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Religion VS. Spirituality Essay
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Runaway Trains of Thought Religion Vs. Spirituality
By Arch Blandy
The point of my shpeal is not another trite rant about how idiotic Christianity is. That has been done and redone, and it is for the ignorance of atheism. First off, I would like to cover the technical terms. There are two big differences between religion and spirituality. One is that religion is a possible form of spirituality, yet spirituality is a possible form of philosophy. The second is, although religion often contains spirituality, religion is an organized society brought together in one way or another by a common belief…in general. Spirituality is the mere belief of spirits, or a higher power. Such groups I place in the category of religions are the thousands of cults, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, as well as the non-spiritual societies, like the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis, and the Mob. Now, you may be confused on how these vast skyscrapers with no visible sign of halting heights could be categorized together. That point will be driven later on.
In agreement to the great Adam Carolla of Loveline, all spirituality is a degree of insanity. This does not make spirituality a bad thing. In one sense, it makes life better. We are all insane to a certain degree, for insanity is a personal culture and family of opinions. It is inevitable. Some degrees make us function in and as a society. These people can be labeled such words as “conformist” or “conservative”. They are the puzzle pieces making up society. Other degrees are more merciful and do not subject the person to such dismal damnation as “conservative”. These people can be called such things as “freak” or “nonconformist” for those of you who require such pathetic labels. But the role spirituality plays is a good one for a person. It adds flavor, edge and a feeling of truth to life. It’s been said: “Sanity is the playground for the unimaginative”. Spirituality can be the belief in the existence of power in gods, nature, inanimate objects, people, and people (yes, that does include yourself). The most extreme of insanity can often be found in spiritual beliefs, people like Carrie White’s mom (Stephen King).
Religion is the paralysis of such spiritual freedoms. People are vulnerably influenced and sometimes forced to heed to their beliefs. In my opinion, religion is a form of corruption. Christianity and such mainstream religions manipulate people to become believers. They draw people in with comforting words like “heaven” or “promised land”. They make people lay down their self-worth to heed to some unseen force. In exchange for being "reconciled”, they require $20 every Sunday. 17% of the world population are Christians. With a few bucks each week rolling in each week from every member, and all this “charity” going on behind the sacred curtains, it’s quite curious that all the same poverty and terrorism is not looking any prettier on CNN. These religions are no different or better than the recent cults of the 1960s. They pervert spirituality. Cults are under the same category. These are just more obvious and perverse. People such as Jim Jones and Charles Manson create them. Cult members are drawn to believe in fake religions, and to devote their lives to them. Christianity is only a mild form of cults. I think, as well, that terrorist groups such as the KKK, Nazis, and the recent Al-Queda, are very much at the same degree of corruption as cults. All of these different groups use manipulation to draw people in, then use them until there’s no life left to drip. It is the most disturbing and corrupt element of this world.
You may wonder what makes these different groups any different from your average society. The similarity is the fact that manipulation is used, the attraction each culture carries. The difference is that religions use manipulation to, not only just attract members, but to profit and prey off of their every weaknesses and every strength. Once you have their weakness, you now can claim their strengths. That is the philosophy. Corruption!
To let you in on my personal spirituality, and how it ties to my precious opinions, I am a Deist. This is sort of an alternative to atheism and agnosticism. The whole point of Deism is to support one’s self-worth and individuality. It supports my every belief, not because of what the beliefs are, but because they are my personal beliefs, and there is no greater feeling in the world. So, you now know why religions are just another tourist trap on the road to insanity. All you have to do is drive by without a single twitch of the eye.
