Religion vs Spirituality

Often people don't understand the difference between religion and spirituality; usually, they think they're the same. And that's fine, but I personally see them different. There can be connection, of course, but there is a difference. I consider myself more spiritual than religious, and I'll explain why.

I'm a Christian, born and raised, and I've chosen this faith even after maturing and realizing that it's my own individual freedom to choose what to believe in. I see fellow Christians, in churches especially, who blindly follow scriptures from the bible and will be 'good' because the words say to be good. I'm the kind of person who yes, reads scriptures, but often disagrees with some of them - and often more unable to fathom them. What I'm trying to express is that instead of wanting to be good, for the sake of being good, Christians will often choose to do good out of fear of going to Hell, or because the rules say they have to be good.

I stray from that notion because I don't 100% agree with what's written down; I question the words, mainly because they were written by man, and the Bible itself is a piece of literature like anything else, so its context must be taken into consideration. It's composed mostly of contradictions and figurative language; a lot of it is based on interpretation. Thus is why if a piece of literature says it's alright to stone, say, someone who has had sex with every guy in town, I will disagree because it's my personal freedom to do so. To me, spirituality is the notion of my relationship with the universe; the striving to do good because I want to do good, not because a book tells me to do so, or a priest. Spirituality is everything apart from religion; religion tells you what to do and what not to do, and spirituality is something embedded inside all of us from which carries out how we make choices and how we perceive things. Consequently, religion are the rules - spirituality is our individual tranquility.

Please don't confuse this with bashing Christianity, or religion in general, because it's not. Spirituality is with everything and everyone - Jewish, Islam, Christians, even atheists; it's our own moral standards, our own believes between what's right and what's wrong. Our convictions, to think for ourselves, to follow our own hearts. Everyone has that, some just choose to ignore it, or feed the darker side of us more than to hear it. And I'll leave you with this:

A Quote by Cherokee Indian

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between 2 "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."