The Meaning of Religion in Your Life

[ThePaganMafia]

On another Pagan board a member left because "religon is just brainwashing and ego". When i read this it insulted me a bit. I said to say such a statement was idiocy and dumbassery. I hold by that assessment but apparently the other members did not. I was immediatley informed I was the idiot. Of course Im not a very popular person among Pagans online and still occasionly get hate e-mails so Im rather used to it.

It later came into discussion that religion was taking on new meaning in this day and age and it was different for each person. So therfore I was basically bashing someones beliefs according to them.

So I began to think. What does religion mean nowdays? What does it mean to an individual? What does it mean to a group of individuals?

Everyone has different beliefs. Everyone has their own God or Goddess. But does everyone have a different view on the term "religion"?

So what is everyone's invidual view on what religion is? And what does it mean in your life?

[juliaki]

This is a great topic, because it does seem to come up often. For some reason in the past couple of years, "religion" is seen as a dirty word (and not just in Paganism...I've had discussions with Christians who say that their form of Christianity isn't a religion, but instead is a "personal relationship with Jesus").

For some people, religion is brainwashing or ego. For the former, religion becomes a way of life whereby someone engages in certain actions because they want to be a good member of whatever religion they feel best represents them. Thus, you have Christians who go to church service every Sunday, not because it provides them with spiritual growth and development, but because they want to be a "good Christian", and everyone knows "good Christians" go to church. The same thing happens in Paganism with people "celebrating" sabbats by just doing what someone said in a book or they read on a web site and feel that lighting a candle and saying a few words somehow makes them a "good Pagan" because that's what "good Pagans" do.

For the latter, religion is one way that the ego can feed on the self. Religion can allow us to see ourselves as "divinely tapped" to a higher calling. If we do not understand that this is a role of *service* and not of domination, it's easy for our egos to put us above whatever deity we serve. Probably the most public example of this would be the televangelist scandals back in the 1980s, but Paganism has their own examples as well.

One side note about being insulted by the comments of other people, in 99% of the cases, we are insulted by what someone else says or does because their words or actions are holding up a mirror to ourselves and showing us sides of the self that we don't want to see. If there's absolutely no validity about what they're saying in the scope of our life, it wouldn't insult us. So somehow it hit a nerve because it was too close to the truth about some part of yourself. That's a great learning opportunity and growth experience, so although people may have intended to hurt you, you really got blessed with that interaction.

Now, onto the specifics...

It later came into discussion that religion was taking on new meaning in this day and age and it was different for each person. So therfore I was basically bashing someones beliefs according to them.

We look at language, especially about spiritual topics, through the lenses of our own biases. Thus, it is possible that you were tearing down someone's beliefs. I'm not wholly convinced that some people don't need to be bopped on the head by the language fairy, especially when their biases cross over into the realm of prejudices. For me, if someone had come out with the comment that religion was acts of brainwashing and ego, I'd simply feel sorry for them that they had only experienced the down-side to religion. I might even question whether they were talking about religion (which is basically a one-person event) or religio-political movements (which is where I've seen most of ego and brainwashing occur).

So I began to think. What does religion mean nowdays? What does it mean to an individual? What does it mean to a group of individuals?

For me, religion is the active participation in a path that seeks to connect/elevate/explore the self in relation to a higher power of some kind. Religion can (and usually is) experienced by one's self alone, however there are times when people who have similar spirit callings can band together into a larger group (sometimes with the influence of an egregor to tie them all together) for the group experience of connecting/elevating/exploring the selves in relation to a higher power.

How that manifests for the individual or for the group will vary greatly from individual to individual or group to group.

Everyone has different beliefs. Everyone has their own God or Goddess. But does everyone have a different view on the term "religion"?

I doubt you'd find that each individual has their own view on religion, however you will find that there are many, many different (and yet equally valid) ways to describe religion. For me, religion is the framework of ethics, practices, beliefs, lore, and spirit that connect a person or people to a specific facet of the Great Divine Mystery.

