I hadn't noticed that line. Spirituality is (to me) a connectedness, in this case to the living things in the world and being part of a universe so vast that I can't even get my mind around it. Sorry if that sounds schmaltzy. Religion (to me) is a set of concepts and commands and orders. Religion might have spirituality in it. --- On Sat, 5/24/08, John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The continuation of Realpolitik -- a rant To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Saturday, May 24, 2008, 4:59 AM On Sat, May 24, 2008 at 12:59 PM, David Wright <wright@xxxxxxxx> wrote: P.S. Religion = Spirituality = My Way or the Highway. That is to say, that 'spirituality' is simply a way of saying I reject all the stuff I disagree with, so that I can worship myself. It is much more comfortable that way... This is, empiricallly speaking, a severely parochial view of religion, consistent with the Latin *religio* which implies a duty but found largely in places excessively influenced by Southwest Asian monotheisms. In most of the world, religion is polytheistic and, where a choice of gods has not become a political issue, a good deal more tolerant. John -- John McCreery The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN Tel. +81-45-314-9324 http://www.wordworks.jp/