Is it possible to be spiritual but not religious? Why or Why not?

Answer 1

I'm tempted to say no (I'm not either one, though have been accused of being spiritual -- which really ticks me off).

I'm puzzled by all the answers you've gotten saying "I'm spiritual but not religious.... I believe in god."

If you believe in god, to me that means you're religious. I would distinguish being religious with identifying with a particular religion (which is why they're saying they aren't religious).

So, I think the terms are synonymous. Most of the answers I've seen disagree. When I hear people talking about "higher power(s)" or "supreme being" or "oneness with (all, earth, etc.)" -- which is what they say when explaining spirituality -- I consider these religious statements.

But then, a lot of people think I'm a nut.

Answer 2

Yes it is possible. The religious leaders in Jesus' day were not spiritual and a lot of religious leaders we have today are not spiritual. Many people believe in God and are spiritual, but do not participate in the religious society because it is so screwed up.

Answer 3

Yes, absolutely, IMHO.

"Spiritual" is your personal connection to the Divine.

"Religious" is the man-made trappings and rituals that have grown up around that connection, usually shared by several people in a community setting.

You can be spiritual without being religious - you can have the personal connection without all the trappings, rituals, church, congregation, etc.

You can also be religious without being spiritual - you can go through the motions of the rituals in the building and with the people, but not have a personal connection to the Divine.

Answer 4

ChosenbyHim,
Spiritual means expressions of the spirit. That happened to me before I was Christian. I already knew that there was something to that, after having psychic experiences and an incident with Astral Projection. I wasn't a part of any religious organization, nothing with drugs, or crystals, or magic, or objects of any kind.

Religious is an affiliation with any of those 'things' I mentioned above, and practicing the belief system involved. Being religious can even mean going to a baseball game every Tuesday. As in going to baseball games religiously.

Answer 5

JC was a spiritual person but he was not a "religious" person... he was Jewish, yet he was against many religious practices going on at the temples. Understand that what he preached was not the conventional Judaism... he relied on what his spirit (or his soul or conscious, to those that prefer another term) dictated. He was a teacher (Rabbi), much like Socrates, and a leader of a new spiritual thought (afterlife) of loving one's enemies and being better human beings for the sake of one's spiritual well-being.

I am not a religious person yet I've been called "Christian-like" and the truth is that I refer to myself as an athiest.

Answer 6

Yes, the reason people say that they are spiritual but not religious is because they believe in a higher power, i.e. God, but they do not belong to a specific church, i.e. Baptist, Methodist, Catholic. I think many people feel that many churches focus on the wrong things and that within many churches there are so many problems that the parishioners lose focus on God. Other people just have never found a church they feel comfortable with. So I do think it is possible to be spiritual and not religious.

Answer 7

Spiritual(ity) is the innate urge within the human being to grow into a more spiritual person. Religions can enhance this urge through a focused spiritual message...but many in recent years have fallen short of the mark in this regard. They are rather busy trying to make a homogenious bunch instead of inidivudality and growth in spiritual awareness. Yes you can be spiritual without religion. But you can also be spiritual within religion. This is a matter of individuality and growth.

Answer 8

Yes, religion is actually nothing more than a bunch of ritualistic set of things done according to the rules of said religion. Faith is what is needed, faith in Christ. People can be Religious and not have faith in Christ. The religion doesn't save you, Jesus does. So I think spiritualism is even separate from both religion and faith. Spiritual has its place in Christianity as it also has a place in personal Godless forms of belief, such as Buddhist. A christian would identify with the term Spiritual in that they are concerned or striving for things not of this life, but in their spiritual life and eternal life rather than worldly. Buddhist, I believe, use the spiritual almost the same in definition, but they have no belief in a personal God, rather they believe in Amida, which is a subject on its own, to much to go into.

spiritual

Having no body, form, or substance: bodiless, discarnate, disembodied, immaterial, incorporeal, insubstantial, metaphysical, nonphysical, unbodied, uncorporal, unsubstantial. See body

Of or concerned with the spirit rather than the body or material things: numinous, otherworldly, unworldly. See body

Of or relating to a church or to an established religion: church, churchly, ecclesiastical, religious. See religion

Answer 9

I am spritual without being particularly religious...In fact most if not all in my sect are that way...One doesn't need rules, regulatioins, dogma to believe. In fact Spirituality is INDIVIDUAL and religion is group...so it's perfectly okay to be spiritual without belonging to any particular group. For the sake of community I belong to a group though and it's a good one check 'em out at WWW.UUA.ORG...Sorry for the sales pitch but so many people have never heard of us I thought that if you at least give a look you can learn. PEACE!

Answer 10

yes. religion has nothing to do with God. religion is the ornaments and traditions of ones beliefs. spirituality doesn't necisarily coincide with belief in God either. when you are a spiritual person, it means you are connected with the spirits, which isn't always a good thing, since they know things you don't know and can do things to you. on the other hand, many christians are very spiritual people and ore connected to God in ways that almost don't seem normal.

yes it is possible to be spiritual but not religous, and it is possible to be religous but not in touch with God.