Study of Atheists and Spirituality

[jmreinoehl]

Good afternoon!

I am seeking participants for a study of atheists and spirituality for my master’s thesis at Ball State University. The study involves a survey with questions about spirituality and demographic information that takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. To be eligible to participate, you must be 18 years of age or older, live in the United States, and identify as an atheist.

Click the link below to participate:

https://bsu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4UgWPv1zzmkTnoN

There is also an optional interview portion that participants may agree to take part in. The interview will take approximately one hour to complete, and will be conducted via telephone or in-person. It includes questions regarding spirituality, atheism, and practices related to these identities.

If you would like more information about the study, please contact:

Investigator Jordan Reinoehl at jmreinoehl@bsu.edu

Thank you!

[Unbeliever]

I think "spirituality" is just a New-Age attempt to replace organized religious clubs with huggy-fuzzy feel-good stuff that's just as much crap as the original religious crap. If the term were "emotionality" it would be a more accurate description of what so-called "spirituality" is.


But I took your quiz, anyway. Don't care about any follow-up interviews, though.

[gentle_dissident]

Don't care about any follow-up interviews, though.

An hour? That's my time AND my minutes.

Everything happens for a reason. If it didn't, you didn't learn nuthin.

[Shiranu]

If the term were "emotionality" it would be a more accurate description of what so-called "spirituality" is.

I am more fond of "Contemparily Romantic Atheist" for myself...

[widdershins]

"Spirituality" is one of those new-age wishy-washy words which has no solid meaning.  Even the definition says it's a "broad concept with room for many perspectives".  What that says is that the word is utterly meaningless unless each person participating in a conversation about it first gives a thorough explanation of what they mean when they're talking about "spirituality".  My definition is "Hocus-pocus new age bullshit word without meaning or value".  I don't use the word because I have no idea what any given person will think I'm saying when I do because it is just so poorly defined and open to interpretation.

So instead of taking your survey (because I really have no idea what it's about if you don't define "spirituality") I'll give you some advice.  Either focus your thesis on what people seem to think you're saying when you use the bullshit word or use other words with actual meanings in your surveys and thesis.

[SGOS]

I took the survey, and I wish you luck.  Like others, I think the word spirituality is problematic.  I sometimes hear people say, "I'm not religious, but I'm very spiritual."  Honestly, I have no idea what that means.  It might mean they believe in garden fairies or that they are just as good a person as a full blown theist.

My connection with nature is strong, and I think I was supposed to answer that I have a spiritual connection with nature.  After describing the joy I feel in nature, which indeed can be very deep at times, one person said to me once, "You are the most spiritual person I know."  From this I gather that "spiritual" means a deep emotional attachment, as least to that person, but that is not my understanding of the word.

So when your survey asks if I feel a spiritual attachment to something, an answer could be ego driven to a high degree, and therefore suspect.  I would answer in the affirmative if I wanted you to think my virtues were somehow mysteriously on par with an ardent theist, even without having a belief in a god.  But I would answer in the negative if my primary objective was to simply be honest.  Your line of questioning might be motivated by a personal value of your own, a value that is irrelevant to many atheists.

I'm curious at what you are getting at by using the word spiritual without it being clearly defined.  Whether, I consider myself spiritual or not, relates no personal information relevant to anything about myself that would be useful in a data base that I can see.  I actually think more useful data for your project could be gained by simply asking everyone to define "spiritual".  That would actually tell you something about the person.

I'm curious about what you wish to achieve.

[aitm]

spirituality….meh……spirit….meh….sprite. Oooo, good stuff.

[Mr.Obvious]

Not living in the US of A.
Good luck anyways.