I'm spiritual, but not religious...

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Necrometer
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I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Necrometer »

I just saw this adorably retarded article over at CNN, you can read it or not, whatever.
SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW
The increasingly common refrain that "I'm spiritual, but not religious," represents some of the most retrogressive aspects of contemporary society. The spiritual but not religious "movement" - an inappropriate term as that would suggest some collective, organizational aspect - highlights the implosion of belief that has struck at the heart of Western society.

Spiritual but not religious people are especially prevalent in the younger population in the United States, although a recent study has argued that it is not so much that people have stopped believing in God, but rather have drifted from formal institutions.

It seems that just being a part of a religious institution is nowadays associated negatively, with everything from the Religious Right to child abuse, back to the Crusades and of course with terrorism today.

Those in the spiritual-but-not-religious camp are peddling the notion that by being independent - by choosing an "individual relationship" to some concept of "higher power", energy, oneness or something-or-other - they are in a deeper, more profound relationship than one that is coerced via a large institution like a church.

That attitude fits with the message we are receiving more and more that "feeling" something somehow is more pure and perhaps, more "true” than having to fit in with the doctrine, practices, rules and observations of a formal institution that are handed down to us.

The trouble is that “spiritual but not religious” offers no positive exposition or understanding or explanation of a body of belief or set of principles of any kind.

What is it, this "spiritual" identity as such? What is practiced? What is believed?

The accusation is often leveled that such questions betray a rigidity of outlook, all a tad doctrinaire and rather old-fashioned.

But when the contemporary fashion is for an abundance of relativist "truths" and what appears to be in the ascendancy is how one "feels" and even governments aim to have a "happiness agenda," desperate to fill a gap at the heart of civic society, then being old-fashioned may not be such a terrible accusation.

It is within the context of today's anti-big, anti-discipline, anti-challenging climate - in combination with a therapeutic turn in which everything can be resolved through addressing my inner existential being - that the spiritual but not religious outlook has flourished.

The boom in megachurches merely reflect this sidelining of serious religious study for networking, drop-in centers and positive feelings.

Those that identify themselves, in our multi-cultural, hyphenated-American world often go for a smorgasbord of pick-and-mix choices.

A bit of Yoga here, a Zen idea there, a quote from Taoism and a Kabbalah class, a bit of Sufism and maybe some Feing Shui but not generally a reading and appreciation of The Bhagavad Gita, the Karma Sutra or the Qur'an, let alone The Old or New Testament.

So what, one may ask?

Christianity has been interwoven and seminal in Western history and culture. As Harold Bloom pointed out in his book on the King James Bible, everything from the visual arts, to Bach and our canon of literature generally would not be possible without this enormously important work.

Indeed, it was through the desire to know and read the Bible that reading became a reality for the masses - an entirely radical moment that had enormous consequences for humanity.

Moreover, the spiritual but not religious reflect the "me" generation of self-obsessed, truth-is-whatever-you-feel-it-to-be thinking, where big, historic, demanding institutions that have expectations about behavior, attitudes and observance and rules are jettisoned yet nothing positive is put in replacement.

The idea of sin has always been accompanied by the sense of what one could do to improve oneself and impact the world.

Yet the spiritual-but-not-religious outlook sees the human as one that simply wants to experience "nice things" and "feel better." There is little of transformation here and nothing that points to any kind of project that can inspire or transform us.

At the heart of the spiritual but not religious attitude is an unwillingness to take a real position. Influenced by the contribution of modern science, there is a reluctance to advocate a literalist translation of the world.

But these people will not abandon their affiliation to the sense that there is "something out there," so they do not go along with a rationalist and materialistic explanation of the world, in which humans are responsible to themselves and one another for their actions - and for the future.

Theirs is a world of fence-sitting, not-knowingess, but not-trying-ness either. Take a stand, I say. Which one is it? A belief in God and Scripture or a commitment to the Enlightenment ideal of human-based knowledge, reason and action? Being spiritual but not religious avoids having to think too hard about having to decide.

I switched my opinion on this topic more than anything else in the last 7 years. I used to essentially side with the author of this article, mocking anyone who acknowledged any sort of spirituality without subscribing to a particular sect. I was a hard-line "there's no magic in life" (philosophical) materialist. Now, I think my detestation for religious zealots is matched by my loathing of smug/soulless "secular humanist" scum without a fucking clue about anything. (Every weekend warrior whiz can go to hell, as well.) I don't know if I'd ever put the words together like in the subject line, but religions can fuck off yet I value spirituality in general.

