Atheism and Spirituality

Ivy wrote:
I do think that we ALL know deep down that we are connected to “God”/”The Great Sprit” whatever you want to call “it/him/her.” (insert gender pronoun here lol)….but….I think people who call themselves atheists do not like to admit this because they cannot see/touch/feel/put under a microscope…it.

Pardon me if you haven’t retracted…[Read more]

Jody Lee wrote:
I’m not the majority and over time maybe you guys will get used to the way I use it. 😁😁

I’m perfectly fine with that, and also tend not to be in the majority. Sometimes I’m thinking ok, fine, so what if this tennis ball hits a hornet’s nest!

@Pope

My usage does not refer to an ethereal party or link to dualism. Thar feeling of connectedness IS what I seek. An addiction? Perhaps. But not to point where I have irrational or unfounded concepts of reality.

I’m not the majority and over time maybe you guys will get used to the way I use it. 😁😁

Jody Lee wrote:
Are you really THIS hung up about a word?

Here’s my opinion on why this word is a big deal, and then I’ll explain what I wish it to mean if/when I use the word.

The most obvious reason why it’s important, at least in a forum of atheists, is because the majority of people (at least in USA) mean it to refer to an ethereal third…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
how do you explain … mass extinctions due to meteor strikes

Simon Paynton wrote:
even in the midst of unfavourable physical circumstances, it leads in the direction of making things better for living things.

I think you raise a good point: this “Great Spirit” is amoral, except in the case of human beings, where it generates two…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
In this case, then 1) cars / earthquakes / fires etc. are not a part of the living world, they are alien and external to it because they are not alive, and living things only possess limited control over physical phenomena and circumstances; 2) good and evil, or at least, pro- and anti-social behaviour, are themselves…

[Read more]

@Robert

Same Harris may be the type of person that needs to be reminded to live in the now, but I know a lot of people whose lives would likely benefit if they did at least some planning for the future.

Exactly. Now I am all for the idea that we shouldn’t worry ourselves to death about things that haven’t happened yet….But at the exact same tim…[Read more]

I think they’re all linked up by…the essence of living

Sigh. I give up.

I agree, we have a past, present and future, and we need to recognise all three.

But, the present is 1) where we actually live, so it’s important to be in it; 2) where we prepare for the future.  Our actions now make our future.

Same Harris may be the type of person that needs to be reminded to live in the now, but I know a lot of people whose lives would likely benefit if they did at least some planning for the future. There is a balance. The responsible ones don’t get to live in the now as much because they are always bailing  the instant gratification junkies out of trouble.

Being told how I should interpret things are something that Christian’s around me would do….

I’ll use spiritual to describe the process in which we live and breath and transform…and I’ll defend it as best as I can.

What do you mean by “spirit” of the law? OK, my bad. 🙂

Nay, we can do it offline if you want.

As long as I’m granted amnesty lol 😂 considering it’s against site rules (but I’m all about the spirit of the law not the letter of the law)

Except according to 1Cor 6:19 your body is not your own even if your body is more important than your clothes in Matthew 6:25.

Want a Bible face-off??? 🙂

“There is Only now.”

Sam Harris’s video is moving….but you can arrive at that same place by reading Matthew 6:25-34…so who is right? Both? Or maybe the question is which one is wrong? It is…..yes that’s right…..subjective……

Wow. Sam Harris speaking a subjective truth? He couldn’t be!!!

On a serious note, I do think that our brain’s a…[Read more]

There is only “Now“.

I only exist in the present moment (of my reality). I do not see my existence as something spiritual. I see it as natural and at this present moment I feel connected to the natural world. There is no other place I can exist in.

You see, three different people have three different perceptions of what “spiritual” means.  We’re allowed to, because it’s a broad word.  I think they’re all linked up by

the essence of living

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
connection to something bigger… What is this “bigger than ourselves” thing that you can connect to?

Simon Paynton wrote:
the present moment of reality

Jody Lee wrote:
Our vibrating mass of molecules that we call our bodies, our subconscious and conscious minds, the variety of frequencies we experience….that’s spiritual, the essence of living to me. One a small scale.

There was a TV show today called “Mystic Britain” or something like that and this new age type guy was standing in a circle of…[Read more]

@davis

I could easily say “I do think that ALL religious people know deep down that their preposterous childish beliefs are totally whacko”. But that’s simply not true.

You never know. The truth is not found in the extremes on either side, it’s always somewhere in the middle.

It’s like they say, There’s three sides to every story. Your side,…[Read more]