Spiritual, But Not Religious

Spiritual...

I like to think about the idea of God. I like to think critically, to doubt and to imagine.

I like the idea of a god/higher power that sees me, without the intervention of a hierarchy of priests and saints.

I find it more ennobling to believe myself to be a soul reincarnated here to learn, than a slight improvement on a monkey.

I find comfort in the idea that there might be something more after this life, but I don't want to live my life just to get to it.

I am more tolerant of other people and ideas than [insert religion here] would allow me to be.

I am not blind to the mutually-exclusive nature of many religions.

I wonder what it is that enables human beings to act in purely self-sacrificial ways.

I think many of us have experiences that defy a strict materialist explanation; for lack of a better paradigm, we tend to think of these things as 'spiritual'.


... but not religious.

I don't like hypocrisy. People are human, and they make mistakes, but somehow that never stops them from trying to tell others how to live.

I was raised to think for myself in every other area of my life. Why should the realm of spiritual things be any different?

I want to be charitable, but I want to know that I'm helping buy food for the needy, and not a new gym for a church, so I donate directly to the food bank.

I find it hard to be associated with an organization/belief system that has done so much damage in the name of doing good.

Don't even get me started on how women have been devalued in the name of religion.

I think the world would be a better place if people were less reliant on authority to tell them what to think.