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Hi everyone,
I assume that this is a weird proposition but I guess I'd say I'm a spiritual Athiest.. I believe that everything evolved throughout time, duh which is the only logical explanation on how we got here. Though, when I am lacking confidence in something or just in general I believe in certain energies. I can sense the energy of a person just by being with them. It's weird, I believe in drifting energies good and bad. Like there's heavy clouds over people's heads who are angry/upset about something. I wouldnt consider myself agnostic though, I just believe there's energies. Anyone think similarly?
It would really help if you try to explain what you think this stuff is. When people use the word energies, I think of detecting body language on a subtle levels, realizing the chemistry (or lack of) between people etc.
I see no conflicts with your two beliefs - other than just a problem of being an Atheist in general :P
How do you know for sure that the energies you "feel" and believe are there, are from something out there that you have yet to discover? When there's room for doubt and the realization that humans can't know what the truth is, there's always room for Agnosticism :P
Whatever energies are from "something IN there". Some people are simply energizing to be around because of their personalities (or intelligence, knowledge, musical abilities, etc.). I don't think there is anything 'spiritual' about it. They just crank you up!
Hi everyone,
I assume that this is a weird proposition but I guess I'd say I'm a spiritual Athiest.. I believe that everything evolved throughout time, duh which is the only logical explanation on how we got here. Though, when I am lacking confidence in something or just in general I believe in certain energies. I can sense the energy of a person just by being with them. It's weird, I believe in drifting energies good and bad. Like there's heavy clouds over people's heads who are angry/upset about something. I wouldnt consider myself agnostic though, I just believe there's energies. Anyone think similarly?
Well, obviously there are energies. It's just that some of them seem to be speculative and based on a need for an invisible magical mechanism to support some unverified tale like energy flows between points of the body or between ancient stone circles and UFOs or between a person smoking some crap and whatever made the universe.
I tend to reserve belief in these speculations until there's some decent evidence. So I'm not 'spiritual' in the same way I'm not a believer in the supernatural - not because it is excluded by atheist dogma (as believers sometime accuse us of doing) but because there just isn't persuasive or convincing evidence for it.
On the other hand, 'spiritual' in the sense of appreciation of beauty, wonder, and pursuit of the good is what I am and more effectively, I'd say, for being atheist as I take it on its own terms without having to pass it through a distorting lens of speculation and superstition.
Arequipa - you said it best! I appreciate the beauty in life and all that comes with it! Even the hard-knocks, because it is all part of life. I guess I just accept it!!
I believe you could be spiritual and non-religious since they are two different things. People just like to bunch them up, maybe I am leaning toward Agnosticism (oh-no)
As for sensing energies, which is hard to explain..I guess I could sense things before they actually happen and I can figure out a person for the most part. That sounds arrogant of me..but I normally let my guard up before I actually trust people..it's hard for me to trust people! I have to test them first..hehe
Arequipa - you said it best! I appreciate the beauty in life and all that comes with it! Even the hard-knocks, because it is all part of life. I guess I just accept it!!
I believe you could be spiritual and non-religious since they are two different things. People just like to bunch them up, maybe I am leaning toward Agnosticism (oh-no)
I think so. There are a lot of people who are spiritual and even sincerely theist while not buying into any of the man-made religions. While I can debate at length about the reasoning and evidence, I don't see them as a dogma that we need to see the back of.
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As for sensing energies, which is hard to explain..I guess I could sense things before they actually happen and I can figure out a person for the most part. That sounds arrogant of me..but I normally let my guard up before I actually trust people..it's hard for me to trust people! I have to test them first..hehe
There's a lot of evidence for that, but there are also various explanations. For example, there are subconscious signs we don't even know we're seeing. Rather like the ones given to counting horses or talking dogs. Most people never see them. So I note the effect and reserve judgement about the mechanism. And endure the accusations about closed - minded domatic materialist atheism when I don't immediately see it as evidence for God.
Arequipa - you said it best! I appreciate the beauty in life and all that comes with it! Even the hard-knocks, because it is all part of life. I guess I just accept it!!
I believe you could be spiritual and non-religious since they are two different things. People just like to bunch them up, maybe I am leaning toward Agnosticism (oh-no)
I think so. There are a lot of people who are spiritual and even sincerely theist while not buying into any of the man-made religions. While I can debate at length about the reasoning and evidence, I don't see them as a dogma that we need to see the back of. I sometimes think that it would be nice to do my life over again without the time - wasting mistakes and avoiding the knocks (some very hard indeed!) but I have to admit that they were worth doing in their own way.
Quote:
As for sensing energies, which is hard to explain..I guess I could sense things before they actually happen and I can figure out a person for the most part. That sounds arrogant of me..but I normally let my guard up before I actually trust people..it's hard for me to trust people! I have to test them first..hehe
There's a lot of evidence for that, but there are also various explanations. For example, there are subconscious signs we don't even know we're seeing. Rather like the ones given to counting horses or talking dogs. Most people never see them. So I note the effect and reserve judgement about the mechanism. And endure the accusations about closed - minded domatic materialist atheism when I don't immediately see it as evidence for God.
I believe you could be spiritual and non-religious since they are two different things. People just like to bunch them up, maybe I am leaning toward Agnosticism (oh-no)
Of course, I think many people who use the word "spiritual" to describe themselves do it exactly to distance themselves from religious people.
Why do you say "oh no" when you mention leaning towards Agnosticism? Agnosticism is a perfectly rational and logical stance to take and it is compatible with atheist or theist beliefs, although people who consider themselves Agnostic are often genuinely undecided about which belief position to take (which again I find very rational considering the limited knowledge we have to base such fundamental beliefs on).
I personally do not believe in the term spiritual because I don't believe we have spirits. We have a brain, a magnificent brain that can comprehend and experience all manner of beauty, music, feelings of great heights and great depths, wonder, joy, awe...all the things that make us human and give our lives expression and meaning. But all of these aspects of ourselves are centred in our brain and have nothing to do with anything supernatural.
I am an atheist who experiences a lot of emotions, an atheist who finds great pleasure in wondrous things, who loves nature and animals, who can find herself lost in a story and immerse herself in music...but all the while I have an understanding that these things are just in my mind.
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