By Sabrina Dudley-Johnson
June 14, 2017
What is Religion?
In its definition of religion, gotquestions.org reports;
“Religion is a set of beliefs and rituals, followed by a group, that claims to get a person in a right relationship with God” [i].
Activities, like standing in a circle of strangers, holding hands (which you have no idea where they’ve been or how clean they are), bowing heads and closing eyes (now you can’t see whose going through everyone’s purses and backpacks), and listening to someone, fluctuate between mumbling and shouting about anything and everything, often are religious rituals.
What is Spirituality?
Gotquestions.org explains that;
“spirituality is a focus on spiritual things, (the meaning of life) and the spiritual world (the universe) instead of physical/earthly things. Spirituality is all about becoming more like God, who is spirit (John 4:24) and having our character conformed to His image (Romans 12:1-2).” [ii]
One study on spiritual meditation emphasized that there is a difference between spirituality and religion stating;
“Spirituality is understood as a form of belief that goes beyond belief in the sense of a particular religious community. Spirituality … does not have to be linked to a belief system and describes a non-traditional, non-denominational form of belief. (Spirituality doesn’t require the adherence to any set of rituals). Some authors use the term spirituality as synonymous with religiosity, but they emphasize personal beliefs, regardless of a religious confessional community.” [iii]
The study continues;
“Spirituality can but does not have to be, understood in the Christian denominational sense. If you find the term ‘divine’ or ‘sacred’ unsuitable, you can replace it with Higher Power, Allah, JHWH, Tao, Brahman, Prajna, All-One, Great Power, Everything, Source, (the Universe) or whatever you conceive it to be.” [iv]
A person can be religious and not be spiritual. An individual can be spiritual and not be religious. People can be both religious and spiritual. And lastly, one can be neither religious nor spiritual.
What Is Religiosity?
Gotquestions.org discusses a term I found myself using a few weeks ago as I tried discussing Fibromyalgia awareness with someone who is very religious… I heard myself asking, ‘as you begin building Fibromyalgia awareness, will it be possible to put your religiosity on the back burner and just talk FM?’
Gotquestions.org states:
“Religiosity is characterized by excessive involvement in religious activities. Religiosity usually entails extreme zeal outside of and beyond the norms of one’s faith. Religiosity usually reflects one’s individual beliefs more than those of the religious organization itself. Another term for religiosity, though less common, is religiousness, ‘the state of being superficially religious.’” [v]
This is the one I have problems with. I think this is why I cringe at the thought of mixing Religion with Fibromyalgia awareness and/or patient education. If I’m attending a Fibromyalgia event or support group, I want to learn about Fibro, I don’t want to feel pressured to discuss my religious beliefs, or accept those of the event host or any other attendee.
Besides the meeting described at the opening of this article, there are other examples of religiousness and Fibromyalgia. I’ve witnessed first-hand as a Fibromyalgia advocate was supposed to be participating in a Fibromyalgia-organization development meeting… but this person spent more time talking to strangers not affiliated with the workshop, about their religious beliefs than listening to the person conducting the meeting. At the end of the meeting, this attendee knew nothing more about Fibromyalgia or nonprofit management than before the meeting. Also, this attendee kept interrupting the speaker to talk about religious issues.
With that said, research shows that positive religious and spiritual coping strategies can have positive outcomes as a component of Fibromyalgia management. In their 2013 research study, Dedeli and Kaptan discuss the religious history of pain stating:
“In the Middle Ages, pain was considered a religious matter. Pain was seen as God’s punishment for sins, or as evidence that an individual was possessed by demons. This definition of pain is still embraced (today) by some patients who tell their health professionals that "the suffering is my cross to bear.” [vi]
What is self-efficacy?
According to positivepsychology.org.uk, self-efficacy is
“self-belief in one’s competence or chances of successfully accomplishing a task and producing a favorable outcome.” [vii]
FOOTNOTES
[iii] Sollgruber A, Bornemann-Cimenti H, Szilagyi IS, Sandner-Kiesling A (2018) “Spirituality in pain medicine: A randomized experiment of pain perception, heart rate and religious spiritual well-being by using a single session meditation methodology.” PLOS ONE 13(9): e0203336. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203336
[iv] Sollgruber A, Bornemann-Cimenti H, Szilagyi IS, Sandner-Kiesling A (2018) “Spirituality in pain medicine: A randomized experiment of pain perception, heart rate and religious spiritual well-being by using a single session meditation methodology.” PLOS ONE 13(9): e0203336. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203336
[vi] Dedeli, Ozden, and Gulten Kaptan. “Spirituality and Religion in Pain and Pain Management.” Health psychology research vol. 1,3 e29. 23 Sep. 2013, doi:10.4081/hpr.2013.e29
[vii] https:/www.positivepsychology.org.uk
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