RE: Overall, do you like Christians being here?
May 8, 2018 at 6:52 pm
(This post was last modified: May 8, 2018 at 6:54 pm by KevinM1.)
(May 8, 2018 at 5:08 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: I have spiritual needs. I just don't see them as being well served by the panacea that theists are offering.
I take the idea of 'spiritual needs' in a very literal way whenever a Christian refers to them, specifically: sin, and absolution from it, an eternal self that persists after physical death, etc. Since I don't believe in spirits or souls, I cannot say I have any needs or deficiencies that may be associated with them. *shrug*
In terms of the more colloquial use of the term 'spiritual', of course. I like feeling fulfilled or inspired or content or like I belong somewhere, but, like you, religion doesn't serve my needs in those areas. Quite the opposite, in fact.
But, regarding what Neo said, I'm fairly confident he was primarily referring to version #1, with version #2 being a secondary consequence of it. My question remains, because I don't really understand the mentality. Speaking only for myself, I don't attempt to convert anyone. I don't visit theist forums. Hell, I hardly start threads here (quick edit: I've started a grand total of 33 threads since I joined in November 2014). I'll jump into an existing topic if I think there's fallacious BS going on, or people are expressing views I find to be odious. But I don't go around with a desire to give strangers my unsolicited views on religion. I respect the fact that others' religious belief in and of itself is none of my business. The consequences of that belief? Like religion in schools and what I consider to be religion-based bigotry? Yeah, I'll fight it tooth and nail. But that's because of the actions taking place and the harm being done, not just because of another's thoughts.
It's a lot like my inability to understand the appeal of being lorded over by god/Jesus. It's simply a mentality I don't think I'll ever actually understand because it runs counter to the very essence of who I am as a person. Might as well tell me the moon is made of cheese.
I will say that I actually hope there is a god. But I most certainly don't want it to be the Christian god (or the Muslim god, or, really, any of the others in our species' mythologies). My idea of god is one that is alien and essentially unknowable. An intellect so vast that it couldn't ever (and wouldn't ever bother) be anthropomorphized, or concern itself with the petty wants and desires of creatures so much more limited than it.