Religion Vs. Faith (A Miniature)

My Dear Svetlana,

I must admit that I have used the terms "faith" and "religion" interchangeably. Instead of the word "faith" I use the word "spirituality".

In some of my articles I make reference to "faith-based politics" which is the term used here in America to describe politics based on a religious belief, a religious faith.

This is just a semantic difference between you and I. When I read your article I simply replaced in my mind the word "spirituality" for the word "faith" and we once more are in perfect accord.

To summarize our differences, "faith" and "religion" mean different things to you but mean the same thing to me.

Here is an excerpt from my article "My Name is a Question – The Role of Faith in Public Life":

- There is a significant difference between faith (i.e. religion) and spirituality.
- Religion does sometimes lead to spirituality, but many times it does not.
- One does not require religion to become a spiritual person.
- One does not require religion to become a moral or ethical person.
- Faith is divisive and separates us.
- Spirituality is universal and unites us.
- It is our sense of spirituality, not religion or faith, that compels us to moral and ethical behavior.

(End of excerpt)

We are on the same page in thought if not expression. I just wanted to clarify this difference in our use of the word "faith".

As always your writing is excellent and I really enjoy reading your work.

From your friend, all the best!

Hi Sveta dear
This is a most important article and should give us a lot to ponder over. Every point that you make is valid. Yes, religion so often creates barriers...not only between Christians and some other religions but sometimes between different Christian groups.

I have found it difficult to write about religion because when I do, I see a fallibility in my words. They don't express fully what I want to say...because I can understand that different readers will interpret my words differently.
That's why I tend to use the word spiritual. But often in my pieces, I spell out hope, faith and love because those three concepts were Jesus and Paul's exact demands.

As you suggest, it's relatively easy to belong to a religion but but to have faith, when you're alone, perhaps in a prison or when your loved one has departed, that requires true knowledge of what faith means.

Great and stimulating article, as always, dear friend.

"What belief systems conspicuously lack is music," writes James Carse. "They are monotonal. One voice speaks for all others." On the other hand, "religion in its purest form is a vast work of poetry. As such, its vitality comes in the form of communitas [a community of authentic dialogue], fully independent of any civitas [political or secular establishment]. Belief is very often a sign that whatever counts for religion has been pushed aside." According to Carse, the "blind ignorance" of belief systems, locked in literalism and absolutism, leads to violence of "the other"; the "higher ignorance" at the core of authentic religion, exemplified in imaginative "musicality," is the beginning of wisdom.

Dear Mike, Fred and Clarke - thank you all from the very depth of my soul, my dear gentlemen, for your great, insightful comments!

Blessings and best wishes, now and always - S. ;-)

Good points Sveta. By the way, check out my comments to Keven Elliot and tell me what you think,

thanks for sharing..

Amen!

(she says cheekily)

Seriously - you make the distinction aptly here, S. Some of the most faithful people I know rarely, if ever, attend an organized church service.

AMEN, Sveta!

So true...

I have heard people ask, "What faith are you?" meaning religious denomination. To me, faith is about my trust in God, the knowing that whatever comes, I am divinely guided and directed.

The same with me, dear Carla... ;-) Thank you all so very much, my beloved ones!

Hugs and blessings - S.

The word religion is no longer associated as closely to the word faith in our modern language because we have lost sight of the meanings behind the traditions. Every religion has followers who just go through the motions of rituals but do not truly have faith in their own actions. Faith is a very personal thing, one's own relationship with God and their own being with time and the world. Religion is supposed to be the gathering of the faithful and those finding their faith to create an open place of the learning of faith. Creating safe places of peace and meditation for all. Religion has moved away from being the schools of the souls of humanity to being associated with the raw actions of the extremes of all religions. The world needs to focus on the similarities of their faith and not the differences of their religion. I would love to see a world where the word faith and religion will be both have hopeful meanings once again.

Thank you Svetlana, well done.

Thank you so very much, dear Angela... great points! ;-)

Blessings and best wishes from Moscow - S.