In my life, religion as a framework is important as it is able to hold the structure of the universe around me so that I can explore the spirit that fills the inside of and extends beyond that structure.

Awesome topic!

[Eretik]

If you hold strong opinions you are bound to get into arguments.I do often.I hate it when this degenerates into name calling/aggression,but it dosen't stop me expressing my views.Don't let it stop you and don't take it personally.Some will be mean out of ...whatever,their own inadequacy, usually.I'll come back with my own thoughts on religion later.This is a good,interesting topic.

[jcrowfoot]

While I wasn't there, It sounds like this person was walking on a path to get into a fight with someone, and you happened to be in the right place at the right time. Some people will use any excuse to claim that they are oppressed.

Also, I've seen atheists use similar tactics to get into fights with people with spiritual/religious beliefs. Al lot of them like using the argument that your beliefs repress them, even if they have nothing to do with them... whatsoever. Most of them don't even care enough to do the research to realize that pagans don't usually actively convert people. They will even go as far as to claim that even talking about your own beliefs in a neutral way is somehow impinging on their rights... even on a message board with frequent warnings that spirituality and religion are routinely talked about.

Also, people routinely confuse organization and hierarchy. Or think that "organized religion" means an elaborate, rigid hierarchy. (Yeah, those dang hierarchical Unitarians! ) Some and sometimes the same people are offended that labels of any kind exist. (especially when they apply to *them*) So how are we supposed to have mutually understandable conversations about anything if you can't put anything into categories?
Remember that the word religion is frequently used to describe Buddhism.. and they aren't exactly organized... or rather some are, some aren't. It depends... so it's a very fuzzy term in common usage.

Don't feel bad. As Eretik said, if you have strong opinions, there are always other strongly motivated people willing to argue with you.
And there will always be people who will be offended by what ever you have to say.

It's unfortunate that there are people in this world who won't give strangers the benefit of the doubt. After all, on the 'Net we don't have the benefit of body language or voice tone to know exactly what someone is really saying, but we believe that we know anyway... when words in english can mean so many things... even by the dictionary definition, let alone common usage. Sad.

Edit: Oops, I didn't answer your questions! Hmm.

Well, I think that religion is a systematic and organized system of thought that brings people closer to Spirit, however they define it. In my mind, it doesn't require an elaborate external organization. Look at the Quakers... they organize pretty locally, and while there is functional hierarchy, that's mostly done to make working with other organizations easier. They often say, "ok, Hiram will be president working with this charity this week, and Millicent will take up work next week when she's done with her cold."

I tend to use the words "religion" and "spirituality" pretty interchangeably, but favor the latter at pagan festivals and discussions. After all, a guy I used to be good friends with was one of those people who went into a red rage every time the word "religion" was bandied, and he refused to see any good that could come from organized worship.

He had feelings for me at the time, so he gave me the benefit of the doubt (mostly) when I made this blunder with him.

When forced to be more formal, I will concede that spirituality is a different thing. It refers to people's direct relationship with Spirit, and religion is the group that they, even nominally, are a part of.

As for the level of organization... that's contingent on the group in question.

[ThePaganMafia]

I actually found out later the person mother died at she was having a kind of break down. Of course I didn't know it at the time. Otherwise I would have changed my tone.

[Eretik]

That's a shame but it's not really an excuse to abuse or be rude to others.If some here knew what I'd been experiencing sometimes when I have posted, they'd be surprised.I have been working a lot with my youngest grandson, who was born at 30 wks. with a massive blood clot on his brain. It has 'miraculously shrunk away to small cysts which have dissipated into his blood stream'over a few months, defying medical expectations.He can see, hear,talk and will walk also.Again defying medical expectations.He may still have mild epilepsy, but we are used to that and it's worth it for his senses being intact.We were told he could die, at first.I am very drained now.lol. Anyway, point is, I'm an argumenatative person normally, but not personally abusive, it's points, thoughts ,opinions and ideas that can and should be challenged not the person themselves.I know it can be hard to stay 'nice' when things are tough, but maybe the person shouldn't be posting at that time,if this is the case.Just another of my strong opinions.lol

Any hoo, on Religion.It's a word with a huge meaning,that will vary from person to person.For me,it's a spiritual belief system shared by more than a few people, which is defined by common ideology between the faithful.I have known religious people who are not very 'spiritual'[ by my definition ] and others who claimed to be irreligious but exemplified what I see as spirituality, very centred and giving people. My take on it anyway.Have a cool Yule.

