Please read the poll choices and select what best describes you.
Votes are publicly visible, as this is a "get to know you better" thread of sorts.
Votes are publicly visible, as this is a "get to know you better" thread of sorts.
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How Religious or Spiritual Are You?
- Thread starter SalixIncendium
- Start date
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
Of the choices you provided in the poll, i chose deeply spiritual.
But i believe others would be better to say if I actually show that I am deeply spiritual in daily life.
Every day i notice aspect of my being that would benefit from even more purification.
Difficult to say, as I'd have to think about it. 'Religious' and 'spiritual' are words whose connotations vary widely by person. It does remind me of the story I once heard from the late Swami Bhashyananda (might have this part wrong) or Ramakrishna Mission in Chicago. I think I've told it on here before, so we'll do the quick version ... he and a brother monk were walking the length of India and tried to help an old woman finish a hill climb pilgrimage. The brothers were all proud of their 'religiousity' until she told them to go away, as she did this climb every day. It humbled them.
Who is the more charitable ... the pauper who gives $50, half his daily wages, or a millionaire who gives $1000, 1% of his daily earnings?
A friend and I joke about it ... "That's because you're more religious than I am." in several situations.
Who is the more charitable ... the pauper who gives $50, half his daily wages, or a millionaire who gives $1000, 1% of his daily earnings?
A friend and I joke about it ... "That's because you're more religious than I am." in several situations.
mikkel_the_dane
My own religion
I believe I die, when I die.
I am an atheist and agnostic.
I don't believe in any version of revealed religion.
I don't believe in prayer as miracle, woo-woo or magic.
I don't believe in rational or objective morality.
I believe in morality; i.e human rights and human positive as an act of faith.
I don't believe in any positive metaphysics of any sort.
I believe in objective reality.
I don't believe that the everyday world is any one fact as natural, spiritual, physical, objective, subjective and so on.
I don't believe in objective rationality or truth.
I am a limited cognitive, cultural, moral and existential relativist. The meaning of life, the universe and the rest is subjective and a form of religion.
I believe in the spiritual as a form of psychology.
Regards
Mikkel
PS I am a hardcore global(philosophical) skeptic, which can do academic skepticism.
Secret Chief
nirvana is samsara
Forced to choose "deeply spiritual" after checking what dichotomy means.
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Uhhh, it was so hard to choose between 'deeply religious' and 'deeply spiritual'.
I also worry that 'devout' could be viewed as synonymous in certain quarters with "fundamentalist" (and I am very far from having that kind of 'religious' sentiment, even though religion is very important in my life and to my identity).
In my faith tradition, the term 'religious' was originally applied (c. 1200) to a "state of life bound by monastic vows". Even in the modern (1992) Catechism, it still technically refers to persons under consecrated vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in religious orders:
Catechism of the Catholic Church - Christ's Faithful - Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life
So, if I'm using the 'strict' definition - I'm not 'religious' in Catholic terms, as a layperson not living under any sort of consecrated vow (i.e. chastity or poverty).
Saint Paul, however, did use the word "spiritual" pneumatikos in Greek.
He is the first person I'm aware of from history to refer to a category of “spirituality”. In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 the “spiritual” (πνευματικός, pnevmatikos) human is the one who has received the wisdom that belongs to God and because he or she has 'received' the divine "Spirit [which] searches all things, even the depths of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10) is able to 'discern' all things through that same power:
If being 'spiritual' was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then its good enough for me.
So "deeply spiritual" it is
I also worry that 'devout' could be viewed as synonymous in certain quarters with "fundamentalist" (and I am very far from having that kind of 'religious' sentiment, even though religion is very important in my life and to my identity).
In my faith tradition, the term 'religious' was originally applied (c. 1200) to a "state of life bound by monastic vows". Even in the modern (1992) Catechism, it still technically refers to persons under consecrated vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in religious orders:
Catechism of the Catholic Church - Christ's Faithful - Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life
Religious life
925 Religious life was born in the East during the first centuries of Christianity. Lived within institutes canonically erected by the Church, it is distinguished from other forms of consecrated life by its liturgical character, public profession of the evangelical counsels, fraternal life led in common, and witness given to the union of Christ with the Church.468
"History witnesses to the outstanding service rendered by religious families in the propagation of the faith and in the formation of new Churches: from the ancient monastic institutions to the medieval orders, all the way to the more recent congregations."471
925 Religious life was born in the East during the first centuries of Christianity. Lived within institutes canonically erected by the Church, it is distinguished from other forms of consecrated life by its liturgical character, public profession of the evangelical counsels, fraternal life led in common, and witness given to the union of Christ with the Church.468
"History witnesses to the outstanding service rendered by religious families in the propagation of the faith and in the formation of new Churches: from the ancient monastic institutions to the medieval orders, all the way to the more recent congregations."471
So, if I'm using the 'strict' definition - I'm not 'religious' in Catholic terms, as a layperson not living under any sort of consecrated vow (i.e. chastity or poverty).
Saint Paul, however, did use the word "spiritual" pneumatikos in Greek.
He is the first person I'm aware of from history to refer to a category of “spirituality”. In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 the “spiritual” (πνευματικός, pnevmatikos) human is the one who has received the wisdom that belongs to God and because he or she has 'received' the divine "Spirit [which] searches all things, even the depths of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10) is able to 'discern' all things through that same power:
"Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s judgment."
If being 'spiritual' was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then its good enough for me.
So "deeply spiritual" it is
Heyo
Veteran Member
I would have voted "Deeply secular" if it wasn't coupled with "hard atheist". I'm harder than atheists, I'm an Agnostic. No religious or spiritual tendencies (I guess, I'm not sure I know what is meant by religious or spiritual).
As soon as I read the parenthetical "(when it suits my needs)" I lost all respect for thread and poll alike.
Given the expressed dissatisfaction with the choices, or wording of the choices, perhaps the best way to really get to know each other better is through dialogue.
For me, they equally describe how I see myself - so none of them "best describes" - either that or neither of them do!Which is why I said “best describes” in the OP.
I picked....
Deeply secular (hard atheist)
.....cuz that is the closest to....
Lazy secular (hard atheist)
Deeply secular (hard atheist)
.....cuz that is the closest to....
Lazy secular (hard atheist)
I picked....
Deeply secular (hard atheist)
I bet no one would have guessed that
Deeply secular (hard atheist)
I bet no one would have guessed that
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
I don't see spirituality and my life as separate. I just see there's a lot I need to improve in making my practice and belief stronger.
I don't see much difference between several of the poll options. All the ones with "deeply" are religious de facto since deep or strong devotion to something is what it means to be religious about something. And distinctions between "religious" and "secular" and "spiritual" are rather constructed too. So I end up interpreting the poll as "are you aware of who you are and your place in the world with associated narratives, values, and practices supporting who and whose you are?" Yes.
I put "deeply secular."
I'm not at all religious, and I've never come across a definition for "spiritual" that was both coherent and something that describes me, so I don't have any particular reason to describe myself as "spiritual."
I have to say, though: I don't agree with presenting "secular" as the opposite of "religious" (though you aren't the first person I've seen do this). Deeply religious people can be secular; what makes a person secular is if they don't impose their religious beliefs on others.
... so in a way, it's a bit of an insult to religious people who actually do respect others to imply that religiosity goes hand-in-hand with anti-secularism.
I'm a mostly secular/non-religious person, though spiritually I identify most closely with Buddhism.
