Chapter 17: The President And I

Spirituality, religion, faith, and beliefs used to have the same meaning to me. As Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, and Renn (2012) stated, the four concepts are used interchangeably in the United States. It was not until I took a student development theory course that I realized that each term has a different meaning. Evans et al. defined the four terms. Astin, Astin, and Lindholm (2011) described spirituality as “our sense of who we are and where we come from, our beliefs about why we are here—the meaning and purpose that we see in our work and our life—and our sense of connectedness to one another and to the world around us” (p. 4). Fowler (1981) defined belief as conscious intellectual agreement with particular doctrines or ideologies. Whole religions consists of many beliefs and practices of a collective group of people existing over a period of time. Faith in Fowler’s perspective underlies both belief and religion but is also inclusive of secular worldview. After differentiating among the four terms, Evans et al. continued differentiating between religious identity and spiritual identity. Religious identity involves individuals who are members of a religious group and endorse the same religious values and commitments. Religious identity is a collective identity, while spiritual identity “is a personal identity” (p. 197) and is only privileged to the individual. After taking the student development theory course, I was introduced to student spiritual development. I was intrigued to ask the questions:

• Who am I?

• What are my beliefs about myself and the world around me?

• How can I serve my community?