“I’m spiritual, not religious”

I wish I had a back massage for every time I’ve heard this line. What gets me most is the presupposition it stems from, that “spiritual” is the assumed equivalent of “good” and “religious” is the assumed equivalent of “evil.” Who made up this language game?

Honestly, who decided that “spiritual” was a term that would be used to contradict religion and as evidence of personal enlightenment without further ado? And does anyone using the phrase ever stop to think what they actually mean by it? I think what is usually meant is that religion is man-made tradition, whereas spiritual is a phenomenon that happens on a personal level, free from all “man-madeness” and tradition, and thus… true?

My experience has been exactly the opposite. I spent the first 20 years of my journey in Christianity believing that I was spiritual and not religious, and I…