Atheism and Religion

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
why dont you say 'spiritual'? I am interested in spirituality? it seems to cover everything.

he he... please, Robbie, don't.. with all due respect, but religion has very little to do with spirituality... by reading your posts, I never thought of you being 'spiritual', not for a second, only religious and very hard line for that matter...which is fine, nothing personal, of course..just my observation.. (and we can choose whatever title we find fit) I'd go and say, that this forum, despite its name, has very little to do with spirituality per se. all these Catholic cliches, dogmatic Catholic/JW stances, quotes and verses from the Bible etc etc.. is it spirituality, huh !? gimme a break..

I am a fool for Jesus Christ.

Whose fool are you?

Originally posted by Renars
he he... please, Robbie, don't.. with all due respect, but religion has very little to do with spirituality... by reading your posts, I never thought of you being 'spiritual', not for a second, only religious and very hard line for that matter...which is fine, nothing personal, of course..just my observation.. (and we can choose whatever title we find fit) I ...[text shortened]... ances, quotes and verses from the Bible etc etc.. is it spirituality, huh !? gimme a break..

The problem that one faces and which is quite pernicious to the discussion of spirituality is that in the case of citing biblical passages, one inevitably ends up in a doctrinal battle, the result being that a 'war of attrition', takes place as one premise after another needs to be addressed and taken care of. What is one supposed to do, it is rude to simply ignore another who has taken the time and effort to post something in reply to a statement that one has made and these discussions sometimes become very involved. I have tried once or twice to try to discuss a spiritual aspect, say a quality like kindness, which lasts for about two seconds for no one has anything to fight about.

I feel in my case that your criticism is a little, not completely, just a little unwarranted, for i have discussed spirituality in chess, well tried to anyway, or the role of meditation, in a biblical context, again rather unsuccessfully, the exercise of conscience and its implications, again not very successfully. I admit however that its not always possible to see ourselves as others see us and your assertions may indeed be warranted 🙂

Originally posted by jaywill
I am a fool for Jesus Christ.

Whose fool are you?

My wife!

Atheist

Originally posted by Ringwraith
Atheist

Did you know that J. R. R. Tolkien was a Christian? Smart man, Tolkien... 🙂

Originally posted by UzumakiAi
I would like to poll you, please. How many people here are atheistic, and how many religious?

nonsupernaturalist nontheist nonaligned nondualist

Originally posted by vistesd
nonsupernaturalist nontheist nonaligned nondualist

A lot of "non.." so your are a what, material-only-ist nonspirtualist?
Kelly
🙂

Originally posted by KellyJay
A lot of "non.." so your are a what, material-only-ist nonspirtualist?
Kelly
🙂

Atheism is non-theism.

Atheist (Humanist Rationalist if you want to define me by something other that what I lack), There seem to be a lot of us on here judging by the responses so far.

--- Penguin.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Atheism is non-theism.

I get it, an atheist cannot define itself without theist. 🙂
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
I get it, an atheist cannot define itself without theist. 🙂
Kelly

Exactly. That is one reason why atheism should not be seen as a religion or belief.
Don't make the mistake of thinking atheists are defined by their atheism. That would be like saying Orange Juice is defined by its being a non-alcoholic drink.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Exactly. That is one reason why atheism should not be seen as a religion or belief.
Don't make the mistake of thinking atheists are defined by their atheism. That would be like saying Orange Juice is defined by its being a non-alcoholic drink.

Really, I see it as the other way around. It is a belief system that requires
another to even exist. Reality either does have God, gods, or none at all so
the beliefs surrounding all the possible realities are what we are talking
about when we discuss atheist and theist.
Kelly

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Atheism is non-theism.

Yes, but that would ruin the alliteration. 😉


Also, I use non-theist to distinguish between a particular kind of non-dualism (e.g., Taoism) and what might be the more conventional association of “atheist” with something like penguin’s secular humanism. But that’s just my own personal way of expressing it.

There are non-dualistic expressions that seem to me more theistic, e.g. pantheism. Some people seem to treat non-dualism, monism and pantheism as synonymous, but I don't.

Originally posted by KellyJay
A lot of "non.." so your are a what, material-only-ist nonspirtualist?
Kelly
🙂

By non-supernaturalist I just mean that I do not admit any kind of supernatural category. Whatever is, is natural, part of nature.


There are many things that we do not know; there may be many things that we cannot know—the “grammar of our consciousness” may not be sufficient to ultimately decipher the whole of the larger “syntax of the universe”. But I see no reason to bring in the supernatural to fill the gaps.