Atheism and Spirituality

[Belle RoseParticipant]

@Reg

No, It absolutely is not the same thing.

If you really think long and hard about it, it is the same thing….

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

But then there is also the aspect of prayer that actually helps people. You hear stories of people who have their prayers answered and truly believe it.

Yes, they truly believe it. I don’t. I don’t believe in the existence of whatever god they think they are communicating with, either verbally or via telepathy.

It is the ritual aspect of prayer and\or chanting that can have these results. Same with meditation, long walks, good exercise…….

[Belle RoseParticipant]

It is the ritual aspect of prayer and\or chanting that can have these results. Same with meditation, long walks, good exercise…….

Yes, but I don’t think it’s actually the “ritual” Active prayer that can be so healing, but the community aspect of it. We are social creatures in we need people. It is the community of people together that can bring that healing in a way that nothing else can. There’s also something really healing about knowing that you’re not alone. If you know for example that all of the shit that you’re going through is shit that other people have gone through and survived, There is some honest and true healing in that.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Ivy wrote:

What I mean is that I disagree when you say that the soul does not exist.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/biocentrism/201112/does-the-soul-exist-evidence-says-yes%3famp

This article is written by an amateur. Like many quacks, he introduces Quantum Mechanics to support his terrible argument. Biocentrism is  just another woo hypothesis that is easy to debunk and therefore easy to dismiss.

[Belle RoseParticipant]

So why would a medical doctor tell me what they told me?

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Ivy wrote:

If you really think long and hard about it, it is the same thing….

The next time theists stop me on the street in order to save my soul they will actually be concerned for the flow of electricity that neurotransmitters use to generate new synapses in my mind? I will be sure to ask them if my lack of belief in their god will affect the transport of enzymes contained in my presynaptic neurons and if it will damage the synthesis of any neurotransmitters. I suspect they will find an answer in their book.

[Belle RoseParticipant]

@Reg

I suspect they will find an answer in their book.

Probably. I don’t think they would realize it. I think that theists and atheists Just describe the world through completely different lenses.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Ivy wrote:

Probably. I don’t think they would realize it. I think that theists and atheists Just describe the world through completely different lenses.

I was replying to your comment about the soul, not anyone’s worldview.

If you really think long and hard about it, it is the same thing….:-)

No, 2 completely different definitions.

[Belle RoseParticipant]

You don’t understand what I’m trying to say and now you’re trying to cherry pick and twist my words. You’re really good at that.

I don’t think that atheists realize it and I don’t think that theists realize it. It’s kind of the same thing that we see happening to our political system. You have both sides coming at each other making accusations about the other party, when both parties are acting the exact same way. So to keep to buy original example about the soul, I think there are both physical and spiritual aspects of our being that neither theorists or atheists fully understand and the lens through which we describe what we think we know depends upon our world view. You for example might say that you know there is no spiritual  or spiritual anything….But that’s because you come to the table already having had made up your mind. The flipside can be true for a theist. Don’t you call that confirmation bias? Did it ever occur to you that atheists posit their worldview upon a confirmation bias as well?

[Belle RoseParticipant]

Why would an actual medical doctor tell me to look to the spiritual to heal that of the physical?

[Belle RoseParticipant]

@Reg

You have made the bold statement MANY times that you “know” There are no gods. My question to you is how can you be so sure?

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Where have I made that statement in this post?

[Belle RoseParticipant]

@Reg

Where have I made that statement in this post?

In this post you haven’t. But you’ve said that MANY times and you know it’s true…..

[Belle RoseParticipant]

@Reg

“There are no gods in my world, in my head or in my book.”

~Reg the fronkey farmer~

https://atheistzone.com/groups/bookish-atheists/forum/topic/writers-tell-about-your-offerings-here/

How are you so sure?

That is your confirmation bias. That is how you see the world. That is your lens by which you see everything. So anything that you see or hear or read about, or experience… You see it through that lens. You’ve already made up your mind what you think. So your mind is shut off to all possibilities.

There are many theists who are the opposite side of the same coin.

Heads or tails!

[UnseenParticipant]

Jody Lee wrote:

That’s a deep connection to something bigger. To me that’s spiritual.

To me, I think you’re referring to what I’d call “wonder.”

[Author]

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