I've been reading the past few days' posts with interest. Often in the past, I have skipped the religious discussions because they tend to be polarized and reiterative. I like the fact that no one here is getting angry but seems to realize that a lot of the problem in even beginning a discussion of this nature involves finding definitions for terms for which there are a great many meanings, not just semantically but personally and emotionally.
But I'm again struck by how many people refuse to acknowledge that it is man who acts on his beliefs, that he has the choice to do good or harm, regardless of the particular structure. In the boxes of Christianity, or atheism, or paganism, or Buddhism are both the wicked and sublime.
Individual truths are just that. And to preach one's own truth to someone else is usually unproductive. I'll hazard a guess here that what usually convinces people, especially those younger or less thoughtful, to accept a belief as their own is the desire to belong, to have what they see someone else has, to find "safety". Unfortunately, the nature of "belonging" carries the with it the idea of "exclusion" to those not believing, and that's where we get into trouble.
As you so accurately pointed out, great beauty and wondrous achievements have come from religion. As Christine and Del point out, great pain has also been inflicted in the name of God. Unlike Christine, I do NOT think atheists are more tolerant than Christians. That type of assertion is unprovable and tolerance applies to many areas other than religion. There has been plenty of intolerance from everyone at times -enough to go around to Christians and atheists alike.
Something else that struck me as I read, beginning with the post on Trail Magic and ending here with your question about atheism and spirituality. Often our personal definitions seem to become very narrow. For instance, I loved the idea of Trail Magic, but soon realized that how I interpreted it was completely different from others. George thought it was invasive and silly, but he took a very literal approach to it. Someone else saw it as being the joy of experiencing Acts of Kindness. I got carried away with it and saw what I love most about life-its serendipitous nature and the idea that we can not only find the magic but create it for others.
All of these ideas were true, don't you think, each in its own way?
But as usual, I've rambled- and have no idea if there was a point to all that-except that (oh yeah-I think this was where I meant to go)spirituality to me is a very broad thing. It is the realm of the invisible, the interior of us all. It's Jung's universal consciousness, it's Buddha's bellybotton, it's Christ on the cross, it's all the things we can't touch and see, but which are realities nonetheless, and make us so much more than animals--theists and atheists both.
From the Upanishads:
Spirit is the Good in all |