Discuss.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

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ha....my HR....ah fuck it, im gonna stop right there....
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by spacehamster »

I had to stop about halfway down. This guy's getting so many things mixed up, I don't even know where to start.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by triple clutcher v2.5b »

"hey why are you learning about other religions when you can just read the Bible and go to church like a normal person I mean come on ..."
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by soiled depends »

thsi thread is just another chance for Chad to disappoint and pretend like his bullshit matters...
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by THE KILL »

Come on Necrometer, don't post every bullshit article you come across. The author is obviously a halfwit and there's nothing to discuss. Thread over. Now, let's hope that fucking idiot Chad doesn't start posting...
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

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kike this, fucking mel gibson that, i'm wasted, kikes, blah blah blah...delete

there you go. a pre-emptive chad calvelcade of bullshit... :fp:
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by riley-o »

You forgot to insist on a mid-90s alternative throw away hit being the most important communion with Jesus possible



Listen to this song

Listen to it

So vital
HEAD BOPPAZ RECORDS YOU BITCH-ASS HOES
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by soiled depends »

riley-o wrote:
Listen to this song

Listen to it

So vital
I've never once clicked on one of his links...apologies for muckin' it up...
Last edited by soiled depends on Sun Sep 30, 2012 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
does your employer know that you are a cold hearted animal murderer in addition to being an insatiable pervert?-meatgrease
only a fundamentally insecure asshole would relish in the death of domesticated cats-chad

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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Necrometer »

:lol:
THE KILL wrote:The author is obviously a halfwit and there's nothing to discuss.
Article was more of a primer for sub-tards. I didn't read it, just enough to :fp: . Thread is for sharing tales of personal growth maybe?
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

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thread reminds me of the spin doctors..enough.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Dr Yail Bloor »

Thats not even Elastica's best song.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by riley-o »

:fp:
HEAD BOPPAZ RECORDS YOU BITCH-ASS HOES
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Dr Yail Bloor »

\m/Johnny\m/ wrote:
I guess there's crippling, life shattering levels of alcoholism, and then there's Lemmy.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by \m/Johnny\m/ »

I love Elastica so much.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Necrometer »

[img]http://www.ucc.org/feed-your-spirit/daily-devotional/images/ddauthorlilliandaniel3.jpg[/img] wrote:Spiritual but Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me.

Matthew 16:18
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel

On airplanes, I dread the conversation with the person who finds out I am a minister and wants to use the flight time to explain to me that he is "spiritual but not religious." Such a person will always share this as if it is some kind of daring insight, unique to him, bold in its rebellion against the religious status quo.

Next thing you know, he's telling me that he finds God in the sunsets. These people always find God in the sunsets. And in walks on the beach. Sometimes I think these people never leave the beach or the mountains, what with all the communing with God they do on hilltops, hiking trails and . . . did I mention the beach at sunset yet?

Like people who go to church don't see God in the sunset! Like we are these monastic little hermits who never leave the church building. How lucky we are to have these geniuses inform us that God is in nature. As if we don’t hear that in the psalms, the creation stories and throughout our deep tradition.

Being privately spiritual but not religious just doesn't interest me. There is nothing challenging about having deep thoughts all by oneself. What is interesting is doing this work in community, where other people might call you on stuff, or heaven forbid, disagree with you. Where life with God gets rich and provocative is when you dig deeply into a tradition that you did not invent all for yourself.

Thank you for sharing, spiritual but not religious sunset person. You are now comfortably in the norm for self-centered American culture, right smack in the bland majority of people who find ancient religions dull but find themselves uniquely fascinating. Can I switch seats now and sit next to someone who has been shaped by a mighty cloud of witnesses instead? Can I spend my time talking to someone brave enough to encounter God in a real human community? Because when this flight gets choppy, that's who I want by my side, holding my hand, saying a prayer and simply putting up with me, just like we try to do in church.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for creating us in your image and not the other way around. Amen.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by \m/Johnny\m/ »

She rules.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Raw Ting »

someone brave enough to identify themselves with a religion millions of people do. The simply spiritual are cowards..
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Blair »

Conclusion: People that "consider themselves spiritual" are the people who like talking about themselves to whomever is seated next to them on a plane.
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

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Wank night's cancelled
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by the awesome Assassin »

I got hooked watching the Ryder Cup...
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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Cascade Whore »

>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv8VE3uI ... re=related<
She's obvious a illuminati zionist whore alien super solider amazon warrior reptilian and there's tons of secret coded messages if you really listen to the insipid babble.......Red flags and banners represent communism and the blatant christ hating display of the 5 pointed star of Lucifer..........Adam and the Ants & Bow Wow Wow? you'd have to be a fool not to see it, with your eyes wide shut.

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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Chevalier Mal Fet »

I would consider myself agnostic to the point of atheism and spiritual but not religious.

I would go into further detail, but I already want to kick myself in the nuts for typing the above.

I guess I can sort of see the logic of these people's position, in that, if you are willing to make the stretch that there is a "force" in the universe, then it must "logically" follow that the major world religion I am a part of is the only legitimate expression of that force.

The two articles have helped me realize that as much as hearing about "spiritual but not religious" people gives me douche-chills, they are no competition for the troo believers.

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Re: I'm spiritual, but not religious...

Post by Raw Ting »

yeah but how does that relate to israel? I wanna talk about israel
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