Religion vs spirituality..years ago i had a paper ...

For a Christian, to refer to him or herself as "more spiritual than religious" may (but not always) imply relative deprecation of rules, rituals, and tradition while preferring an intimate relationship with God. The basis for this belief is that Jesus Christ came to free humankind from those rules, rituals, and traditions, giving humankind the ability to "walk in the spirit" thus maintaining a "Christian" lifestyle through that one-to-one relationship with God.

religon is a way of worshiping. Diffrent religon's have diffrent ways of worshiping trditions and beliefs eg. muslim and jehovahs witness is a religion spirtualism is the belif that it is possible to communicate with the spirits of the dead

Basically, religion can be an activity such as giving to the poor, helping to provide for the widows and orphans (as per the Book of James), and it can also be a group of like-minded people (Islam, Judaism, Mormonism etc).  But spirituality is a state of mind, as in to be "spiritually minded."  Problem:  Not all "religions" agree on what spirituality means.  I tried to provide an answer without my Christian bias. I hope it provided some help.

Would love to read it [when you get it]

I always thought of religion as a more structured belief system in a church or community and spirituality as an individual belief, how you feel inside and how you live your life and treat others on a daily basis, not just on Sunday.

I dont think either one is right or wrong, its whatever works for you.

I could say a lot more about both but that is just a quick thought from me.

However, I'm sure there is a lot of info on the net about both, it would be an interesting topic for a group to discuss

I don't know of the paper you referred to, but I have an analogy for you:

Religion is to spirituality (or spritual fitness) as GPA is to professional competence

While religion can be compared to college and the neccesary education to grasp a subject, there is little, if any, correlation with grades and professional competence or success.

We all know people who are religious, but we know are not spiritual. This can be evidenced by a complete lack of empathy, a complete and total contrdiction between their stated beliefs and action... I am sure many could add to the list.

I have heard many people say "I am spiritual, but not religious." I have no doubt this is true. However, like any human endeavor, spritituality requires a framework, a starting point, knowldege and some level of discipline.

To be completely spiritual without any connection to any religious beliefs denies you of both a starting point and a framework. Any knowledge you get will be random and spotty. Without a belief system there can be no level of discipline at all, for all your efforts towards spiritual growth will be without direction or goal.

It could be said that spirituality without any religious beliefs at all could be compared to a sailboat without a keel. You can trim the sails wherever you want and even move. However, without the keel, no matter where you set the sails, you will only go directly towards where the wind is blowing.

Religion is different than spirituality,I believe the Baptist religion follows the Bible the closest,your spirituality is what you have in you,your beliefs,your feelings toward what you believe in,the spirit of the Lord lives within us as human beings,I at times believe that when I am doing or have done something wrong it is the Holy Spirit inside of myself telling me what I am or have done wrong. This is just my personal feelings.

Religion is Pagan and Man-made by power hungry individuals in an attempt to win weak souls.Spirituality on the other hand is innermost guidance driven by our God given conscience and can never fail , hence why we all feel it when we do bad/evil and also feel it when we do right/good.The conscience is the Guidance of our spirits.