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Atheism and Spirituality
April 3, 2009 at 7:03 am
Atheism is the non-belief in a god or gods.
However that definition does not rule out a belief in the supernatural. So what I'm wondering is what you think about spiritual/supernatural experiences? All those religious experiences that people supposedly have, they may simply be something science can explain or something science hasn't yet entered.
Is there a spiritual world for an atheist? Keeping in mind that atheism is simply the non-belief in a god or gods, and not the belief that there is nothing spiritual about this world.
Has anyone here had a spiritual experience that they choose to enjoy/believe, regardless of what they believe about the existence of a god?
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RE: Atheism and Spirituality
April 3, 2009 at 7:05 am
Your first line says it all.
There may well be for some ... not for me. I suspect that those, like me, who arrive at a position of atheism through rational thought would also reject other supernatural views.
Kyu
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RE: Atheism and Spirituality
April 3, 2009 at 7:11 am
That's what I thought.
Most people would assume that alongside the non-belief in a god or gods comes a non-belief in anything unexplainable by science. I'm not decided. I don't believe in god but am open to the idea that there is something which we may not understand about the supposed "supernatural" or "spiritual". Perhaps I'm just looking for an explanation of the spiritual experiences people have, and at the same time, I find it hard to believe that more than half the world is wrong about their personal view regarding spirituality.
Not to say that there is a god, for I am completely against that. And it might be worth noting that the "spiritual" or "supernatural" is simply that which science has failed to explain so far. Science may well involve itself and have some definitive answers in the near future.
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RE: Atheism and Spirituality
April 3, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Yea it's uncommon but, personal experiences can play a big part of things. I know now that I am an adult that the 'ghosts' I saw as a child, even the ones I clearly saw with my own eyes can still have been forged in my imagination. Which is rather powerfull.
I guess I don't actually beleive in anything supernatural but, I do have an affection for some things. Psychic powers for example, If possible would be an amazing step in our evolutionary path. I won't make any claims of their existence until the scientific process shows it to be possible but, I see no reason for us not to test crazy things.
Afterall, we may just be wrong (since we tend to assume it's bogus, understandably) and we may discover a kid with a mutation that allowed him to do something really cool and beyond what we would expect.
