But isn't this a personal belief in itself, an axiom?
The values and meanings of what One believes to be of worth, to nuture, and to build?
Not really, because beliefs are supposed to be calibrated by their impact upon the world we live in. True axioms can only exist in a purely abstract world, and true religion can only exist in a completely concret world.
Still, the danger does exist that one will lock himself in sterile dogma. And a grave danger it is. But that is a danger, a trap to be faced along the way, not the way itself.
(...)
I think the main reason for people discrediting "spirituality" is because maybe they think the partakers will spend too much time with it, instead of "what matters".
That probably is a main factor. In my personal experience, however, the two main ones are
1) a near-complete lack of true meaning to that word at this point. It basically means "religious, but I don't want to call it that so that it becomes more palatable in certain circles" as far as I can tell. And religious is a difficult enough word to define all by itself. Add to it that the motivations for avoiding the word are not necessarily honest or defensable and you will see why I don't use it.
2) on the top of it, spirituality is often a favored word of some people who have in my opinion lost it big time. They seem to mistrust organized religion and to have chosen instead to either believe everyone or believe and reinterpret only those authors that they can make appear to support their own preconceptions, with no real attempt at being coherent or responsible in that exercise of empty rethorics.
