When it comes to spirituality and religion, I sometimes think about the reason for discrimination. After all, both those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, and those who consider themselves religious but not spiritual, see differences. Then there are those who consider themselves spiritual and religious as well. Even those like to separate the two. Very few people seem to say “well, spirituality and religion are basically the same thing”. Maybe because it’s the truth. Maybe not.
My understanding of the generally accepted difference is that spirituality is a more personal definition where you come to your own conclusions about what you feel is spiritual. Whereas, religion is an organized collection that teaches or tells you to a large extent what faith, soul and God really are. Another difference I hear often is that people who consider themselves spiritual, often do not profess that they believe in a God, only a sense that there is something spiritual beyond the physical world in which we live.
But, can you really believe in a spirit or a spiritual realm without believing in a higher being or God? Well, there are some definitions of religion that are more general and refer to religion as a “worldview” based on your beliefs. This can mean anything and in my opinion makes the difference between spirituality and religion less defined. You can have a set of beliefs and a worldview that does not involve a supreme being and is also not part of an organized group. So perhaps religion can also have an individual, personal, individual definition. Perhaps it should be this way because we are talking about beliefs and faith. These are feelings, not concrete scientific facts. If there are facts, then of course it will not be faith.
While it seems reasonable for someone to say “I’m spiritual, but I don’t believe in God.” Also, does it seem reasonable for someone to say “I’m religious, but I don’t believe in God”? By some definitions, this also appears to be a reasonable statement, even though it doesn’t seem logical at first.
I haven’t come to any conclusion at this point as to whether there is a difference between religion and spirituality, but it seems to be the case that it all depends on the definition of a person you choose to accept.