I’ll start! There was a lot of absolutist rhetoric there that said things along the lines of “All Christians are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad people!” I think a little nuance is in order, no?

  • Flying Squid
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    21 year ago

    You said an emotional connection. Of course I’m part of many systems. That doesn’t mean I have emotional stakes in them.

    • @confluence
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      21 year ago

      Exactly. I’m only talking about the things your limbic system responds to. Spirituality concerns inner life, and emotional stakes are part of that. Emotional stakes in systems of which you are a part, is human. That can be connections to other components of that system, or some other aspect of that system, but a sense of connection is a sense of connection. Spirituality concerns itself with these inner, emotional experiences. Not all humans are or necessarily should be concerned with these experiences (though mental health can benefits from awareness in this area), but the limbic system/parietal lobe are demonstrably involved with these experiences, and it’s an odd argument to say you don’t have these common, human structures, or any relevant experiences.

      In short, I’m not calling you subhuman. I think we just haven’t yet found common ground on these terms.

      Spirituality =/= superstition

      Emotional connection is an inner experience (a phenomenon of our bodies), and caring about inner experience, including its relationship with systems outside the body proper, is quite human.

      • @sauerkraus
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        1 year ago

        I’m a big fan of the sun, but I don’t have any illusions that it’s my friend.

        I really don’t see how an emotional connection to something bigger than my self would do anything valuable. If I did, I would just be religious.

        • @confluence
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          11 year ago

          This has nothing to do with something like thinking the sun is your friend 😅 That sounds more like superstition than mere spirituality.

          (I mean, the sun will destroy you given the chance lol… some friend!)