Religion vs Spirtuality: A Queer Perspective

Religion teaches us to look to a G-d beyond us. Historically and in the orthodox traditions G-d is male and re-inforces the place of the male in the power structure. These traditions overlook the feminne aspect of G-d which is also available in the Hebrew Scriptures. Most importantly, though, our inherited traditions teach us to look outside of ourselves to find direction and the divine; at least, this is empahsized to the cost of our won empowerment.

Spirituality is "the inward life" which is discovered during the night of the dark soul. New Age spirituality is critiqued by religion because of this emphasis on the self and the inward centred divine which is in all things. Religious bodies dismiss New Age as narcissistic. This may be true as it corrects the imbalance on the outward dependence on G-d.

However, my queer intuition tells me it is not an either- or proposition but an and both necessity for us to have a healthy spiritual life. There are times when we need to ask "a G-d beyond" for help and there are times when we need to rely on "the I am responsible for my choices" inward divine spark. There are times in our lives when we play the victims and then, there are the glorious moments of enlightenment. The moment of self-discovery and liberation from outward authority built on our own sense of creativity and connection with the divine.

The trick is to know the difference between when we need support and we need to be active and feel in control. The greek meaning of the word religion comes from religio, meaning to connect and so perhaps, connecting our spirituality to religion is a necessity if that is the path we choose. Or, on the other hand, it may mean we must attach our religion to our spirituality. In this way, we are responsible for our own thinking and we halt deference to religious figures and leaders who are not consistent with the spiritual teachings of Jesus or the charismaic founders of their own path.

This gives Queers, like myself, an opportunity to engage religion and the less independent thinking religious leaders and their followers without reaction. Our truth relies on the strong centre of who we are and takes power away from their compassionless fear mongering hearts. They are the lost ones............

Blessings from the Faerieshaman