Comment

Comment by Mriana on June 22, 2010 at 5:53pm

Fred,

To be honest, pietistic sounds to me like it means something of the priesthood and is related to the words "pious" and "pietism". Pietistic means 1. of or relating to Pietism 2a. of or relating to religious devotion or devout persons. b. marked by overly sentimental or emotional devotion to religion. Pietism also relates to religion and the Bible too, if you look it up in Webster's dictionary.

So even before I gave you the dictionary definition, I thought religion, specifically of the priesthood and those with strong devotion to religion and the Bible. Thus the word brings up religious symbols and alike.

Comment by Richard Goscicki on June 22, 2010 at 4:18pm

When you use the word spirituality what does it mean to you?>>>

I believe humans can become "spiritual" once we break out of the confines of organized religion and continue to evolve. Living in harmony with nature has a lot to do with it.

There are many examples of metaphysical behavior which occurs nowhere else in the natural world. Not only technology. Non-kindred altruism is very rare in nature but humans have charities and many ways of helping others they don't know.

Take language, for example. We get an impulse or idea in our brain. We then very intricately manipulate lip muscles to form words to express the idea. As we breath out, we vibrate air molecules which are funneled into our listeners ear lobe and then stimulate delicate hair membranes in the cochlea and organ of Corti. The vibrations reform meaningful ideas in the receivers brain.

Wow, to me that's spiritual.

Comment by Mriana on June 22, 2010 at 2:42am

I actually don't see anything wrong with spirituality. One doesn't have to have religion or a deity to be spiritual. One's experience with nature maybe one's spirituality. I'm talking more of a feeling than I am anything else and feelings of transcendence are very much a part of the human condition. It has nothing to do with worship or anything like that.

Comment by Mriana on June 22, 2010 at 2:28am

Well, I'm just waiting for him to figure it out.

Comment by Mriana on June 21, 2010 at 5:48pm

Fred Werther,

Well hopefully you find something that is satisfying for you and makes you happy. I find being a humanist is fairly compatible with my older son who ascribes to Buddhism. I have few issues with Buddhism, except for the reincarnation bit. My 21 y.o. son and I get along fairly well, which is good because he still lives with me. lol It wouldn't be good if we were at odds under those circumstances.

Comment by Shelby Fisher on June 21, 2010 at 5:18pm

That makes sense to me, Edward.

Control through religion is certainly one of the most disturbing aspects of religion to me.
Concerning myself with the physical world seems to gain me the most ground while working toward understanding myself and my surroundings.
I have enough sense to include myself with the people not to trust. I do work toward improving my instincts and tuning my direction. I find this very helpful, and respecting other people's position.

I like what you say about exploration. Religion, sometimes seems to be a dead end.

Comment by Carl on June 21, 2010 at 5:03pm

I think the root of spirituality is a useful tool. The concept of God as a thought experiment has many uses in philosophy and the scientific process.
The problem begins when a religion is founded and the thought experiment is turned into a system of control instead of exploration.
I try to maintain my own sense of spirituality without adding any definitions on it. It makes me constantly acknowledge my ignorance and need for learning. My primary principle is: trust facts, not people.

Comment by Shelby Fisher on June 21, 2010 at 5:01pm

Fred, I understand your feelings on Buddhism. Hope you find something that works for you. I'm sure there is something out there for you.

Thanks for the link!

Comment by Shelby Fisher on June 21, 2010 at 4:44pm

Fred, I highly suggest doing some reading on Buddhism. You may like what you read. You aren't expected to swallow anything. It is important when reading to focus on what the Buddha taught.

Comment by Mriana on June 21, 2010 at 3:45pm

Fred Werther,

Have you looked into humanism, pantheism, and naturalism? Humanism and naturalism are atheistic/non-theistic. Pantheism is Greek for God is all, but in this case, nature is god- www.pantheism.net Those are about the only three that might fit what you are trying say, but none of them are a religion per se.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 31
• 32
• 33
• 34
• 35
• …
• 43
• Next ›
• Page