What is the difference, between Religion and Spirituality?
As a woman of mixed ethnicities and cultures, it is not hard to place both hats atop my head, after all I was raised under Native American faith, and then moved to Mexico, where I was converted and raised in Catholicism, until the age of 12. I returned to my Mother's Native American spirituality at age 13. On my father's side mostly everyone is driven by logic, reason, and empirical science. The family, though not atheist, delving into subvert societies did occur in the family history. Can you see the complications in the dogma occurring? Just wait... there is more. I later married for the second time into a family that was deeply into the dark arts, little to my knowledge until all was revealed to me after marriage. I married a third time, and this time to a devout Muslim. I never saw myself as an international religious-sampler-type, but this is how life happened to me. So now, can you imagine what my personal religious and spiritual dogmas consist of?
Along the way in my professional life, as well as my artistic one, I have run into a myriad of individuals that follow an abundance of paths to what they consider "faith". Faith is universal to either Religion or Spirituality, so what is the difference between both? Well, though I am not an expert, by any means, and hold no theology degrees, I can refer to my own personal experience, and that of others whom have shared with me their views and opinions.
Many people, have many view, and many passionate opinions and ideas on the subject.
This is my take on the matter...
In the Christian dogma, as in all the Abrahamic religions in particular (Judaism, Islam, Christianity) there is a particular importance placed on "scripture" and a rigorous set of beliefs and a system to follow it. There is a system for judgement in order to obtain "salvation", and there are penalties for not following doctrine. Rules change from branch to branch of the religions in particular, as to penalties, severities, and rewards, but the overall system is the same. There are priests (intermediaries), and there is a church, or place of worship, where people gather for sermon. That is the quick picture.
In Native American Spirituality, our church is the land, it is IN nature. In our fields, in our huts/kivas/hogans made from earth materials, in our tipis made of skins, or our caves carved from mountains, that is our gathering place for prayer. There are no penalties for saying the wrong prayer, there is no HELL or consequence for NOT attending our church, for we LIVE in it. We cannot help but be connected to Creator, because we are in daily contact with the creation. In the wind we breathe, in the water we drink, in the sun we feel on our skin, that is all Creator's gift.
Deloria's statement: “Religion is for people who’re afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those who’ve already been there.” is too often mis-interpreted. Vine Deloria Jr. was a Native American Author, Theologian, historian, and Activist. He was famous for the book Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto (1969), which helped bring much needed attention to the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement. He died November 13, 2005, but not before leaving a lasting legacy in the struggle and plight of the American Native Indian. Deloria served as executive director of the national Congress of American Indians, he was a board member of the Museum of the American Indian, he was professor of political science at the University of Arizona, where he established the 1st master's degree program in American Indian Studies in the United States.
Deloria's statement was a satirical, and philosophical one, not a literal one.
In my opinion the statement implies (from reading his many writings) that he separates the notion of Religion as a belief system(dogma) in which one seeks (regimented) salvation in order to "avoid" hell, which is somewhere else, while contrarily, in his opinion, Spirituality relates more to the individuality of worship, and the need for connection to the divine, due to the relief we seek from the torments of "hell", which in Deloria's opinion is the very existence (life) we live in. Hell is here and now, while practicing spirituality releases us from those torments, and prepares us for our journey in the existence we have ahead. This is but a step in the long journey of existence, and it is the hardest one.
WHY CAN'T WE HAVE BOTH?
Considering that in the world today we have a diversity that is not only apparent (as we are not globally connected before), but also inter-woven, and culturally inter-mixed. Gone are the days of old where sects, groups, and classes stuck together and to themselves. Nowadays we have all these wierd combinations, such as myself, and by experience I can say that tolerance of other's faith is not only possible, but necessary.
Why can't we combine all that we learn along the way, and like a map use it to build a model that we can call our own, and be comfortable with. As is, almost no one takes the prescription of their faith literally. There are those who do, however most DO NOT follow ALL things to the letter. Why can't we take what we know of Religion and Spirituality and conceive of our own faith? Can we not reach a happy compromise in our being? Afterall, are we here to prove our faith, or follow it? Are we here to perform for an audience of fellow adherents, or here to satisfy an inner desire for connection to the divine? Prioroties of the minds all come to play in this decision, because it is only when the right reasons are present that we can see past our own limitations of judgment.
WHAT DO YOU THINK???