Is it possible to be a spiritual atheist?
Do you believe someone can be a spiritual atheist?
When someone asks my religion I always say “I’m a spiritual atheist”, most of the time the person who asked looks at me confused and says there can be no such thing. I explain to them that I don’t believe in god, which is my definition of atheist, but I do believe everyone has a soul and that there is more to life than just chemicals in the brain. If they understand they tend to ask more about what I believe in, but plenty of times they just shake their head and move on, still puzzled.
What do you think? Can there be someone who is, by definition, a spiritual atheist or do they count as some other religion?
To get your brain churning, here are a few questions:
- What’s your definition of atheist/atheism?
- What’s your definition of spiritual?
- Can the two ever coincide?
- If you think there is such thing as spiritual atheism what qualifies someone as being that?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stutz on -
I kind of think you are crossing the religious threshold when you believe in ghosts and an "energy" that outlives us. Realize that there is just as much good evidence for these concepts as there is for god. I am not "spiritual" in exactly the same way as I am not a theist, and for exactly the same reasons. I guess I don't see how you can reject the god hypothesis as unfounded, but still believe in an equally unfounded nonphysical energy.
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Permalink Reply by Amy L. Cook on -
It's not for everyone.
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Permalink Reply by Jaret on -
@Rose A
Basically, everyone needs you to chime in and define what you believe and what your definition of spiritual is and more importantly, what your definition of a spiritual atheist is.
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Permalink Reply by James Cox on -
Dear Folks:
For me, as an excatholic, post modernist, recovering rationalist, just to be lightly funny, I think linking 'spirituality' and 'atheism' is possible, but I expect that you cross the eyes of any newage friends that desire to commune with angels.
I think a deep scientific understanding can yield a vast connection with life and the universe, but getting all romantic, warm and fuzzy might be very hard. You might understand the origins of everything from deep time, but you also might win the Darwin Award at bearly a moments notice. Nature can be very beautyful, but can also be very unforgiving and disinterested in the warm and fuzzy needs of life. A volcano is nice to look at, and radioactive materials interesting, but keep your distance during an eruption and use appropriate shielding!
May you find love, appreciate beauty, and find your soul filled with the light of a thousand suns, and have children before you fail to make the indicated gene pool contribution..LOL ;p)
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Permalink Reply by Doug Reardon on -
The only spirit in my atheism is at least 80 proof.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
- What’s your definition of atheist/atheism? believing that no theistic deity exists
- What’s your definition of spiritual? a noncorporeal reality in which consciousnesses can exist, and those consciousnesses can influence and even direct activities in the physical world
- Can the two ever coincide? This is the famous "mind/body problem," isn't it? In other words, if there is a spiritual reality, HOW does it interact with physical reality
- If you think there is such thing as spiritual atheism what qualifies someone as being that? I'd be rather disappointed in any atheist who continues to believe in spirits/ghosts/souls and suchlike. That's what God is supposed to be after all.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on -
Use your Deism or Athiesm to explain this because, to date no one knows what is going on in this house:
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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Deism or atheism don't "explain" videos.
Speaking as a photographer, my explanation? Double exposure.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on
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They could not debunk it last night on the show Paranormal Activities (SciFi Channel). This crew can usually find an explanation. They went on site and actuallly wittnessed the phenomenon.
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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on -
Trick photography, case closed. Please try to stay on topic here, Michael - even if the voices in your head can't.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on
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Heather, this is the well documented case in Black Forrest Colorado (the Lee family). All attempts to debunk it have failed. It was recently featured on the SciFi channel (Paranormal Activties).
This crew unlike most shows actually seek out to objectively debunk claims. When they sent the crew to the house, they were unpleasantly surprised. It appeared last night.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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The SciFi (SyFy) Channel, wow, that's encouraging. BTW, you do understand what the "Fi" part stands for, don't you? So, it's a channel that specializes in fiction. Even so, I bet there's some sort of disclaimer before the show, just in case some dunce actually might take the show seriously.
And you just sit there with your jaw on the floor believing that the show is serious stuff. Guffaw haw haw haw.
You seem to specialize in seeking out the ridiculous, or in turning a bit of a mystery into something we really should be floored by.
Have you noticed how few of us are floored?
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