MeldrocWhat from r/atheism at the old place do we want to avoid here in c/atheism?
Maybe a greater respect for the biological reality of limbic needs. People who are religious aren’t automatically morons for simply being religious. Spirituality is an essential part of what makes us humans. So, perhaps we could do better to vocalize that respect, while still addressing the specific truth claims.
Also, helping believers ask their own questions without attacking the fact they’ve been led to believe something would go miles further in helping them develop critical thinking skills.
Insults only drive people deeper into superstition and fundamentalism.
I see spirituality as similar to sexuality: wildly popular across and entwined with every culture for obvious biological/social reasons, but just as I don’t see asexuals as being less involved in the “human experience”, I don’t see spirituality as essential to humanity.
Edited my comment
“I am NOT talking about supernatural beliefs. I’m talking about an emotional sense of connection to something bigger than oneself. The things managed mainly in the midbrain, especially through the limbic system. Spirituality =/= superstition, though the latter has become deeply entrenched in popular spiritual pursuits.”
How is this definition distinct from, say, feeling a sense of connection to one’s community? Neighborhood? Political party? Those are distinctly real things, no superstition required, but I don’t think you’d say that someone canvassing for a governor’s race is spiritual.
This definition is in no way distinct from that emotional sense of connection to anything else. I wouldn’t call canvassing “spiritual,” because it can be done for intentional, material interest. “Spirituality” is a term reserved for inner, emotional concerns. Of course, canvassing, like anything else, can be the result of these concerns, but if it’s not an activity knowingly intended to meet “inner” life concerns, it would indeed be weird to call it a “spiritual” activity. Then again, canvassing under the guise of Christian Nationalism may be considered by the canvasser to be a “spiritual” activity, and in the sense that they are doing it because they feel driven by an inner sense of connection, they’d technically be right about calling it that, though I have a few other words I’d use to describe it…