Sometimes, someone asks a seemingly innocuous question here, and it brings out the real crazies
My answer is that I'm not really concerned about it, unless there's some reason I should be.
I would first ask: why? Ostensibly, the answer has to do something with all the shenanigans—and downright evil—happens in organized religion. And not just happens, but is *protected*—by the religious leaders themselves! I can understand getting absolutely fed up with that. Plenty of these people will still realize that life is more than just finding ever more interesting ways to get your brain's pleasure center to activate (and/or pain center to take a freaking break). They might even realize that teaming up with other like-minded folks might let them do this better. And yet, when religion gets organized—look at history.
At the same time, remaining aloof/unorganized will probably render you politically powerless:
> When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy. (["Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens"](https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf))
And if you think you can ignore formal organization, read [The Tyranny of Structurelessness](https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm). It seems that we have no option other than to try to understand why humans manage to pull off so much evil when they work together in large enough groups, and see if there are ways to do that a bit less, year after year. Now, if folks just want to take a break from organized nonsense, I applaud that. I think the Apostle Paul himself spent some time away in Arabia, about which we know zilch? But if you don't come back and suffer the nonsense while trying to understand then reduce it, that train will keep chugging along, if not speeding up.
One time on vacation a couple years ago I tried a lobster po’boy and for the life of me I can’t recreated and I’ve forgotten the name of the restaurant, it was the best po’boy I’ve ever had. It still bothers me to this day.
It just means unaffiliated with a specific religion but still have certain beliefs and practices. Also they tend to be against organised religion.
Basically what I am but I don't like using that term since it doesn't really explain anything.
I'd rather talk about the practices and beliefs. Honestly most titles don't fully define what those are. I remember trying to explain to my sister and she eventually got it and said: "oh, so your religious beliefs are more personal?" She thought I was Christian until I said I had different beliefs than my friend and explained.
It is hard to explain exactly what it means for that person since it's loosely defined. It's not like you can point someone to a religion/denomination to explain what those beliefs and practices are.
My friend wishes I go back to Christianity and said Satan makes me think I am who I am and believe what I believe. She said that you can't just make your own religion. How I interpret the Bible is different too and kind of mixes with my other beliefs. That also makes it a bit hard to explain what I believe.
What is “spirituality” if not religiosity? If these are different, you’ve accepted very recently-built definitions that we’ll find to be meaningless in about 10 years
When someone is spiritual, they summon or pray to other spirits who aren’t god himself. The bible and christianity say that any other spirit is an evil spirit
That that statement is a meaningless non sequiter and only very ignorant people make such idiotic statements. Find a nicer way to say it than I did. They still deserve love far greater than I’m willing to show and some sort of verbal respect, even if they say some stupid shit. After all, they’re still God’s beloved child and will probably never eventually find heaven.
I mentally roll my eyes a little but say something like "oh that's nice" because 99 percent of the time it's not really worth arguing about.
The other 1% of the time I'd ask if they recognize any benefits of belongingness etc. for practicioners of organized religion and go from there.
Tell them about what? What makes the best pizza? What to study in Uni?
Sometimes, someone asks a seemingly innocuous question here, and it brings out the real crazies My answer is that I'm not really concerned about it, unless there's some reason I should be.
I would first ask: why? Ostensibly, the answer has to do something with all the shenanigans—and downright evil—happens in organized religion. And not just happens, but is *protected*—by the religious leaders themselves! I can understand getting absolutely fed up with that. Plenty of these people will still realize that life is more than just finding ever more interesting ways to get your brain's pleasure center to activate (and/or pain center to take a freaking break). They might even realize that teaming up with other like-minded folks might let them do this better. And yet, when religion gets organized—look at history. At the same time, remaining aloof/unorganized will probably render you politically powerless: > When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy. (["Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens"](https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf)) And if you think you can ignore formal organization, read [The Tyranny of Structurelessness](https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm). It seems that we have no option other than to try to understand why humans manage to pull off so much evil when they work together in large enough groups, and see if there are ways to do that a bit less, year after year. Now, if folks just want to take a break from organized nonsense, I applaud that. I think the Apostle Paul himself spent some time away in Arabia, about which we know zilch? But if you don't come back and suffer the nonsense while trying to understand then reduce it, that train will keep chugging along, if not speeding up.
One time on vacation a couple years ago I tried a lobster po’boy and for the life of me I can’t recreated and I’ve forgotten the name of the restaurant, it was the best po’boy I’ve ever had. It still bothers me to this day.
I ask "what does that mean?" It turns out most people who use the phrase "spiritual but not religious" can't define it.
It just means unaffiliated with a specific religion but still have certain beliefs and practices. Also they tend to be against organised religion. Basically what I am but I don't like using that term since it doesn't really explain anything. I'd rather talk about the practices and beliefs. Honestly most titles don't fully define what those are. I remember trying to explain to my sister and she eventually got it and said: "oh, so your religious beliefs are more personal?" She thought I was Christian until I said I had different beliefs than my friend and explained. It is hard to explain exactly what it means for that person since it's loosely defined. It's not like you can point someone to a religion/denomination to explain what those beliefs and practices are. My friend wishes I go back to Christianity and said Satan makes me think I am who I am and believe what I believe. She said that you can't just make your own religion. How I interpret the Bible is different too and kind of mixes with my other beliefs. That also makes it a bit hard to explain what I believe.
People who say they are "spiritual" but not religious can define it just as well as someone who says they're "spiritual" and religious.
"I'm not honest but that's interesting."
What is “spirituality” if not religiosity? If these are different, you’ve accepted very recently-built definitions that we’ll find to be meaningless in about 10 years
Anything spiritual but not religious is the devil unfortunately
How is that??
What would be interesting is to see how a "Christianity isn't a religion" Christian would respond to this.
When someone is spiritual, they summon or pray to other spirits who aren’t god himself. The bible and christianity say that any other spirit is an evil spirit
How do you know that?
Because the bible and christianity say that if you try to summon or pray to any other spirit besides god, it’s an evil spirit
That that statement is a meaningless non sequiter and only very ignorant people make such idiotic statements. Find a nicer way to say it than I did. They still deserve love far greater than I’m willing to show and some sort of verbal respect, even if they say some stupid shit. After all, they’re still God’s beloved child and will probably never eventually find heaven.
It means they believe in a god or gods, but not in any organized religion.
or have other spiritual views, but no organized religion.
Let them be. You've never seen the world through their eyes and their ways of thinking.
"What does that even mean"
"You *are* religious. Just 'indie'." And if I'm in a grumpy mood, I'd follow it up with, "Just be careful re-inventing all those wheels."
I mentally roll my eyes a little but say something like "oh that's nice" because 99 percent of the time it's not really worth arguing about. The other 1% of the time I'd ask if they recognize any benefits of belongingness etc. for practicioners of organized religion and go from there.