The Spiritual Basis of The Republican Ideology

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

^Defining ‘spiritual’ as ‘something related to spirituality’ isn’t very helpful.

Boru

[The Grand Nudger]

And also: Equality, freedom and liberty for all, spirit of brotherhood etc. That was a huge ideological revolution at the time it emerged. And it is still like “a dream” we are chasing after and trying to protect today. So it has to be spiritual in its essence. Or at least that’s how I see it.

I want a new boat. A big expensive one. I need more boats. That's a dream I'm chasing. Spiritual, as you see it?

Paddling dangerously close to defining the spiritual as things that categorically aren't true. Aren't we. Don't get me wrong, that's one of the coolest aspects to religious ideation. It's a list of things we want that we don't have, a way the world should be that it is not - that compels us to make the world that way.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Thumpalumpagus: That’s the anarchist + communist interpretation. “The power has been taken from the aristocracy and has been given to the bourgeoisies instead of the people itself.”

Not sure which of my replies you're responding to, or why. You want symbology of an eye watching our every deed? Maybe teach people to not be asses instead -- understanding that there will always be outliers and prisons.

No, I'm neither "anarchist + communist". I just don't cherish stupid symbols as you seem to.

There's an eye on the top of the pyramid on the back of a one-dollar bill, it doesn't seem to stop folks from fucking each other over for the love of money, anyway.



It's in all wallets in America ... and no one gives a shit about your symbolism.

[LinuxGal]

And also: Equality, freedom and liberty for all, spirit of brotherhood etc. That was a huge ideological revolution at the time it emerged. And it is still like “a dream” we are chasing after and trying to protect today. So it has to be spiritual in its essence. Or at least that’s how I see it.

I want a new boat.  A big expensive one.  I need more boats.  That's a dream I'm chasing.  Spiritual, as you see it?  

Paddling dangerously close to defining the spiritual as things that categorically aren't true.

Atheist: "God told Adam and Eve they would die the very day they ate the forbidden fruit."

Believer: "They didn't die according to the flesh.  But they did die spiritually."

Atheist: "Jesus told his followers they would live to see the Son of Man return to Earth."

Believer: "The Son of Man didn't return to Earth according to the flesh.  But he did return to Earth spiritually."

[Leonardo17]

^Defining ‘spiritual’ as ‘something related to spirituality’ isn’t very helpful.

Boru

Then I would have to say something like “something that is related to the study of higher reality”, “Something that is related to the inner reality which is present within every man and woman” or “something that is related to the creative force which permeates the whole universe and is the original cause of this universe”. That would do it but I’m not sure how you would understand it
 

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Grand Nudger:
 
Let me remind you of this issue with Adrew Tate (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...tate-tweet)
In the month of December last year, He made fun of Greta Thunberg showing her his collection of sports car. I don’t believe this guy is stupid or uneducated and that’s why we all hate people like that. What he is saying is fully rational. Just like Elon Musk. Few of us are going to see the end of this world. So let’s just live it up! I live in a country in which the efforts of recycling are weak in comparison to most developed nations. But I am still separating my garbage for instance.
 
So I don’t see what you would describe as the element that makes the difference. Yes family / society / education do play a role. But what is it that makes some people pick the right direction in the first place?
 
I say it’s energy or the level of spiritual growth as much as teachers for instance. Teachers are giving us all the necessary tools. That is correct. But in the end we are the ones who decide for instance to consume less, to buy less, to travel by train in short distances instead of airplanes. There is a science and philosophy to all of these elements.
 
But to me there is also the Wedjat. I’m not saying that I am scared or something. Just that true spirituality can also be some sort of engine or energy that helps you and guides you in the right direction. So when we take the Wedjat and place it on top of the Pyramid once again, we sort of say: “We, as a whole society, have decided to devout ourselves to Truth” (you can already see how utopian this might seem). Yet, I don’t think we have a choice. I mean a 34 year old man telling a 17 year old girl to “get lost” basically. Why? “Because I want this, I want that and I will have it because I can”.
 
If it was limited to just one guy, or one event, I could agree that it’s not important. But right now all you need to do is to turn on the news: This is not a world in which the Wedjat is placed on top of our pyramid. Money has been places on the top of the pyramid. And I don’t think we have another solution. I think the Wedjat, has to be put back in its place.
 
I know this is not rational or scientific. But I am very serious about this. This is truly how I see things
 

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[FrustratedFool]

Is it possible to define it more clearly?

[Leonardo17]

Thumpacus: Yes, That’s what I am trying to explain
 
GrandNudger: Yes, I can say this is how I see it. But I’ve already agreed before that there is no empirical evidence for any of that.
 

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Still: When I see a guy sending the picture of is sport car collection to Greta Thunberg I still want to help this guy in some way. (Andrew Tate) And the reason why I started this topic is that, some old-school religious dogmas are willing to do the exact same thing too. So all that I am saying is that none of this has to be done by organized religions. It’s just that I don’t believe this guy is as happy as he seems. I even think he would be ready to give all of those cars to me for the level of happiness of some very ordinary people.



 
So spirituality is also this path. You may be lucky enough to grow up in a place where you learn to be content and happy with things that are “simple” and know for sure that these things are bigger than any sport car on earth. If not, you can join a spiritual path. So that’s what this is: Maybe I should define it as “the path to true wholeness”.
 
Then I would have to add that: no one (I mean no person, group, culture, religion or other entity) has a monopoly on this. But I think it’s there, as a real something. And That’s why I want to take that and put it on top of the pyramid / to make it the main motivation of everyone, instead of endless consumerism and other ego-based motivations that do not seem to be so beneficial to us as a specie in general.
 

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[Leonardo17]

Is it possible to define it more clearly?

No. We are limited beings living in a four dimensional Universe and that’s the universe to which our brains have adapted to and evolved in.
 
So those who want to know “It” have to sit down and meditate regularly in order to be able to experience that Reality “directly”.
 
Or you can watch the videos of Eckhart Tolle. I think he is the guy who is describing this “Spiritual Reality” in the most direct and understandable manner

[Foxaèr]

Sight is one of the important aspects of empirical evidence. Closing one's eyes is a direct path to hooey via imagination.

[The Grand Nudger]

 
GrandNudger: Yes, I can say this is how I see it. But I’ve already agreed before that there is no empirical evidence for any of that.
 

You don't need any empirical evidence for spiritual things as described, because there wouldn't be any evidence for them - as things we wish to see and hope to make real but do not yet (or on their own) exist.  There's no evidence of my new boat, for example - because I don't have it.

.....yet.

I strongly suspect that the use of the term in this way doesn't facilitate good communication. I doubt that anyone you're talking to here, for example, would think "stuff people want" is the set of things that have to be spiritual. More amusingly, it renders "spirituality" to something indistinguishable from materialistic consumerism.