I am a Christian spiritualist. I believe to be truly spiritual - one can not practice or believe in anything that is not of the spirit realm - thus anything MAN made or developed by MAN, not being of the spirit realm, can not and should not be practiced or believed. To follow this ideal one must examine things logically so to discover for oneself the nature of ones own spirit and not the doctrine of any MAN made philosophies.

The primary part of humanity that is distinctly NOT of the spirit realm is RELIGION. As you may know there is a drastic difference between the spiritual and religious. Religion is clearly a man made ritual with the original intent of exploring, expanding, and celebrating the spirituality of ones self. Yet through the course of history we are taught that the "man made" aspect only results in corruption of the ritual and creates a distance between ones religious behavior and spiritual well-being.

This is proven through the various religions of our day and age and proven to a greater extent in the religions of the past. This proof is in the manor at which the religion is structured, and to date the structure in ALL religion has been that of a hierarchy or democracy, both of which are not spiritual ideals, but Man-made philosophy.

Another aspect we are all aware of is that we are human and therefore imperfect. The lessons of history teach us that this imperfection ONLY and ALWAYS results in perversion and corruption of those things we have developed such as religion. If you start with imperfection the results will ALWAYS be imperfect and nothing better can ever be expected from it.

There is the idea (and it is just that - an idea) that the structure created to establish the religion can be INSPIRED by the spirit realm. I do agree with this idea, however the key word here is inspired. One may be able to practice these rituals as divinely inspired so to develop the spiritual life and explore the spiritual realm - but where do we draw the line? There is a line one can cross into the NON-SPIRITUAL if those rituals are practiced not as divinely inspired. And as we are human - a person could never practice the ritual as divinely inspired every time. Again a lesson from history comes into play - if the ritual is repeatedly practiced it will become corrupted due to our human nature. Therefore I feel it is better to avoid the chance of corrupting ones spirit with rituals man made even if they were divinely inspired by continual repetition. It is more important and imperative, as a spiritualist, to have a personal connection with the spirit realm to deal with emotional and intellectual issues of ones-self on an individual basis.

It is also important to commune with those who believe and are faithful to ones own spirituality because there may be insight or inspiration from others - yet it is a delicate situation. If one could corrupt his own spirit with his own rituals - each person one is in communion with can further corrupt the spirits of each other. An individual must be very careful to not hinder the spirit of others and be STRONG ENOUGH in ones FAITH so to not allow others to hinder ones own spirit. This is the delicate balance to which a spiritualist is confronted with when in contact with anyone at any given time requiring a person to be constantly mindful of himself and others. The continual inner struggle of any spiritualist ( known as the Yin and Yang in Asian religions). We are given assistance and power to balance this inner struggle by the Holy Spirit as well as by our spiritual guides. Still the most commonly used strength is scripture - and a powerful tool it is.

So, thus far, we must commune with our fellow man of the same faith, read scripture and seek the Holy Spirit. Yet to do all of this one must partake in religion. Therefore how does one partake in religion without the corruption of human nature? For this answer one must evaluate the MAN MADE religions and examine the scriptural basis for it. This is perhaps the most difficult aspect to research because what is currently excepted as the Holy Bible does not in fact have scripture to support it. There are very brief metaphorical references to what should be "the church", however there is no divinely inspired scripture to base modern religious organizations. Consequently, it is healthy for one to visit and commune with others in the faith, however it is a very delicate matter for ones spirit to partake in religious practice that has no scriptural basis and are only inspired by scripture.

In conclusion, simple logic reveals the following things:

Modern Religious organizations = non-scriptural but "inspired" by scripture

Religion as a philosophy = man made therefore non-spiritual

Christian Spiritualism = faithful follower of scripture, the Holy Spirit, spiritual guides.

Practicing Spiritualist = frequent communion with same faith followers without any direct dedications to any man made ritualistic organizations.