A lot of misery has been inflicted upon the world in the name of religion. Of course, there are plenty of peace loving religious people out there too, who are identified in their belief systems about their favorite deity (or the lack of one, depending on the religion)

It is common among educated people to look down upon the religious, because they are blind believers. But the more I look around, the more I observe that people are really all the same, irrespective of their belief systems.

Ultimately, everyone has a belief system that they will defend tooth and nail, in order to preserve their identity. Atheists are blind believers too, most of them believe blindly in science. I say blindly, because they selectively believe in studies that appeal to their set of beliefs. Science is not only that which has been proven in a double blind scientific study. Many of these studies are rigged by benefiting parties anyway. Science is about an attitude in life – being open to the experiences in life and maintaining an awareness that not all questions have answers. A really scientific person is more likely to be an agnostic than an atheist.

Same with the ‘spiritual’ – those obsessed with spiritual growth, and being a better person everyday. They are busy chasing the ultimate goal – enlightenment, and often all those who aren’t involved in the chase are looked down upon. Spirituality is a very profitable, marketable industry today, selling products from incense to organic vegetables to big, expensive workshops. Those who are tired of chasing material pleasures now have something new, something much more covetable, to chase. These are the new age ‘spiritual’ group of people,.

Real spirituality is about the spirit. The spirit does not grow, the spirit is unchangeable. The phrase ‘spiritual growth’ is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. A spiritual person rests in the spirit and has nothing to chase. Just as one would find blind, obsessed people in all categories – religious, atheists and spiritual, one would find really ‘spiritual’ people in all categories as well. Ultimately, people are the same everywhere. Labels do not make anyone better or worse. Labels are just labels.