Atheist Sprituality - Oxymoronic or Just Plain Moronic?

[Shiranu]

I consider myself as spiritual from time to time, which was something I never would have said as a Christian... so... eh.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I'm sure them there little pieces of metal hanging on string are spiritual when the wind makes em bang together. I can just feel the warm fuzzy feeling.  No wait..it's the percocet.

[pioteir]

...
  Don't get too confounded by our different views.  They are not complicated views.  This isn't rocket science.

Well actually I am a rocket scientist
so my views might be complicated
I am also an atheist
ergo atheists' views are rocket science 


But seriously the way Kamo describes spirituality, everyone had one of those "searching for the meaning of life" thoughts. Every "what dafuq have I done with my life?" kind of question, every hungover "what happened last night?" falls into that category. No point in asking how many people had it.

[stromboli]

Well actually I am a rocket scientist
so my views might be complicated
I am also an atheist
ergo atheists' views are rocket science 


But seriously the way Kamo describes spirituality, everyone had one of those "searching for the meaning of life" thoughts. Every "what dafuq have I done with my life?" kind of question, every hungover "what happened last night?" falls into that category. No point in asking how many people had it.

So is it OK if I casually say in conversation, "well, I know this Rocket Scientist....?

[SGOS]

There are experiences outside yourself that are very hard to describe. I think that has something to do why people became religious in the first place, feeling exalted and uplifted without understanding the reasons why.

They are indeed powerful moments, so if you're looking for a sign from God and one of these hits, you're probably going to see it as the answer you are looking for.  I can see how it could be compelling if you never had one before, or if you don't think about other reasons for the cause too much.

[pioteir]

So is it OK if I casually say in conversation, "well, I know this Rocket Scientist....?

You're very welcome to do so :)

[josephpalazzo]

I think that it refers to the feeling of being in awe. A few years back I was visiting the Grand Canyon with my wife, and both of us were in awe with that landscape. Some people would fancy that as a "spiritual" experience. It isn't. Just glancing at the wonders of this universe gives you that feeling. It isn't magic. I'm sure it is has to do with certain chemicals that runs through your body, and gives you a wonderful feeling. Anyway that's my take on that.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Spirit grabbed an Opportunity to exercise its Curiosity on Mars.

[Kamonohashi]

I took nothing you said as hostile.  Rather, you seem in a state of disbelief.  A good place to start understanding atheists is to believe what they say about themselves.  Don't get too confounded by our different views.  They are not complicated views.  This isn't rocket science.

Thank you for your considerate and thoughtful response to my post. I've been an atheist for most of my life-- for decades. While I was raised in a Catholic family and forced to attend weekly mass and go to Sunday school, my parents were agnostic. They believed that I'd grow up to be a baby-eating Satan worshiper if I didn't "have religion." (I did grow up that way, actually. I've been an atheist since I was old enough to officially reject the religion I was raised with.)

So, I'm not a reformed theist undergoing a transitional search for some sort of God, and spiri***uality for me has nothing to do with religion, new age pseudoscience, or belief in fairies. If you do a cross-cultural survey of world religions, religion substitutes (like the new age) and non-theistic cosmological philosophies (like Buddhist philosophy), the realm of spiri***uality pops up again and again and again. I wish to God ;-) there was a better word to refer to this topic-- one untainted by religious distortions. Unfortunately, as Sam Harris has pointed out, for most of the history of our species religion has had a monopoly on spiri***uality. Atheists attempting to address this dimension of human experience are forced to use the "s" word.

For me, it's like living in an alternate dimension in which the word "Heaven," was synonymous with "cosmology." It's quite frustrating.

[Kamonohashi]

“Spirit” comes from the Latin word “to breath.” What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word “spiritual” that we are talking of anything other than matter (including the matter of which the brain is made), or anything outside the realm of science. On occasion, I will feel free to use the word. Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.

When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or of acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.

A quote from Carl Sagan, from his book “Demon Haunted World”

[Hydra009]

Unfortunately, as Sam Harris has pointed out, for most of the history of our species religion has had a monopoly on spiri***uality. Atheists attempting to address this dimension of human experience are forced to use the "s" word.

But you're not.  Simply describe what you're feeling/thinking and we can go from there.

By using the s-word and knowing full well its close association with religion (a really popular thing nowadays is to rebrand conventional religious ideas as "deep" spiritual experiences), you're incredibly likely to be confused with a woo-seller.  So don't.

[Kamonohashi]

But seriously the way Kamo describes spirituality, everyone had one of those "searching for the meaning of life" thoughts. Every "what dafuq have I done with my life?" kind of question, every hungover "what happened last night?" falls into that category. No point in asking how many people had it.

A point of clarification. The original post wasn't asking how many people have experienced momentary  "searching for the meaning of life" thoughts. I agree that we all have, and we have all had moments in our lives when we've transcended our egos and our self-oriented evolutionary programming. What the original post was attempting to ask was how many people recognize this dimension of existential human experience as a realm of existential human experience.

There actually are people who quit their jobs and go off to Japan to study zen, or join the Peace Corp, enter long-term psychoanalysis, or study astrophysics. Yes, I consider astrophysics to be one form of "spiritual path" if done in a certain way-- it is an engagement with the BIG existential questions, and if done right, moral and ethical questions as well. I just don't consider astrophysics to be the ONLY rational, scientific path in this realm of personal search for answers to existential questions.

What I'm saying is that, for some people (perhaps more "deep-minded," reflective, or thoughtful-- but certainly not better or wiser people) this realm of existential human experience is more than an occasional momentary thought or fleeting warm, fuzzy feeling.

[Berati]

“Spirit” comes from the Latin word “to breath.” What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word “spiritual” that we are talking of anything other than matter (including the matter of which the brain is made), or anything outside the realm of science. On occasion, I will feel free to use the word. Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.

When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or of acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.

If it's good enough for Carl Sagan it's good enough for me.
I see no need to seed some of our deepest emotional feelings to theists.

[the_antithesis]

What tyhe fuck are you banging on about, Charley?

[josephpalazzo]

What I'm saying is that, for some people (perhaps more "deep-minded," reflective, or thoughtful-- but certainly not better or wiser people) this realm of existential human experience is more than an occasional momentary thought or fleeting warm, fuzzy feeling.

Whatever rocks your boat, but get off your fucking high horse telling us what or what not to think about a nebulous thing like spirituality.