life. It is a system of "Do's and Don'ts" in thought, word and deed. In this sense, everybody is religious. Whatever their belief system...they pattern their life to align with that system. Even if they believe their lives have no purpose or meaning, they live their lives according to that belief.
It is impossible to get more fundamental than this...and it explains why religion is so unpopular: Religious people tend to be intransigent. For example, abortion is a sacrament of the religious left and they are completely inflexible, as are pro-life adherents who disagree.
This, of course, is where religion becomes a problem: equally passionate people often take opposing sides on an issue and conflict ensues. The mere fact of opposition does not imply lack of authenticity or genuineness. This is why our constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibition on the free exercise of religion: The ability to freely follow the most fundamental convictions of life was the raison d'être for coming to the new world for many colonists. Consequently, our laws were designed to ensure the citizenry was free to follow their conscience...since it is the ground upon which we understand the true purpose and meaning of life.
Unfortunately, in this sense, religion (human activity) can never be perfect because it is, nearly always, of human origin even though it may point to existential truth...which is, in fact, perfect.
Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God, who came to earth, died to atone for our sins and returned to heaven to intercede for us before God. That's faith.
Christians don't drink, play cards or go to movies. That's religion
But...is that a true reflection of the Christian faith? James 1:27 says Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. In Matthew 22, Jesus said, "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets".
I can't imagine a faith, exercised in this manner, would cause problems for anybody. Unless, of course, we Christians have exercised some editorial license with respect to our Biblical imperative. As a friend of mine once opined..."God loves you and I have a wonderful plan for your life!"
So, here is my question: Does the religion you have designed to express your faith derive from your personal preferences or from your sacred text? And, the next time you are inclined to make a religious demand of yourself or others, remember, the decision to live a life of faith is always personal...not communal. Be respectful. As Peter reminds us in his 1st Epistle, "but treat the Messiah as holy, as Lord in your hearts; while remaining always ready to give a reasoned answer to anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you — yet with humility and fear".
I imagine religion, exercised this way, would cause us far fewer problems.
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