Atheist unite!!

[IamFree]

@IamFree
I agree. I have been in India around 8 times in my life, and it is not "spe...

Ha Ha ironically it seems like some indian people want to be western...the grass is always greener on the other side hey.

 

[IamFree]

I don't want to spoil the fun, but I feel I have to write this on the thread I started.

Many Eastern Gu...

I relate a little to this...there is always this assumption that spirituality is the cure all for trauma ..it can help if used in the right way or it can just become something else to get lost in.

I love yoga! For me it just really hits the sweet spot between exercise....

cool I am sure its a great thing if your sensible with it.

I’m not a fan of yoga, too many years of gymnastics & dance training, but yoga studios are as common a...

that's great its just about the common sense isent it . once your eyes are open its easy to see what is innocent and whats all a bit culty

I I I am going through a bit of a spiritual crisis right now. I was born and baptised in the church of England as a baby I just did what everyone else did. Fortunalty here in England you do not get burned at the stake any more for questioning the church but its a bit of a cultural crisis as its all you have known ands its hard to deny and wipe out thousands of years of your heritage and the influence its had on you. I do love to see the old churches and cathedrals in England and appreciate the spirituality but I do not believe in the mythological sky god any more . but can you be humanist / atheist and have a sense of the spiritual if so what does atheist spirituality look like. I don't think I am just some robot here in a big machine that just breaks down one day .

 

[somerandomguy]

There's nothing wrong with appreciating the cathedrals or the music or even the non-destructive historical parts of any religion - the parts that are majestic or beautiful or might have actually done good for people. Religion, as much as we find it useless today, is part of our shared cultural history that we can't erase - and shouldn't.

Researchers have identified part of the brain that seems to be the "spiritual center" - so spirituality is something hardwired into us humans. As humans, though, we can be smart about our spirituality and not just believe something because we've been told to. We can find things personally meaningful for each of us individually. I find this far more beautiful and significant than just mindlessly believing in the angry sky god that our society is still obsessed with.

 

[Chiqui]

"but can you be humanist / atheist and have a sense of the spiritual if so what does atheistspirituality look like. I don't think I am just some robot here in a big machine that just breaks down one day ."
This is a very good question for me. I have lived many years obsessed about being "spiritual" or "more spiritual". Also I was under coercitive manipulation, but I didn't know It, then. The reality was that I was within an "eternal wheel of karmik accounts" which I will never be able to "clean" in one birth. Because the belief was to become completely pure, as pure as an idealized god. Perfection. As many actual beliefs and tereligions. I thought my life was worse than when I left the christian god. (Even he seemed to me more benevolent than mine)

Answering your question, now I experience myself as a mortal being, and when I die, all will be over. This thought doens't create me any stress neither sadness. I look after my loved ones, my friends, people in general. I have been told I am a good person, I live this life with more mercy, care and love than never before. Because I choose to do so, not because I am afraid of any god or entity or someone who self proclamed knows "better" whatsoever...
The word spirituality is over valued and distorted and over used, from my experience.

I have a BA Degree on Art and Design, and II lov art in all forms and appreciatte it within the Social and Historical context which was created. Old churches included @IamFree :tup:

 

[somerandomguy]

Does anyone here have kids or want kids someday? I'm interested in how you raise them (or plan to).

We've made it clear to our 11-year-old that while most people believe in God, we don't. We think we're right, but everyone can choose for themselves (including him). So far he's shown no interest in religion, but we'll see what happens. Teenage rebellion is right around the corner ...

 

[Abstract]

If I had then that is the way I would have approached it. I would probably also have taken them to church or similar a few times for them to have all experiences available to them and would have facilitated it continuing if they asked for that. Hoping they wouldn't! I would probably also have pointed out a religious person they respect for them to have as unbiased a scope of options as possible.
I personally don't believe people being brought up with religion has any impact on their behaviour rebellion wise. Not saying you do! Just commenting on the concept. Realise you may just be saying they may chose to do religion as a rebellious act. ;)

 

[somerandomguy]

Realise you may just be saying they may chose to do religion as a rebellious act.

