Religion teaches that humans can only accomplish things by appealing to a capricious, whimsical, external God who, for no known reason, may or may not grant human requests.

Spirituality teaches that Jesus spoke the truth when he said, “Anything I can do, you can do and more.” (John 14:12)

Religion teaches people to approach God as beggars asking for favors.

Spirituality teaches people to pray as Jesus did by merely saying thank you, while knowing full well that the subject of one’s prayer has already been fulfilled.   In humble gratitude one expects the manifestation of the prayer to occur in divine right form and time.

Religion teaches that the path to God is arduous and painful and that only the chosen ones will ever get to heaven.

Spirituality teaches that there is no path to God.   We are already aspects of God.   We simply have to remember who and what we are.

Religion teaches what the rules are and commands you to follow them.

Spirituality teaches that there are a specific set of universal laws which when properly applied can produce joy, freedom, love, personal fulfillment, and heavenly states of bliss.  (See:  Creating Community°)

Each religion has its own set of rules.   There are thousands of rules.  The rules vary from religion to religion and often conflict 

Spirituality has only two rules:
1)    Seek the truth at all times,  and 
2)   Love God, love your neighbor and love yourself with equal intensity because all three are one and the same thing.  

Religion teaches its followers to follow what others have done.

Spirituality invites everyone to follow your own heart.

In religion, someone else sets the rules

In spirituality, you speak to source directly and based upon that guidance, you write your own rules.

In religion the individual is at the edge of the experience watching. 

In spirituality the individual is at the heart of the experience experiencing 

You can find religion in churches.

You can find spirituality wherever you are, including in your own closet

In religion, the path is fixed and known.

In Spirituality the path is often a surprise.

Religion is the path well worn.   

Spirituality is the path created fresh with each step

Religion is like a rock -- old, fixed, immutable, unmoving  and essentially dead.

Spirituality is like the water in a mountain stream -- fresh, fluid, flexible, dynamic and alive.° 

Religion is based upon what others have told you.

Spirituality is based upon your experience and your own inner wisdom.

Religion claims to have all the answers about God.

Spirituality holds that  it doesn't even know all the question and that God is the ultimate mystery of life.

The Western Christian religions deny our animal nature and teach that  humans  are separate from  nature.

Spirituality acknowledges one's human nature as an addition to one's animal nature.°

The Western Christian religions renounce human sexual nature and declare it to be evil and demonic.

Spirituality acknowledges sex as a healthy, normal part of who and what we are.  Many also see sex as a way to experience God.°

The Western Christian religions declare that humans are separate from nature and separate from the ecosystem in which we live, that nature is to be subdued and used for whatever humans so choose,  that Earth is simply a ticket to heaven.

Spirituality acknowledges that humans are an integral part of nature, that nature is a part of us, that we must live in harmony with our environment or reap the consequences of our actions. 

The Western Christian religions have turned Jesus into a golden idol, placed him on a pedestal and now worship him from afar.

Jesus is the religion's icon.  Pray through him and perhaps God will hear your prayers.

Spirituality acknowledges Jesus as a master teacher who walked the earthly path to self-awareness and who has shown us how to do likewise.   

The teachings of Jesus are the pathway to understanding yourself as an aspect of God.  Following his teachings are a way to connect with and experience "God."

The Western Christian religions destroy children's self image by teaching them that humans are born in sin and are inherently evil.   Judaism teaches the humans are lowly, insignificant, and filled with sin.

Spirituality enhances everyone's self image by teaching that humans are born in innocence,  are  inherently good, and are part of God.

Christianity and Judaism teach that humans are separate from God.   

Spirituality teaches that humans are an integral part of God.   (See    John 14:12,    Luke 17:21,  John 10:34, 35,  and Isaiah 41:23)

The goal of religion is to go to heaven to be with God.

The goal of spirituality is to bring our divine nature into our physical being to experience God while living in a physical body.

The Western Christian religions teach their followers to be victims,  at the mercy of an angry, vindictive, fickle, God who, for no known reason, grants good fortune to a few, heaps untold misery on the some,  and pretty much ignores everybody else.

Spirituality teaches that humans are co-creators with “The Source of All That Is,” and that within the context of life on Earth in a human body, each person can create his/her personal reality by consciously and intentionally using the laws of the universe.

Christianity teaches victim conscious.   

Spirituality teaches that there are no victims; only unconscious creators

Christianity teaches that errors are sins punishable by God, and that no matter what you do or how good you are,  God may come along any way, and for reasons only He knows, destroy your life. 

Spirituality honors errors as part of life's learning process.   Humans  are not punished for their sins, but rather  by their sins (i.e. by reaping the consequences of their thoughts, words and deeds.)

All religions, by their very nature, have tribal (social group) connection to divinity.   Access to God is an external event and is available only through tribe-sanctioned rituals. 

People usually choose to stay with the tribal connection because it has a continuity and familiarity which imply stability and thereby offers a sense of security and a sense of belonging to the in group.  This is one of the reasons why, in times o crisis, people turn to religion.

Spirituality  is an individual connection to the divine.   Spirituality is an internal and an individual experience.   

According the Christian doctrine, every time a human egg and sperm unite, God steps in, and by an act of instantaneous, supernatural, transcendental magic, creates a brand new,  never-before-existing, separate, complete, eternal, everlasting, sovereign, human being.   

God then throws away about half of his newly created, eternal-life human beings.    The fertilized eggs often do not attach to the uterine wall and are washed out of the woman's body with her menstrual blood.   

God throws away another ten-plus+  percent in miscarriages.  And then trashes most of those who manage to get born because they didn't get themselves wet and blessed by the correct holly man.   And then he condemns a significant portion or those who are left because they weren't good enough for heaven.   

We have no idea what has happened to the billions of humans God created and then threw into the cosmological trash bin.

Spirituality  acknowledges the overwhelming evidence that points to the conclusion that humans are eternal non-physical beings -- that life does not begin at conception or anywhere else -- that no one is excluded, abandoned, or otherwise left out.  

Religion is a collection of exclusive clubs.   If you belong to one religion, you can't belong to any other.

Spirituality  acknowledges the unity of everything and everyone.   Everyone is included.

No one is required to belong to any organization.   No one is required to prove anything.   No one is exclude for any reason .

Religion is externally directed.    

Spirituality  is internally directed.

Religion is led by the mind, by beliefs.       

Spirituality  is s led by the heart.  

Religion is  a group experience. 

Spirituality  is a personal experience.