Some thoughts on religion and spirituality

From my very first days in the program I have been aware that there is a difference between religion and spirituality.  I accepted the slogan that says that "religion is for those who are afraid of going to hell; spirituality is for those who have been there."  I pretty much thought of religion as organized and ritualized spirituality.  I certainly saw it as essentially dogmatic and restrictive.  This was certainly colored by my having been raised Catholic in the time when Catholic kids were supposed to go to Catholic schools and never associate with Protestants, doubtless for fear of some form of contamination.  While I never actually thought of it in these terms, I think I viewed spirituality as dancing about like a kid at Woodstock and religion as that kid in a straight jacket and tied to a chair.  Hey, I never said it was a rational or fair view of things, just that it was mine.