Religion Versus Spirituality?

By Daniel Liechty | March 21, 2011

The most recent Point of Inquiry podcast was a very interesting discussion about the increased use of the term “spiritual” to describe oneself, as opposed to “religious.” The Point of Inquiry discussion revolved around whether it was legitimate to describe science as intimately connected to spirituality. The discussion more or less took for granted that science would be opposed to “religion,” but “spirituality”? Maybe not so much…

My thoughts on this topic are not directly applicable to that particular question, but I also work in a secular discipline, social work, in which discussions of the general topic have become common in the last decade. In my social work classes, when I lecture about the concepts of religion and spirituality, I use the image of a glass and water. Water (spirituality) is the substance, which can be poured into any number of containers. The glass (religion) is the particular container holding the water in one particular time and place. Both the water and the glass are conceptually separable. But the glass without any water isn’t of much use or interest, while the water without the glass just runs all over any which way, maybe more interesting but also not of much use. As with creative processes, which need both the creative energy and a concrete project toward which to direct that energy and give it form, religion and spirituality are integrally linked and in need of each other. At the same time, what is most precious is the substance, and it can be a great adventure to notice how this substance can fill itself out in many different containers. We get into trouble if we become attached to a particular container even at the expense of the substance. Most of the time, that analogy seems to be useful, though like any analogy, it is flawed if you push it too far. But anyway, see what you think!