Do You Believe In Anything Spiritual ?

[modeller]

I am an Atheist but I don't have anything that, I know of, in common with other Atheists . I know several non religionists who don't believe in any specific religion but nevertheless believe in the concept of a God.

[bodeker]

If asked by anybody I would say I am not religious but am Spiritual.

[Khandro]

mib; //I prefer to not use terms for which there is no objective standard for defining it,//
So for example, the term "love" isn't part of your vocabulary?

[jourdain2]

Coming from, and living in, Yorkshire - everyone is call 'love'. It's one of the nicest things about living here - along with the smiles from strangers and the helping hands..

Sorry for, sort of, digressing :)

[mibn2cweus]

//mib; //I prefer to not use terms for which there is no objective standard for defining it,//
So for example, the term "love" isn't part of your vocabulary?//

A love ill-defined is a love lost. Love is an emotional response to something one perceives as a value, something which one acts to gain or to keep.

If you would like to pursue this question further perhaps a new thread is in order.

[Hypognosis]

@modeller

A somewhat booby-trapped question formulation, since you've used "believe in" as the verb. However "Do you have evidence of anything spiritual?" would have to be a whole separate thread. I don't wish to steal your thunder and will refrain from posting one such thread myself.

[Lynn_M]

I've never had a religious experience, so no, I'm not what you'd call 'spiritual'.

I believe what I see/hear/smell/touch/taste

[Hypognosis]

@Lynne

But, presumably, people who have experienced "something spiritual" believed their senses in much the same way?

I think the difference is in how people rationalise their more unusual experiences. If a person lacks the imagination required to think of a mundane explanation, they'll be more inclined to reach for supernatural explanations.

[wildwood]

I agree that spirituality is not an exclusively religious term.
When Mrs.WW is not home or indeed in hospital, there is a different 'feeling' in the air for me at home.
It is an proven fact that painting a room in a specific colour can alter your mood.

[Khandro]

mibn. //A love ill-defined is a love lost// What on earth does that mean?
You said, "I prefer to not use terms for which there is no objective standard for defining it" (sic)
So I ask again, is 'love' part of your vocabulary? If it is please define what it is.

"Love cannot be put together by the mind". Krishnamurti

[wildwood]

[i]Krishnamurti[/i] also said "The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear"

[Hypognosis]

"Afterlife, after shave - bleurrghh - don't hold with any of it! Personally, when you're dead you're gone. I don't give a tōss what you do with me when I've shuffled off this mortal coil: Shove a bit of flex up me back passage, stick a light bulb in me mouth and stand me in the hall. Though, if you're using electricity, you'll have to dry me out first!"
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End by Vivian Stanshall

[birdie1971]

RATTER15- “... There are places that I can go that are virtually untouched by civilisation of staggering beauty, I have often referred to these places as being very spiritual ● Only because I can almost feel almost at one with my surroundings and the magnificence I see before me, to me that is a spiritual experience. Nothing to do with spirits or Gods!...”


My feelings exactly.

It does irritate me when people of faith make the claim that atheists are somehow devoid of or deficient in compassion, contemplation or the appreciation of natural beauty. As if a none belief in god makes a person incapable of experiencing the full range of the human emotional spectrum. This spurious belief and tacit criticism of atheistic values is de rigueur for the none thinking theists of this world. Of which there are many and a good number are active on AB.

[mibn2cweus]

Khandro //So I ask again, is 'love' part of your vocabulary? If it is please define what it is.//

And so I answer again, //Love is an emotional response to something one perceives as a value...//

And for the last time, //If you would like to pursue this question further perhaps a new thread is in order.//

[beso]

birdie//It does irritate me when people of faith make the claim that atheists are somehow devoid of or deficient in compassion, contemplation or the appreciation of natural beauty. //

In fact it is the theists who seem to have trouble with appreciation of nature. They frequently tell us how their faith gives them hope for something better than the existence they current have to endure in this terrible world.

Personally I find the fascinating scientific explanations of how and why we exist to be quite uplifting.

[Khandro]

beso; //Personally I find the fascinating scientific explanations of how and why we exist to be quite uplifting.// Really?

Though we may have a lot more information today than we once had on "how" we exist, I'd be fascinated to hear your explanation of "why".

[beso]

The "why" of our existence is simple. We exist because we can exist.

The standard theist "explanation" of "god willed it" is no explanation at all.

[Old_Geezer]

I don't find either of those "explanations" enlightening.
But whether there is a reason for us to exist or not, we do, and it doesn't necessarily have a connection with the spiritual. It might but is not evidence in itself.

[Khandro]

The really big question is, why is there anything?

[naomi24]

^Why?

[naomi24]

Ratter at 09:39 Thu 02nd Jun. Good post.