The spiritual joys of atheism

Originally posted by gandhi
I use to be an atheist, but as i realized that the physical is impossible, i realized something.

It's not 'impossible... because it's currently occuring.

Look outy your window ..

Wonderful.

The ability to love and have an appreciation for life -
has nothing to do with enlisting a special God or religion.

It has everything to do with who we already are.

contrary to some opinions, atheists aren't missing out on the appreciation of the innate grandeur of the universe (which is a common accusation along w/ amorality that is thrown at us).

Being neither the sender nor the recipient of that kind of criticism, I'll have to take your word for it being a common thing. The criticism I hear is that atheists are mired in materialism. The video seems to play into that stereotype more than refute it.

Listen to it again. "I'm a very spiritual guy. I travel to nice places, with scenery that I appreciate. I have lots of friends. My girlfriend is hot. I eat well. What do you mean I'm shallow?" The only thing he forgot to say was that he cried during The Lion King.

Obviously, other views of the video are possible.

And I hope that we can agree that criticizing the video does not deny your broader point that there is such a thing as unreligious spirituality.

And I stand by my initial comment that by insisting on putting a human face w/ human desires and needs on the grandeur of the universe, we are in danger of artificially separating ourselves from it and missing the "true" interconnectedness that exists. Yes, this is a critque on religion, but certainly not an "attack" on your's. I hope you can see the difference?

Or, some people are using metaphor as a vehicle of thought about the ineffable. There are plenty of theists who are not scriptural literalists, whatever their scripture happens to be. It is not obvious that looking at things from a different perspective interferes with seeing things as they really are.