What's Your Spiritual Type?

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Perhaps, but I'd find more comfort and live an easier life if I said God doesn't exist, and just said "screw it... I'm doing whatever I want." Actually I'd probably use different words...

Reaching the conclusion that God or something must exist to explain the way this world works is independent of trying to find fuzzy comfort feelings in religion. Tricking my brain to think "everything happens for a reason" just so tragedies in this world are easier to swallow... there is no comfort in deluding myself that way. In fact lying to myself is the greatest discomfort.

In fact I find it hard to justify any good things that people do if God doesn't exist. If all the world is random chaos, and we are here by an extreme fluke... well there is no reason for me to go on being good... none at all. I should be as selfish and materialistic as possible... it makes no difference really.

I'm actually curious where the agnostic/atheist folks get their good moral nature from. Or desire for love and such things, if that desire exists... because without God or anything spiritual in this world... I have a hard time seeing the reason. Because often you have to put your own life at risk to help others...

In fact accepting of Christianity, while ultimately joyous... is quite painful. You have to fess up and admit many terrible things in your life to the creator of the universe... it's not exactly easy... especially when you continue to Sin and know that God disapproves.

It seems much more comforting to say nothing exists and go on just living your life, to admit you are at fault is difficult. I think what makes believing in nothing so difficult is that ultimately you do have no security, when people desire security. Now why do people desire security? If nothing matters, then people should just not care and kill and do whatever they want without remorse like animals. But somehow people do care and feel a pain in their lives that goes deeper than other animals...

I don't see this being of any survival benefit to creatures and a trait impossible to evolve...

In all honesty, I've forgetten no such thing. I actively reject the universal subjectivity model of reality. As far as I can see, all evidence points to the knowable universe as consisting primarily of things that are indeed common (dare I say "universal") experiences, although viewed through a subjective lens. Belief in empirically verifiable evidence is the foundation of science and mathematics. Release that to embrace complete chaos, and you may as well believe in the flying spaghetti monster of your choosing, as it's as likely as anything else.

I believe that the universe has a form completely distinct from our conscious experiences of it, and that the nature of that form does not depend on our perception of it. Our subjective experiences are limited interpretataions of available data but they do not directly impact the nature of the object experienced.

There are some people--including a notable physicist!--who have embraced the notion that the universe itself is born of our ponderings about it and vice versa, but I encounter this idea quaintly and conveniently humanocentric. I do not think it is coincidental that this idea has risen in popularity in the Western world alongside the otaku obsession with Japanese culture and art... the idea of a universal consciousness progressing from subjective experience permeates a lot of anime and manga. To me it simply reeks of the same air that surrounds crystals, astrology, auras, yoga sutras, and tarot cards. Shiny new bad-boy package, same old magical thinking.



Agreed (except for the "there is not truth" part--I pretty much covered my beliefs about that above). I often do forget that the population is mostly comprised of people whose psycho-existential sufferings are simple and remarkably easy to ameliorate. I do not mean that in a condescending way. They appear far more optimized for survival than you or I.



I can see many ways in which this assertion holds, but I can also see many ways in which it does not.

That is YOU. Remember, reality is different for everyone. No one senses things the same way as you and no one processes that sensory information the same way you do. Therefore everyone's reality is different. Just because I see colours when I listen to music doesn't mean everyone does.



See about rant about the nature of reality.



The most common rathole the religious fall into.

This is like saying people don't commit rape and murder because it's there is a law against it. People are raised to help each other because it's in our DNA - we are pack animals and therefore we want to help each other out.

Also, Perhaps I and my fellow atheists, agnostics, and apatheists don't need to be threatened or need an excuse to be kind to one another? What if that makes us more moral? For the one who is truly kind needs no reason to be. It seems to me you clearly do need a reason.



Because we are pack animals, a mature adult human being who sees someone else in trouble who they associate as part of their group won't stand idle because their parents raised them well and they avoided the genes for sociopathy and the social conditions for pyschopathy.

We survived in caveman days because we worked as a unit. It's those genetic compulsions that make us moral beings. There are of course fuckups because of poor parenting, a poorly structured society, and bad genes.



Like any other cult religion it's tries to destroy your sense of uniqueness and the idea that you can be moral on your own. Keep in mind most religions in the modern world could be called cults. Only Buddhism and Taoism don't qualify as cults.



Prove animals don't have emotions as deep as ours. Perhaps they only seem less there because our methods of expression are so radically different from theirs.



Quite possible to evolve and has a point. It can lead to submission to the pack leader, less strife means more gathering stuff and getting along which equals more food for everyone and easier lives which leads to more reproduction.

It's simple pack animal evolutionary dynamics.

I don't think pack animal evolution is enough to account for all of the moral thinking that goes on. If there is no God, why are we evolved to even think about a God that does not exist... and the moral concerns of such a God? It's easy with the baseline assumption that God does not exist, to account for every facet of our morality through evolution... I mean if God does not exist you are basically forced to find an evolutionary justification. But human morality appears to be a very special thing, and there isn't enough evidence to justify all of it.

If all morality is based on biology, as you claim, there is still no moral ground to even stand on. If all the world is a vast subjective nothingness, and I see someone leave a sandwich out... and know I won't get in trouble if I take the sandwich... what reason is there that I shouldn't take it? You can claim that you are being moral by not taking it, but if there really is no morality at all... since it's just biological... then I'm actually the better for it because I got a sandwich and you don't.

Someone who is an atheist can claim what I am doing is wrong, but the words are meaningless. You say I'm wrong, I say I'm right...

To even define morality or things as good or bad in the face of nothingness is pointless.

What if we were raised not as Pack Animals and fought each other and ate out babies? You can't make any claims that it is wrong. It's just our nature...

41
Active Spiritual Seeker – Spiritual but turned off by organized religion

Yeah, I think the test maker wasn't very damn sharp, missed or didn't take into account a biggie.

80 - 89
Confident Believer – You have little doubt you’ve found the right path

40 - 49
Active Spiritual Seeker – Spiritual but turned off by organized religion

80-89
Confident Believer- You have little doubt you've found the right path

I scored 91.

50 - 59
Spiritual Straddler � One foot in traditional religion, one foot in free-form spirituality

Active Spiritual Seeker � Spiritual but turned off by organized religion