It started with the simple observation that religion and spirituality are two different things. Immediately, a singular question presented itself: Without religion, what do we do about spirituality?
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This question opens a Pandora's Box of further questioning. What defines religion? What exactly is "spirituality?" Why does this very question imply action? What exactly is it we are supposed to "do?" Not only did asking this question open an academic can-of-worms, but it also brought me in touch with controversy. As it turns out, this question may be self-evident to some, but is not appreciated by many. All the while it is difficult to find any real discourse on this issue, let alone answers. The more I looked into the subject, the more I discovered a current marketplace-of-ideas ill-equipped to deal with it. It would seem that to simply ask the question is to push boundaries.
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MY SUPPOSITIONS:
- Spirituality and Religion are not one and the same. They are two separate concepts, often with overlap, but not necessarily so.
- "Spirituality," "Religion," "God" and "Faith" are four separate, non-interchangeable concepts, each deserving of their own respective definitons and useage.
- Spirituality, or what I prefer to call "spiritual willingness" is an existing reality of the human condition.
- Religion is a man-made construct, a "frame-work" for placing spirituality within and for grounding a world view.
- Clarity and agreement on terms/semantics up-front (namely of #1 and #2) are necessary for any constructive discussion.
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One of the many things I have learned is that "facts" mean nothing unless those encountering them have a basic willingness to believe in facts. You will encounter my use of the word "willingness" quite frequently. Here I will reference the popular adage: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it think." I have learned that education and opinion on what is "factual" varies by alarming degrees. Perhaps the biggest, most universal truth I have learned thus far in my project has been this: People believe what they want to believe because they want to believe it. Folks don't believe things because of evidence or reason or facts or research- they believe based on their comfort zones. As I have read from many smart scholars many times, there is a difference between knowledge and belief. What becomes the real focus of interest is why people choose to believe/not-believe and understanding that such believing/non-believing is in fact, a choice. Somewhere distant down the list is emphasis on whether or not a belief claim is actually true or not true. Believe me when I say that the truthfulness of a claim is hardly ever at issue in the common discussion regarding Religion- but it is essential to me.
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I started this odyssey I call EYE OF THE NEEDLE in 2007. At first, I approached it as a documentary film project. I started putting my notes on this webpage in order to share things as I learned them. I felt it constructive to track my progress in a publicly accountable way. However, for every one new thing I learned, I discovered three more I needed to explore. I realized I needed to abandon the focus of "documentary" and re-name my efforts more aptly as a "research project."
As I would describe my project to people I knew and reveal my passion behind it, the same comment kept coming back to me: "You have to include yourself in your project." If anything from this effort ever does become a specific documentary in any traditional sense, it might simply be that of showcasing this entire process I've undertaken. Perhaps the process is the story. In the meantime, I keep inquiring and learning and as my knowledge expands, so does my passion for the material.
Paul Belodeau April, 2015
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