The fires apparently were set by Koresh and/or his followers.

The fires apparently were set by Koresh and/or his followers. There were few survivors. Discussion: Religion, Spirituality, and Cults EARLIER IN THE CHAPTER, we described the nature of spirituality and religion, and now we have discussed the nature of cults. In our exploration of religion and spirituality, we indicated that some psychologists of religion believe that the terms spirituality and religion can be used interchangeably, whereas others think their meanings are different.

We also learned that many social scientists differentiate between religion and cults but that some argue that cults are fringe, often new, religious movements. What do you think? Get together with several students and discuss similarities and differences among religion, spirituality, and cults.

Exploring your Spiritual Well-Being The Spiritual Well-Being Scale* was developed in order to measure how people percieved their sense of well-being as they defined it in either religious or existential terms (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982). Below are 10 of the 20 items from the scale, some slightly modified from the original.

In order to take the scale, the person first is given the following instructions: For each of the following statements, assign a score from 1 to 6 according to how strongly you agree or disagree with it. I don’t know who I am, where I came from, or where I am going. My spiritual life makes me feel loved and connected. I feel disconnected from a spiritual force in my daily situations. I feel unsettled about my future. My spiritual life offers me personally meaningful relationships.

I feel very fulfilled and satisfied with life. I don’t get much personal strength and support from my spiritual practices. I feel a sense of well-being about the direction my life is headed in. Life doesn’t have much meaning. My spiritual relationships contribute to my sense of well-being. *Copyright Craig W. Ellison and Raymond F. Paloutzian. Used and adapted by permission of the authors. Not to be duplicated, copied, or transferred without expressed written permission of the authors.

See www.lifeadvance.com. Scoring and Interpretation The spiritual well-being scale measures two main areas: (1) religious well-being and (2) existential well-being. The religious scale refers to religion and one’s relationship to spirituality, the existential scale to meaning in life and questions about the nature of one’s existence.