Reply to Posts on Spirituality and Religion Paper Example

Reply to post #1

In practice, Spirituality and religion are two terms which are used interchangeably by many people to mean the same thing from the Christianity point of view, a concept which has been disputed by many scholars. Christians tend to think that all religious people are spiritual and all spiritual people are religious. However, experience shows that an individual can be spiritual without necessary becoming religious since religion has been misused by some egocentric individual who ends up tarnishing the good meaning of the vice.

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It is, therefore, very prudent to clearly understand the main difference between the terms to get used to various practices which surface as a way of embracing the same. Most people prefer the act of being spiritual to the idea of being religious. It is because a spiritual being understands that soul-searching is very important in life and hence they basically deal with the souls of individuals and not practices and rituals as practiced by the religious group.

Religion conditions people to behave in a set framework which has clear guidelines, norms and practices to be followed failure to which one can be rebuked in the strongest terms possible. It, therefore, encourages pretense in its commissioning due to the dared consequences. On the contrary, spirituality is personal decision an individual partakes without fear of being rebuked would they decide to blunder along the path of life.

According to Cody, 2004, both religion and spirituality try to connect with the high power which is unseen. However, the nature of the connection may differ, for example, religion connects with this high power with great fear and trembling while spirituality connects with this higher power with much love and affection.

Reply to discussion post #2

From research, religion and spirituality have several similarities as well as differences. Some of these researches have been conducted in a highly reputable manner and hence creates a clear image in the mind of the readers the clear distinction between spirituality and religion. As much as the two terms are used synonymously, their deeper meanings are very much different and can be seen through the observation of the guidelines present in each of them. Spirituality and religion can, therefore, be compared below

Similarities between spirituality and religion.

Both spirituality and religion have defined practices and norms which binds them together and promote their activities. The, therefore, both belief in supernatural powers of some kind, for example, the existence of God.

Spirituality and religion strongly connect and bond with the unseen high power. However, the nature of the connection may differ, for example, religion connects with this high power with great fear and trembling while spirituality connects with this higher power with much love and affection as noted by (Taylor, Chatters, & Levin, 2004).

Differences between spirituality and religion

A spiritual person develops an autonomous interpretation of their soul and spiritual being, while religion stresses the importance of participating in the communal practice. Spirituality thus deals with the soul while religion deals with the alignment.

Religion act as a set where people agree to follow given practices failure of which they end up being rebuked and rejected from the others. In contrary, spiritual people are masters of their own and hence do not belong to a given faith by default.

Poll and Smith's Model of Spiritual Identity

According to the poll and Smith's model, spiritual identity can manifest in four distinct stages with each stage considered to be very critical for the existence of the next stage. Poll and Smith, therefore, reaffirm that the stages are hierarchical and hence none of them can be bypassed. The stages include Pre-awareness stage, awakening stage, recognition stage and integration stage. From poll and Smith's model of spiritual identity, the model is universally accepted since it presents true accounts of spirituality.

References

Cody, P. (2004). Seeds of the Word =: Nga kakano o te Kupu : the meeting of Maori spirituality and Christianity. Wellington, N.Z: Steele Roberts.

Taylor, R. J., Chatters, L. M., & Levin, J. S. (2004). Religion in the lives of African Americans: Social, psychological, and health perspectives. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.