Lables: Spiritual vs Religious

[MorningDove030202]

See the poll and feel free to elaborate on your responce....

[MoonDragn]

Well, I call myself a wiccan and a taoist. Since Im not fervently following the religious rituals of wiccanism and I really think taoism is more a philosphy than a relgion I guess my labels are spiritual than religious. I don't have much use for religion though. Religion suggests organized and Im anything but.

[MorningDove030202]

My lable has both a religous membership and spiritual path component.....

If someone asked me what my spiritual path is, I'd say I'm Correllian Wiccan with Hellenic influences.

If someone aske me about my religious affillations I'd say I'm UU and Correllian Wicca.

Dove

[KEishin]

The soundbyte answer is I'm a Wiccan in religious terms. Spiritually, your guess is as good as mine.

I'm also an animistic, Taoist-influenced, Gnostic-loving, Buddha-respecting, Catholic-in-recovery, Hermetic-studying, skeptically-minded, science-adoring, Tantric, Trad-Wiccan, and New Age refugee. :wave:

Every time I think I get handle on what the Gods want me to be, it changes again. (They really like rattleing the cage if you know what I mean!) But that's all part of the fun!

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

My path is both a religous and spiritual one. I subscribe to both the beliefs and practices (what we've been able to restore at any rate) of Celtic Reconstructionism/Restorationism as pertains to the pre-Christian Scots.

[Aleigh]

Mine is spiritual only because I don't associate myself with any organized religion.

[SacredWithin]

I call myself a Spiritualist. No organized religion for me.

[Ninjakitten]

I put my label as being my spiritual path only, but only because I don't subscribe to any one Christian church's interpretations of "Christian spirituality", and I identify with being a witch as my form of worship of the Divine. I guess you could also call me an Eclectic Christian, with a strong Wiccan influence (in style), but I wouldn't consider my path to be Wiccan. Christian because of how I think of the Divine (not according to "the Church", but according to research and how Christ acted, and researching Bible translations and books conveniently left out by "the Church"), and witch because that is my style and my connection to nature. Eclectic because I draw from various Christian faiths, Wicca, Celtic spirituality (I'm researching that now because of my heritage), Scottish paths (I come from the McIlwain clan, but I need to research that, too), and Native American spirituality (I am also Sioux and Cherokee... my great grandma was half... um, one of those two, and I'm researching that, too).
I use labels to describe myself as best as I can with as few words as I can. I usually don't use labels to identify myself as a member of anything, except as a scientist, an Adrian (Adrian Empire, a medieval/Renn. reenactment group), an SCAdian (okay, not a paid membership in that one), and other stuff. I'm technically a member of the Evangelical Free Churches of America (North Coast Church in Vista, CA, specifically), but I don't call myself "Evangelical" (anymore), or Northcoastchurchian ;)

[arctic splash]

I don't really think I identify with labels. There are terms that describe my spiritual philosophy and worldview -- animist, primitivist, panentheist, pagan, eclectic -- but they're just descriptions. :)

[bshore]

I claim no label. If someone asks me about my beliefs, they get a description, not a title. Personally, I don't fit any of the already trademarked labels, and I think that to call myself a Gnostic Christian Buddhist Eclectic Pagan with Taoist influence would get me more strange looks than anything.

[BrigidMoon]

I don't really think I identify with labels. There are terms that describe my spiritual philosophy and worldview -- animist, primitivist, panentheist, pagan, eclectic -- but they're just descriptions. :)

Good point was thinking along those terms myself.

I did chose spiritual - not affiliated with organizations. I guess it's because like you said, a description....To me stating I am a Celtic Pagan gives people information about my spirituality --- an identity of which to grasp a concept from.

[Pandoras]

I voted My lables define both my spiritual path and my religious membership.

I generally just identify as an eclectic Pagan witch or Wiccan depending on the situation and who I'm talking to. For instance, cowans might understand "Wiccan" rather than "Pagan" since that term gets more press. Of course, it doesn't entirely capture everything I believe and practice, but it's a good start.

[CaitrionaMorgaine]

If someone asked me what my spiritual path is, I'd say I'm a Pagan, a Priestess and a Witch, in that order.