Thank you so very much, dear Marianne! ;-) Yes, Faith is always deeply personal, penetrating to the very core of our being. No church doctrines could replace the inner connection with the One Who is the only true and ultimate Source of your faith, hope and love.

Much love and blessings to you from your Russian friend - S.

Sveta, as I read your statements I fully applauded the intended meanings, which to me shown a light on the differences between the shallow exoteric and the deeper esoteric meanings of a relationship ... one with a religion and the other with God.

As for myself I had neither religion nor faith until I personally met God, from that I gained the belief that I now have faith in because it is ever so true to me ... semantics may not always be important, but at times they are very much so.

Thanks for the article, it is outstandingly true and needs to be considered by so many who claim their shallow version as the highest while denouncing the highest of others as the lowest. Talk about ignorance and it's resulting confusions, such being a real and present problem in this world due to the righteous condemnation by the ignorant of others they do not understand who are in fact more qualified than them.

Thank you, dear Jerry - I always enjoy your perspective! :-)

Blessings and best wishes, now and always - S.

I think you've done a great job in elucidating a subtle difference in just a few lines.

Thank you, John, my dear friend - always happy to see you here! ;-)

Blessings and best wishes - S.

Thank you, Chris, dear! ;-) You're so right! In fact, I've even noticed the strange phenomenon, not only in the US or here in Russia, but in fact everywhere: the more religion, the less faith. And vice versa... :-)

Blessings and best wishes, now and always - S.

It is a real shame that 10 is the highest score I can give you. One has nothing to do with the other and you're absolutely correct with your delineation of them.

Thank you so very much, dear Walker! ;-)

Hugs and blessings - S.

Svetlana, I loved your article, but I'd like to add a couple of thoughts that somewhat defend religion. In my profile I say "I used to be religious but now I follow Christ."
'Religion' has a negative connotation to me.
But there is other truth that we're overlooking that we need to have a balanced understanding I believe.
Religion is partly a set of beliefs and partly the culture or tradition of a group of people.
You can practise religion with or without faith.
The Lord Himself said not to quit the practise of getting together to teach, learn and worship together. To strengthen one another, collect monies for Christian use etc.

The gospel has been spread throughout the world primarily by churches practising religion.

A pastor that knows and loves the Lord will run off religious only people.
A pastor that does not know the Lord personally will run off true Christians.
Religious only people will not choose to hire a dedicated, God loving pastor.
A group of church goers that are true Christians will not hire a religious only pastor.

Truly, birds of a feather flock together. You can usually tell after the first sermon what type of gathering you are in.

Another important thing ... if a godly husband and wife do not attend church and get their children involved in a church family with other children ... all attending Sunday School class together; Bible camps; youth groups; and good sermons ... it is very doubtful that your children will live strong Christian lives.

So I wanted to be sure that it is mentioned that Religion without true faith is death.
Faith, without any religion, is better that the reverse, but has its own dangers.

One last thing; If there are a group of people that know and love the Lord but differ a great deal in much of the peripheral beliefs ... separate churches is more conducive to peace. Why have grief and argument. Separate; each teach what they believe to be true ... but continue to love one another and have concerts together etc.
Separate often increases love and fellowship.

"Religious only people will not choose to hire a dedicated, God loving pastor.
A group of church goers that are true Christians will not hire a religious only pastor."

HIRE a pastor, dear Glome? At least, in Russian Orthodoxy the very phrase sounds like an oxymoron - our priests are not hired, they're ordained and appointed, and nobody is interested what the parishioners think about their local priest unless he does something so contrary to the chuch discipline or teachings that it evokes a certain reaction. BTW, this "something" could be either negative from my point of view or positive - I remember how the church conservators harassed my dear father confessor (now the late) simply because he was too much of a free-thinker for them. Since his death, I never had a Confession or took a Communion. First, I don't trust anybody else among the priests, and second, I don't think that these outer signs are all that important, anyway.

And what does it mean "knows and loves the Lord" personally? This knowledge and love, if they do really exist, shouldn't become an object of showing off, much less the means for earning money. Words don't cost too much. Real deeds and attitude do. That's why your US "evangelists" would never become popular here, in Russia.

