Religious?

Often a Humanist will state that they are "not religious, but are spiritual". But I just found out that "religion" actually can have two meanings - one we would rather not assume, but the other we should be proud to assume.

Generally, "religion" is assumed to be from the Latin "religere" which means "to tie", or "to bind" or to "assume a yoke". When this is meant to be yoked to a creed, or to be tied to a dogma of some church, we naturally say that that does not describe ourselves. This is the extroverted meaning that comes from outside ourselves and is forced upon us.

However "religion" may also come from the Latin "relegere" which means "to consider", "to ponder", or to "read over again". Here, we come to a reflective exercise or an introverted action. This can accept the process of critical analysis, skepticism, and dialectic (learning through questioning). This is a concept we should be proud to assume and to tell others about.

Perhaps it would be good if we were prepared to share with others our version of how we are religious as part of our spreading the "good news" (gospel) of being a Humanist to people who are yoked to a creed.

David Kimball