Yes, that's the way I meant it. I rebelled hard against my devoutly Catholic parents. I hope I will handle it better than they did if my son rebels.

 

[Deleted member 47099]

Does anyone here have kids or want kids someday? I'm interested in how you raise them (or plan to)...

Nope, no kids and nope, don't plan to :)
And am now finally at an age where ppl no longer say "You may change your mind one day tho!!" :p

But I was raised as you describe and thought that might be relevant too?
I was very grateful to my parents to be taught to think freely on the subject.
While teenage rebellion can latch onto the weirdest things, for me it certainly wasn't religion.

When I was going through the worst of my PTSD, I did find spirituality and religion a comfort in a non-superficial way.
These days, I would call myself an atheist-agnostic-zen-buddhist-pagan-protestant in that order :roflmao: who mainly reveres nature.
Please don't ask me how that works, except that the logical part of my brain knows that the universe is absolutely made of atoms and quarks and stuff but there's also another part of my brain (probly the spiritual brain region you referred to above) that "gets" why our soul responds to the idea of religion/ spirituality.
I'm certainly more scienced based (80%) than spirituality based (20%) but my brain finds it quite fascinatig to think of these two things as not mutually exclusive.

Because I had zero negative experiences in my childhood re religion, I felt a lot more "free" to explore it when I was older.
My parents who did have negative experiences re religion when they were young didn't feel all too comfortable with me exploring spirituality and religion when I was older tho.
It made me laugh to realise that them saying "You are free to choose" may have been technically true, but they were quite heavily emotionally invested in their kids being atheists... :D
Anyway, that's my input and I think I would raise children that way too. :)

 

[bellbird]

We think we're right, but everyone can choose for themselves (including him)

I don't have children currently, but I hope to have them in the future.
And this would be the upbringing I would intend to give them also. Like @Sophy , my parents raised me this way and I am so grateful for it.

I would encourage my children to always ask questions. That's one thing I remember from religious education(indoctrination) class throughout highschool (for the record I went not for religious benefit but because the school itself was the best in the area and I was awarded a scholarship), was when someone would bravely pipe up with a question that challenged the material we were being taught --"but how...?", they would be silenced immediately. It's such a violation of what is at the core of being a human being, to prevent someone from asking questions, or from being skeptical.
I wouldn't have any of the holy books in the house, so that if they did choose religion (hopefully not :D), I wouldn't have swayed them to one in particular.
I think I will also promote science from a young age, simply because science is so central to everything. For instance showing them the ISS when it passes over the sky, and explaining how there are actually people living in what we see as just a dot moving across the sky. And because science inherently encourages people to ask "why" or "how", and acknowledges that even the most widely held concepts could be overturned in an instant if sufficient contradictory evidence were presented.

 

[lovak]

I don't have children, I do want to have children. If I didn't have this relapse, we would probably be 'trying' by now.
Right now, I don't know if I should have children. I don't take care of myself, I'm a mess. I do take excellent care of my cats. But I'm afraid to have relapses when I have children and that it will have a negative effect on them. I really want to start a family. But I'm afraid to do it.

If I have children, I would probably explain that there are several different religions, that people are all equal and have their own choice in believing what they want to as long as that isn't harmful to themselves or others. I would also say that the most important thing is following your own morals, thoughts, and conscience, and that you should always be able to think for yourself.

 

[bellbird]

Along a similar-ish vein to @somerandomguy 's most recent question: if you have/ intend to have children, what are your thoughts on the inclusion of Santa/Father Christmas as a figure in their younger years?

 

[lovak]

Im dutch so we have Sinterklaas and Santa. For me it has nothing to do with Christianity, its a cultural and commercial thing now.
I would just celebrate, but not scare them with false stories so they would behave. I think thats what good parenting is for!