If someone aske me about my religious affillations I'd say I am a member of the tradition of Ar Afalon, an Arthurian/Avalonian tradition under the banner of the Avalonian Institute of the Magickal Arts.

Avalon's Blessings, ~Rhiannon

[AlAskendir]

I could swear people will probably get tired of my beliefs with this many opportunities to 'talk them up'.... To me, 'religion' is always about twisting someone's spiritual beliefs for money or political impact. Furthermore, most Wiccan-Pagans nowadays call their activities an 'Earth-centered Spirituality', which makes me want my label to be a 'Spirit-centered Reality'.

[HorseCrow]

I voted "My lables describe my spiritual path, not any membership in a relgion or organization".

When (if) I use labels on myself in order to explain to people what I believe in/ my lifestyle, the one word I use most is "pagan"- other than that it is things like "spiritual", "witch", "heathen" and that sort of thing.

[FaeFollower]

Mine is spiritual only because I don't associate myself with any organized religion.

Same here.

[Athene]

I use, as I use any tool, the label Christian witch. It is quick and looks better on my business card (just kidding) than Solitary Mystic Christ-centred traditional stregeheria ancestory influenced witch. I'm totally Christian and totally witch so they easily become my label.

I chose spiritual and not religious because my Christianity has little to do with a church, I don't attend church and don't follow doctrines. My Christian beliefs come from a personal relationship with the Divine and theological study.

Whenever I can, I try to enter into dialogue about specifics, or at least point out that labels are only that.

blessings

[Calen]

The only label I could really use is just Pagan. I don't have a specific religion, so it describes my spiritual path.

[Gede]

Pagan Eclectic Witch (PEW) ;) - I am not a religious person, in fact I really dislike the term. Spirituality is my core centre~

Namaste, Gede...

[spirit wind]

My religion is self - discovery. Couldn't describe it any other way. I started out thinking Wicca was for me, but now.... Only the Gods know i suppose...

[Faery-Wings]

Mine is spiritual only because I don't associate myself with any organized religion.
Another one here agreeing with that.
I only use the labels "Pagan" or "Kitchen Witch" depending to whom I am talking. My Path is inherently based on religious beliefs, but with no organized religion. So... spiritual... :)

[nighstar]

strictly spiritual. i don't feel that there is anything religious in what i do.

[wakywitch]

Personally dislike labels.

[argento_occhi]

i voted the first option. i'm not fond of labels, but the one i use most frequently to describe my path is eclectic kemetic pagan, and most of the time that requires a breif explanation. Some of my beliefs aren't kemetic-related, so that label helps to distinguish that. If i'm in a hurry, i'll just use Pagan. I don't really discuss my path with anyone other than my friends, and it's changing all the time. I have no problem with the term 'religious' but that may be due to my parents who are fairly liberal Christians, in a way. They're rather more open-minded than some of the Christians i've met before, so i suppose i'm not all that against the use of the word. To me, being religious cannot be limited to going to church, etc. I would describe myself as religious and spiritual, but i'm not attached to any kind of religious organisation, hense why i voted the first option. The concept of religion itself i define more broadly than the most commonly accepted definitions in that for me, religion can be any path that not necessarily -- and i was hoping to get a coherent answer out but my brain's gone blank on me. I'll leave it there. Maybe when i can think more clearly i'll re-edit this. or something.

bright blessings,
argent

[fireswimmer]

Ithink that mine does both the spiritual and the religious. I follow a Modern Day Mayan path. I identify with the current culture and the ways that they kwwp. I love the fact that most of the ways have nto drastically changed but they have evolved.

[Xentor]

Polls like this baffle me. Why would anyone be a member of a religion when they don't follow its spiritual path?

[Windsmith]

Polls like this baffle me. Why would anyone be a member of a religion when they don't follow its spiritual path?My mother refers to them as the "Christmas and Easter Methodists." Sometimes people were raised in a religion and will still call themselves members of that religion, if someone asks them on a survey, but they don't really do anything related to that religion, and they don't so much follow its spiritual tenets, except in a vague, "this-is-what-I-was-taught" way.