by Louis Georges

Created on: March 23, 2009

To ask the difference between being religious and being Christian is very much like asking the difference between being a New Yorker and an American. A New Yorker is typically an American, but not necessarily, and it is clearly possible to be American without having anything at all to do with New York.

Looking at it from another angle, any citizen of New York is a citizen of the U.S. and is therefore an American, but it is possible to call oneself a New Yorker by virtue of being a resident of New York, despite not actually being a citizen of New York. Similarly, one can call oneself a Christian without actually being a follower of Christ. A true Christian is necessarily religious. Such a person lives according to the beliefs and practices of the Christian religion. A person who claims Christianity without practicing their faith in a manner consistent with the teachings of Christianity is neither religious nor a true Christian. Attending a Christian church service every week does not make one a Christian any more than renting a hotel room in Manhattan makes one a New Yorker.

In the same way that a Texan can be an American, but not a New Yorker, a Muslim can be religious, but not a Christian. Christianity is a religion, and its devout adherents can be said to be religious. The reason there is any discussion at all about the difference between Christianity and religion is that the word "religion" has come under fire in recent years, not only from the secular left, but also from the religious right.

There are those who wish to separate spirituality from ritual and tradition. These people feel that the outward trappings of Christianity are unnecessary. They see ritual and tradition as empty, rote behavior that does nothing to bring one closer to God. This movement is largely directed at the Roman Catholic Church by the Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians in the United States, who see Catholicism as rife with useless rules and rites. Ironically, the Evangelicals and Fundamentalists have an unlikely and unwanted ally in the religious left, New Agers who claim spirituality without religion.

So, we must ask, "Why the knock on religion? What is wrong with religious rites? Why is spirituality without religion something at which to be grasped?" Not surprisingly, the answers will vary.

The secular left and religious left have both mounted a campaign to disparage religion as a divisive force in the world. They point to the conflicts, which are numerous, that have been

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