Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Simon Paynton on July 25, 2012 at 2:21am

It must be because you're so spiritual.  I'm going to ask for your help later on. 

Permalink Reply by Kairan Nierde on February 5, 2012 at 11:27pm

On the Video:  AHughman08 has a good point about our limited ability to name the human experience without resorting to religous ternminology.  Not sure our inability to describe the wonderous things in life, which religion grafts itself onto, in non-religious terms makes you spiritual.  I think it just makes you a particularly observant and emotional human who is living in a culture that has been dominated by religion for millenia.  Maybe AHughman08 and I just need to crack open the old thesaurus.  I stopped paying attention when he said "there must be something bigger than me causing this (the rocky mountain range)."  I stopped watching when he brought up the wonder of butter milk buscuits.  Good "spiritual" music...very "woo-inducing." 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jewelz on February 6, 2012 at 5:01pm

Ann Druyan once said, "because our language is a pre-scientific phenomenon we don’t have a word for this feeling that isn’t imbued with a sorry history. But we still have that feeling."

If atheists would like to invent a new word to describe "spiritual atheists" like Carl Sagan or the one in the video whose feet were a little too far in the woo pool for most of you, go for it. lol

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kairan Nierde on February 6, 2012 at 10:30pm

I just don't see why a person would need to use the word spiritual, with all it's other connotations, when we have words and concepts like 'wonderous' or 'magnificent' or 'interconnected' to describe phenomena that induce awe.  I like to enjoy the outdoors and ponder the small pleasures in life, but I'd wouldn't say I was being spiritual so much as appreciative.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jewelz on February 6, 2012 at 10:50pm

Some people are hopeless romantics and cry at movies or during an opera, others think those people are ridiculous. Some people find things like meditation or yoga good "food for the soul" whereas others find those things a complete waste of time.

I'm sure most people have occasional moments where standing on a mountain looking up at the stars gives them goosebumps and makes them contemplate the vastness of the universe and what it means to be human, but perhaps the difference is those who consider themselves spiritual tend to actively seek out these experiences in as many aspects of their lives as possible and as often as possible. You can find that feeling through religion or through science, but most people can't be bothered chasing it because it's simply not important to them.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ed on February 5, 2012 at 4:01pm

I'm more comfortable just saying I'm into voodoo.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on February 5, 2012 at 4:30pm

Yes, I know people who say that.
No, I don't find it annoying in the slightest.  I tend to ask what people mean when they use the term, and their clarification generally satisfies me.  Even if it didn't satisfy, I'm hard pressed to get agitated over how others label themselves.  It's not really my business. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by dragotron on February 5, 2012 at 11:18pm

The reason it bothers me is that "spiritual" implies/means they believe in "souls" a concept which is essentially the foundation of all the major religions...

The belief in souls is the gateway to a belief in religion. It is the irrationality of it that opens the door.

Imagine a world where people didn't believe in souls...

-All of the major religions would no longer have a leg to stand on.

-People would appreciate their time on earth more and probably respect the earth more.

-There would be no crazy irrational crap happening from people who believe in supernatural garbage.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on February 5, 2012 at 11:45pm

The reason it bothers me is that "spiritual" implies/means they believe in "souls" a concept which is essentially the foundation of all the major religions...

It often doesn't.  The word 'spiritual' has been degenerating into near meaningless levels of vagueness for some time now.  That's why I ask people what they mean by 'spiritual' when they use it to describe themselves.  The answers always vary.  They rarely involve spirits.  Even if they do in some way, shape or form, that doesn't mean these individuals are heading towards religion.  It's a word, not a bloody gateway drug.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Unseen on February 5, 2012 at 11:53pm

In my experience, almost all people who declare themselves spiritual seem to believe in another reality than the one of the empirical senses. This world isn't enough. There's another plane of reality. Yes, it is a gateway to religion in that sense, even if it isn't a drug.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on February 5, 2012 at 11:55pm

In your experience, how many of these people converted to a religion after?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Unseen on February 5, 2012 at 11:56pm

You don't need to join a church to have an essentially religious belief.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• …
• 16
• Next ›
• Page