[ThePaganMafia]

Well the question about what religion means came about when Aj Drew said in the convo that religion means different things to different people and that's what got me thinking about it.
To me it is a common set of beliefs of the Gods and/or spirituality shared by one or more people.

[HuntinOwl]

Religion in any sitting can spark up a heated debate. So trying not to do so I'm just going to say this

When you look at a path whether It has a set of rules or not. You have to remember that it's there choice and there path.

Christians, Muslims, Buddhist, Taoists, many other paths. there all there to find there meaning there choices. Some are very Dogmatic or Liberal but It is There Path in this life.

It is sad that there is fanatics that do things "they" think the god wants them to do. And many others say if you don't do it their way You Never see God/dess or worst you go to Hell for Eternity.

Hindu's, Buddhist, Krishna and Pagans believe in reincarnation but it's also interesting to know that the Bible yes the Bible talks about it to in Matthew will I finish with that.

BB HO

[Revolpathon]

religion to me is basicly and bluntly put "believe what you want to believe and hold yourself to that" there are so many religions out there that are derived from2 or 3 original one's (correct me if i'm wrong here) that i think it wouldn't hurt to make one more .

[HuntinOwl]

religion to me is basicly and bluntly put "believe what you want to believe and hold yourself to that" there are so many religions out there that are derived from2 or 3 original one's (correct me if i'm wrong here) that i think it wouldn't hurt to make one more .

There are a lot of paths ant many intersect.. I don't follow one path myself
that's why I say I'm s eclectic witch.
'

[amunptah777]

religion

Part of Speech: noun

Definition: belief

Synonyms: adoration, bent, ceremonial, church, communion, connection, conscientiousness, consecration, creed, cult, denomination, devotion, devoutness, doctrine, faithfulness, fidelity, godliness, morality, myth, mythology, observance, orthodoxy, persuasion, pietism, piety, prayer, preference, religiosity, rites, ritual, sacrifice, sanctification, sect, spiritual-mindedness, spirituality, standards, superstition, theology, veneration

I like the thesaurus...it's less confining than the dictionary...still too confining, but not terrible.

What does it mean in my life?

everything.

[Makbawehuh]

Religion, more or less, is a set of rituals designed for the glorification of some specific, supposedly supernatural being(s), which is created by a group of people.

In that sense, it means nothing to me personally, though I understand that people I care about have a great care for religion. In the sense it is intended above, I understand that it affects me indirectly, and work to make that influence as light as possible... Religion and I have never been big fans of each other.

Now, if one were to simply equate "religion" with "spirituality", that is where I tend to seem at odds with myself. Since I do not believe in anything I have not personally experienced, one could say this leaves me spiritually barren. I agree that it has the potential to do so, but since not having experienced something in the past does not mean I can't experience it in the future, I would say that the potential is minimal since I continue to seek out said new experiences. [ /run-on]

Do I continue to have new experiences that sometimes forcefully open my eyes to other areas? Absolutely. So do I consider myself unspiritual? No... I am constantly challenged and constantly learning. To me, that evolution is important, and no higher being is required for me to walk the path I've chosen.

Part of the problem with the term "religion" IMHO, is that it gets too loosely used. Perhaps the question should not be "What is religion to you?" but "What are you defining as religion, and would it be better called a personal spiritual path?"

Cause lets face it folks, religion... needs followers. Spirituality only needs one.