I am proud to have my first featured post today at Provoketive, an online magazine that strives to provide an open and engaging dialogue about life, faith, justice, and culture. There are some truly amazing and inspiring writers associated with Provoketive so I am pleased to be among such wonderful company.
Today’s post is about the hot button issues of religion and spirituality: whether the two are at odds with one another and the key component that is forgotten by many on both sides of the religion versus spirituality debate. Here’s an excerpt:
“…religion is frequently portrayed as the bad cop to spirituality’s good cop in the religion versus spirituality debate. Religion is the rule-setting parent; spirituality is the free-loving older sister. Religion is standardized tests; spirituality is an independent study course. Religion is a curfew on prom night; spirituality is trustful permission and keys to the car.
Discussions about religion and spirituality tend to focus on religion as a structure of rules, judgment, rituals, and inconvenience, and certainly some religions do prioritize these components of their theology. But what these characterizations miss is the fact, at its heart, religion is about community. It is about accountability to oneself and one’s community, not just to God. It is about support and friendship and love given from one’s religious network, not just from God. It is about respect and faithfulness to one’s neighbors, not just allegiance to God’s will.”
I hope that I’ve sparked some interest and that you’ll come over to Provoketive to read more and share your thoughts.
3 Comments
Just read your full post! Fantastic! And certainly makes me think, in particular, about remembering that every religion has flaws, as you mentioned as we ourselves do, and that it might be better to focus more on what makes being a part of any religious community worthwhile.
Also, congratulations on being published on this site as well as your many other sites you author on! Fantastic work as always!
Thank you, Angie. That means a lot. I was both nervous and excited about posting this one.
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