This is Datasmithy's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following Datasmithy's activity
Datasmithy
Recent Activity
So, for religiously minded folks, it's hard for them to separate out their emotional attachments to a given belief, from the validity of the belief itself.
When growing up religious, specific beliefs are associated with important human conditions:
belonging
identity
purpose
It is hard for the religiously minded to separate specific beliefes from these factors. It feels to them, if you are questioning beliefs, you are attacking their *identity* and purpose.
Now, this may have a lot to do with child-hood indoctrination. BUT, as atheists and agnostic humanists, if we really want to change peoples minds, we need to be aware of these emotional connections. We need to give the religiously minded a way to find community, belonging, identity and purpose outside of their specific beliefs.
Why religious Personal Beliefs are usually Personal Delusions
A few days ago astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted out something so-true: If your Personal Beliefs deny what's objectively true about the world, then they're more accurately called Personal Delusions. Beautifully said. This makes most religious dogma delusional. In fact, I probably sho...
I would define spiritual as that state of mind that connects us to a vastness that is beyond our everyday experience.
I think that God or Spirit is a (mostly unconscious) metaphor or analogy for those parts of our thinking and experience that *seem* to come from outside our conscious mind. I am very Jungian in this sense, but it's also another way of saying our brains are very complex, and a unitary self-identity may not be as solid or as cohesive as it seems.
In other words, there is a *lot* going on in our minds besides what we are conscious of, and connecting or sensing that "other" in ourselves is a lot of what "spirituality" is about.
Another part of "spirituality" is about freeing us from the terrorism of our own thoughts, and letting go.
I believe all of this is 100% compatible with an athiestic approach to the world.
I don't really know what "spiritual" means anymore
Recently I had an essay rejected by the Spiritual Naturalist Society because the powers-that-be there, where I've become a regular contributor (for now...), didn't think that being politically active, in the sense of being involved in public policy debates, was a "spiritual" practice. (See my po...
5. There is no God.
I would change this to: The theoretical existence of God does not assist in explaining real and observable phenomenon.
Also, I liked another post where you said "Thou Shalt Doubt", and I wish that made it in this list.
Ten modern atheist non-commandments
A few months ago I wrote about Lex Bayer's and John Figdor's atheist manifesto in "Halfway through 'Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart,' I love this book." Having finished it, here's their full list of ten non-commandments (I'd only gotten to six at the time of my first blog post). 1. The world is...
I think of meditation as swimming in the vast seas of our unconscious mind. When we relinquish focus and control, the vast presence of the unconcious can be sensed.
If we sense another presence, it may be our (larger) self.
I am very Jungian in this regard. It's another way of saying our brains are very complex, and a unitary self-identity may not be as solid or as cohesive as it seems.
David Lane explains why he meditates
Here's a link to a fascinating essay by David Lane, "Why I Meditate." It starts off with: Recently there was an intense discussion on spiritual matters on Brian Hines’ widely read blog, The Church of the Churchless, and an Indian gentleman wrote to me via email providing a link to it, primarily ...
I just discovered Julian Bagini last week, and I find his thinking to be considerate and thoughtful (he is a philosopher after all :-)
Have you read his Heathen's Manifesto?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/25/atheists-please-read-heathen-manifesto
I found it fascinating. I may have to pick up one of his books.
Meaning of life is whatever you find meaningful
What is the meaning of life? I used to think this was an important question. Heck, maybe the only question worth seriously pursuing an answer to. Why? Because once the question was answered, I'd know what were the most important things to do in life. (Which, though I didn't ponder this at the t...
I have just finished reading "The Ravenous Brain" by Daniel Bor, how the new science of consciousness explains our insatiable search for meaning. Sounds like you might like it. He really gets into the recent discoveries in neuroscience and how the brain works, that help explain consciousness and a sense of self.
He is also an atheist, if that matters to you :-)
Self/Soul is evolution's trick to make us think "I'm important!"
Why do humans feel that we have (or are) a Self/Soul that's distinct from the body/brain? Buddhism and neuroscience agree: there's no such thing, no self, no soul. Yet it sure seems like there is. We look at the world with a consciousness that screams, "I'm floating above my mind and body! I'm ...
Datasmithy is now following The Typepad Team
Jan 6, 2013
Subscribe to Datasmithy’s Recent Activity