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Humans naturally need to feel a part of something larger. To fully make the jump to Atheism is too scary for some; after all, to feel truly alone within oneself and in the Universe can be frightening and depressing!
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Humans naturally need to feel a part of something larger. To fully make the jump to Atheism is too scary for some; after all, to feel truly alone within oneself and in the Universe can be frightening and depressing!
To abandon organized religion and, instead, declare oneself as Spiritual, allows one to cling to the comforting notion that perhaps there is that "something larger" to be a part of, while still acknowledging that religion has no factual proof. Or, that there really is an "everlasting soul" that can go on beyond the death of the body, to make death feel less final.
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We don't have a soul, we are a soul.
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We don't have a soul, we are a soul.
Also, this is just an interesting piece of information: I read somewhere that people have weighed bodies just before and just after death and they've weighed 21 grams less after the death. Just food for thought. There could be some rational explanation of why they lost the weight but I haven't looked into it because I prefer to think that it was them/their soul leaving their body.
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I think this makes sense. I'm in a phase in my life where I find myself buried in movies, music, books, technology, etc. and have little time left to devote to God. I'm still kind of religious, but I used to be far more so when I was younger and before I started college.
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I think this makes sense. I'm in a phase in my life where I find myself buried in movies, music, books, technology, etc. and have little time left to devote to God. I'm still kind of religious, but I used to be far more so when I was younger and before I started college.
Moore is correct; it's not at all easy to lead a spiritual life. There are so many restrictions/obligations to keep track of that it can often be very tempting to throw in the towel and pursue our own interests.
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I like Alan Moore's graphic novels but I personally think this quote is bullshit. Sounds like something Deepak Chopra would say. Some people don't think a soul exists because they haven't seen any evidence for it. They don't have that "awareness" he assumes everyone feels. Doesn't make them addicts or mean they aren't trying to improve themselves.
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The word is so loaded that it's meaningless. I use it to represent my awe of the universe. A Tarot enthusiast might believe spirits are just knitting a sweater, waiting to give vague answers to subjective questions.
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The word is so loaded that it's meaningless. I use it to represent my awe of the universe. A Tarot enthusiast might believe spirits are just knitting a sweater, waiting to give vague answers to subjective questions.
Maybe he doesn't mean it this way, but Moore reminds me of one of the biggest beefs I have with "spiritual but not religious," and it's that subsection of religious folk who delude themselves into believing that religion is man-made, but that they've gone around all of that and tapped into a raw conduit into the supernatural -- albeit using the exact same symbols and beliefs that have evolved through religious mythology. Christians do it. Children do it. Snake oil salesmen do it. In this world, there are two spell books, one which contains the sum of all the science and mathematics and rigor that we've gone through to explore and explain the universe in a manner so consistent that it's predictions and the technology it allows would be seen as miracles to ancient civilizations. But it requires effort to understand. So in a "f*ck you" to that world, a second spell book was written -- and in it are the opinions of people who can't be bothered with rigor. They weave this alternate reality where it is actually they themselves who are enlightened and in control, despite evidence that they don't have much of a life. And when confronted with their lack of control, do they take blame? Not on your life. Shadowy mythological figures -- governments, aliens, a sleeping public -- oppose them with a coordinated application of piss poor negative magic and a sophomoric allegiance to evil. So... sure... those spiritual people... I can imagine why their lives implode in on themselves.
*catches breath*
Okay... went on a bit of a rant there....
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If we see spirituality as the often incoherent grasping towards something larger than our own consciousness, then self destructive behaviours could easily be seen as the despairing annihilation of that same consciousness.
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