Spirituality, Religiousness & Faith - Controversial, Essential & Universal

     We must learn to reconnect with the core of our own being & learn to communicate with each other at this very same deepest, most meaningful universal level. "Namaste" means the perfection within me recognizes & greets the perfection in you.
     An exclusivist's ego projects itself onto & judges "the other" inferior. Exclusivism is found in most if not all religions, as well as in "scientism". A civilized, educated, multicultural, multiethnic society is de facto inclusive - not exclusivist ("that only the members of one religion or sect will reach heaven ... while others will be doomed to eternal damnation..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_exclusivism). Exclusivism is characteristic of an early psychosocial developmental stage. All major religions (as well as science) have psychosocially-mature members, who have more in common with similarly mature people of other religions, than with immature members of their own religion. Immaturity breeds divisiveness & conflict, not religion per se.

     "spirituality ... the search for sacred or existential aspects of life ‘such as finding meaning, wholeness, inner potential, & interconnections with others’

     religiousness ... ‘a personal or group search for the sacred that unfolds within a traditional sacred context’"
       Beaumont SL, Scammell J. Patterns of spirituality and meaning in life related to identity. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research 2012; 12(4): 345-67.

     Some use "faith" to encompass both of the above concepts - see: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2012/03/faith.html 

     Despite the fact that these words, for many, ring of violence, ignorance, divisive fear & guilt, nevertheless they do point towards absolutely essential universal components of a deeply-lived, fully conscious human life: "matters of truth, reality, & ultimate importance. … personal, affective, visceral, & passional dimensions of being & knowing ... meaning-making in its broadest sense."          Parks SD. Big questions, worthy dreams. Mentoring young adults in their search for meaning, purpose, and faith. John Wiley & Sons, San Francisco, 2000.  

     We must learn to work wisely with this double-edged sword - the more powerful the medicine, the more powerful its adverse effects.