Spirituality, religion and aspergers

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I don't belong to any religion, but I am religious on my own way. Spirituality is important part of my life. I don't like big religions, because they are aggressive, they try to force people to believe. For me is more important what do people do based on their beliefs.
I think being an aspie kinda helps me to come to this idea: it is easier for us to see, that nearly all rites are social, conventional things.

This seems a good way and outlook.

Yeah. I think it's like seeing faces in rocks - our brain is so wired to pick out faces, it sees them even when it's not a face. Similarly, being wired to notice people's actions & intentions could make you see them where they aren't. Being better at it would make false positives more likely.

I am an atheist and have never understood the lure of spirituality. And yet much of the music and art I enjoy has strong religious symbolism. This always seemed to be a very contradictory point of view.

But what seems so obvious now that I don't know why this concept isn't more widely discussed, is that ALL religions are combinations of mythology and philosophy. It is possible to separate them and enjoy the mythology for its allegorical value and the philosophy for what it can teach us about being human. There is no need for spirituality in any of this. Used properly, religion can have value for anyone who cares to find value in it.

Is there an all powerful creator who made the universe in seven days and established a starter colony of two? Probably not. But these stories express ideas that resonate with people. Taking them literally is kinda dopey but they can have methphorical value.

And then there is the philosophy embedded within religions like Christianity such as "Don't murder people" or "Do to others as you would have them do to you" etc. Does one need religion to find validity in these concepts? No. Of course not.

And then there is amorphous, unaffiliated spirituality; the idea that there is a connectedness between what we think of as our selves and the rest of the universe. Some people believe that there are ghosts or some kind of spirit life within things like trees or rocks. Maybe. I kind of doubt it, though.

It seems to me that it is best to focus on what is very obviously around us. I have friends who claim to have seen ghosts. My feeling it that one needs to look at the simplest explanation - that the brain is hard wired to see patterns and from an evolutionary standpoint, the critter that falsely sees a predator and runs away is far more likely to survive and pass on its genes than the critter that assumes the thing it sees in the shadows is just a trick of the light and becomes dinner.

We cannot know if there is a creator. One can always construct an argument that the creator is intentionally hiding. But we can take the position that the only thing we can say that is certain is the stuff we have clear evidence for. Religions have failed to provide direct evidence. This doesn't mean they are totally lacking in value. What it does mean is that we have to carefully find what has real value in a religion and not be fooled by all the stuff that has no value.

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Why this concept isn't widely discussed?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pe ... s_heretics
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previou ... index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_w ... sand_Faces

Even today, year 2010, there is a strange mixture of non-profit religions and politics on earth.

Think: Salt Lake City, Utah - Mormonism; Mecca, Saudi Arabia - Islam; Rome, Italy - Italian Catholicism and so on. These non-profit religions promote the idea of "No questions allowed - convert or die" (so to speak).

http://www.beliefnet.com/
http://www.sacred-texts.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_the_Great (The Stonecutters Society)
http://www.gwmemorial.org/

hi
haven't posted here for awhile...

it reminds me of my own experience. i couldn't care less for religion itself, only being "a good boy" mattered to me, so i'll be liked that way - was far easier than making friends or socializing spontaneously. it sorts of short-circuits the task of finding real friends, it isn't realy in the social skills sense imo.

my only "official" dx is schizoid (though i saw the shrink for 10 minutes when gave me the label), but i heard it's very common for both, the childlike nativity.

the answer (maimonides') to this question which was taught to me was: god knows what choices people will make in the same way a teacher knows what to expect of every kid to do in every situation.
looking back, i was so gullible to swallow that brilliant solution, i now fail to see how god can make a prediction when he's omniscient) ...

Last edited by straespi on 29 Aug 2010, 12:21 pm, edited 3 times in total.

I'm a Christian, but the church can... frankly, suck.

I never felt welcomed or respected, making friends was impossible as it never happened (maybe once), and I couldn't relate to anyone. That in itself may not have been the problem, but more or less I felt like the guy they just wanted to sweep under the rug and not see. I was not greeted or anything, no one started a conversation with me or invited me to a game or anything. So I guess I had to be the one to start those kinds of things? The minute I lose my fear of that and actually dare to try that, no one still cares that I'm breathing the same air as them.

Crazy near-conspirator christian parents didn't help much by switching churches approximately every 1-2 years.

As a result, I guess all that's to explain why my religious beliefs are so different than theirs and why I can't view them in such a great light. No matter how hard I try, I can't believe in a specific hell, I think God's okay with gay marriage allowed, and possibly, witchcraft isn't a sin.

Possibly, the church may not just be right for an Aspie.

That's not to say that they don't have their problems. All sorts of NT's can still have other personal problems such as dysfunctional families/parents, whether it's divorce or abuse - and typically they find God more welcoming, and I personally think it's great how they can overcome that kind of stuff. Yet... I have to admit, they still have friends to fall back on, at church and at school, and I still can't help but be jealous. I'd consider trading places, since I'm not the most comfortable around my parents' often self-righteous views.

I grew up in a Christian home, but the message seemed to frighten me. Minus the religious conviction, this is what the message I got:


This life doesn't matter, only when we die will we find true happiness, true happiness comes through closeness to some guy called God, and it will inexplicably last forever.

Today, I'm a spiritual person, but I believe this was an ingredient of the recipe of my psychological implosion.

well I guess I will elaborate on my beliefs a little bit... since I dont think I have ever really posted or explained them on this forum.


I am most definitely Agnostic, parents and immediate family 'tried' to raise me as a christian. I went along with it until the age of 13-14. When my parents split, thats when the whole world crumbled and I went through the harsh reality of disillusionment, as well as becoming a VERY EXTREMELY CYNICAL ASS.

well, I do have 'some' spirituality but it is rudimentary at best. I acknowledge the "possibility" of god/zues/whatever, but I leave it as a huge gray area. Also I believe that if said deities exist, they are complete dicks. In fact my own interpretation of the christian heaven, id rather go to hell. I dont feel like worshipping a complete ass for all eternity. Plus I figure that you would eventually get used to hell, the fire/lava would eventually be simply 'Lukewarm", and the cold would eventually feel like an early spring day. You would eventually grow used to the pain, logically anyways.

I mostly look into relgions from a mythos perspective though. They can make a good substitute for fantasy reading until the next Song of Ice and Fire book is released.


and now for my witty remark... or just plain old depressive and cynical...

The only constants in life is death and taxes... as well as a rather unspecified amount of chaos that causes the pointless drama we all so VERY MUCH ENJOY. /sarcasm