"Another important thing ... if a godly husband and wife do not attend church and get their children involved in a church family with other children ... all attending Sunday School class together; Bible camps; youth groups; and good sermons ... it is very doubtful that your children will live strong Christian lives."

It could have just an opposite effect, dear Glome, and more often than not it has. ;-) Indeed, I'm happy (yes!) that both my parents were atheists and, even though I was baptized as a baby, I wasn't indoctrinated from my childhood years, making any decisions re. my personal faith only when I've already become an adult and responsible person. There's nothing that I find more objectionable, even disgusting, than the so-called Bibles for children. For the moment will inevitably come when a child will grow up, open the REAL Bible, read all the things that were hidden from his/her eyes and - if only his/her brains weren't totally washed - begin to THINK. Please, try to guess what would happen next...

Thank you for your most interesting comment - blessings and best wishes - S.

Iapplaud and agree with your descriptions.

Thank you so very much, dear William - I'm so happy to see you here and praying for your "quick and speedy" recovery! ;-)

Blessings and best wishes - S.

I appreciate your prayers. It will take some time to recover from my stroke. Dealing with the radiating back pain is a problem, but my spirits are high.

Svetlana-- Thank you for the clarification. I do believe you were spiritually moved to write this, because the world really really needs this reminder right now.

Some make suggestions to do away with religion because of the divisive power it has sometimes. But it often gives us rituals and guidelines that can be of great comfort to people. A belief in God and the desire to connect to His Higher purpose has driven people to do countless wonderful things.

This comment is to let you know that this content has reached at least ten comments, and as such has been removed from Comment Speedway!

Dear William - my heart is going out to you... you can always rely on my friendship and support. :-)

Dear Gretchen - indeed, it has, but more often than not the result was, alas, right to the contrary...

Thank you so much for our comment and friend request! ;-)

Dear Austin - thank you very much! ;-)

Blessings and best wishes - S.

I loved this. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Thank you wholeheartedly for your kind comment and ping, dear Janet! :-)

Blessings and best wishes - S.

Nice reality check. The Reformation, where Luther's 'Justification by Faith' came in is the historical hingepoint of this idea. Faith to me is believing in something Science cannot prove empirically, which is difficult to express in religious terms. Thanks again for this!

Thank you so much, dear Kevin! :-) I think that the best definition of faith is given in Hebrews 11:1 - and, in some sense, it's very close to yours.

Blessings and best wishes - S.

this is very good, Svetlana. Religion kills. Faith brings life.

Thank you wholeheartedly, dear Karie Anne! ;-)

Blessings and best wishes from Moscow - S.

Svetlana, I should be getting a new grandbaby from Ukraine soon...wow.

These are exciting news indeed, dear Karie Anne... good luck to you! ;-)

Blessings & best wishes - S.

I liked reading this. I think you are very good at articulating your thoughts. I think our beliefs are differen't when it comes to some things, but as I read your article I felt I have alot of the same feelings concerning faith.

Thank you so very much for your most kind and generous words, dear Emily! ;-)

Blessings and best wishes - S.

To me, faith does not necessarily come from "God" (depending upon your definition; I think of God as an entity). Faith for me is a belief in the essential goodness of most human beings. It is the application of the phrase "Do unto your neighbor as you would do unto yourself." It is examining our actions to make sure that we are acting as our highest and best selves at all times (or as much as possible considering that we are not perfect). It is respecting others and trying not to be judgmental until we have educated ourselves about an issue. Faith is inside as you said.

You put it very well, dear Stella! ;-) For me, too, the Golden Rule is the only measure for any true moral - for as long as we apply it, or, at least, try to apply it, we would never lose the way. Thank you very much for your kind comment!

Blessings and best wishes - S.

what a beautiful posting ~~ and, although I dont have religion - I have faith ~ big hugs ~j

Thank you kindly, dear Jean - I wonder how I could miss such a comment from you! :-)

Hugs and blessings - S.