I’ll start! There was a lot of absolutist rhetoric there that said things along the lines of “All Christians are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad people!” I think a little nuance is in order, no?
I’ll start! There was a lot of absolutist rhetoric there that said things along the lines of “All Christians are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad people!” I think a little nuance is in order, no?
Maybe a greater respect for the biological reality of limbic needs. People who are religious aren’t automatically morons for simply being religious. Spirituality is an essential part of what makes us humans. So, perhaps we could do better to vocalize that respect, while still addressing the specific truth claims.
Also, helping believers ask their own questions without attacking the fact they’ve been led to believe something would go miles further in helping them develop critical thinking skills.
Insults only drive people deeper into superstition and fundamentalism.
EDIT: Check out “Street Epistemology” on YouTube for what (in my subjective opinion) seems to be the most efficient way to help people think through their beliefs.
EDIT 2: It seems we may be defining spirituality differently. I am NOT talking about supernatural beliefs. I’m talking about an emotional sense of connection to something bigger than oneself. The things managed mainly in the midbrain, especially through the limbic system. Spirituality =/= superstition, though the latter has become deeply entrenched in popular spiritual pursuits.
EDIT 3: “Something bigger than oneself” = Any natural system of which you are a subcomponent.
I guess I’m not a human.
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Edited my comment
Still sounds like I’m not a human to you…
You have a limbic system, a parietal lobe, etc. You don’t feel connected to anything? No people? Communities? Games?
Inner experience doesn’t matter to you, even if science-backed?
Even if you don’t feel any sense of connection to anything at all, you’d still be human, but you’d probably be diagnosed as a psychopath.
I don’t feel connected to anything bigger than myself. I feel connections with other humans. I feel connections with animals. Unless you mean other humans who are physically larger than I am, I do not feel any connection to anything bigger than myself.
So I guess I’m not human.
By “bigger than one’s self” I mean things like community, family, etc. A group of people is larger than one person. Or nature: you’re a part of the universe at large, and are ontologically connected to it in a variety of ways. You’re part of ecological systems bigger than yourself. Life and death and all that naturally implies. You don’t feel in any way connected to anything beyond your own body that’s larger than you? Not your source in space, your inevitable demise, or even this community?
I don’t feel emotionally connected to groups or “the universe at large.” I feel emotional connection to individuals.
Lol. Holy shit the replies to this…
Slow your roll, everyone. Maybe don’t grab onto the ‘Spirituality is an essential part…’ so fervently. If it doesn’t apply to you, good for you! Sure, it was worded in a way that made it sound like it was applying to all humans, but the sentiment of the post was a plea for a bit of grace when dealing with people coming to terms with religion. No need to be so dang pedantic.
No, ‘spirituality’ isn’t vital for human flourishing, but it’d be folly to say that it isn’t an important dimension of human experience. Just not ALL humans, and certainly fewer now than in decades past.