Oct 17, 2008 - Religion    4 Comments

Spiritual but not religious?

I come across this often in social networking sites. As an atheist / rational person i fail to understand the meaning of this terminology.

No offense but what is spiritual? Spiritual, the world indicates it probably has something to do with the spirit, right? Okay, so lets consider this "Spiritual" word as an adjective and look-up Merriam Webster’s. Here is what i got…

spir·i·tu·al           Listen to the pronunciation of 1spiritual  
Pronunciation: \?spir-i-ch?-w?l, -i-ch?l, -ich-w?l\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French espirital, spiritual, from Late Latin spiritualis, from Latin, of breathing, of wind, from spiritus
Date: 14th century

1: of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit : incorporeal <spiritual needs>
2 a: of or relating to sacred matters <spiritual songs> b: ecclesiastical rather than lay or temporal <spiritual authority> <lords spiritual>
3: concerned with religious values
4: related or joined in spirit <our spiritual home> <his spiritual heir>
5 a: of or relating to supernatural beings or phenomena b: of, relating to, or involving spiritualism : spiritualistic

So it looks like im quite right. Something that has to do with the Spirit. I so hate to do this because now we have to find out what the heck a SPIRIT is. So lets look back at Merriam Webster’s again. We will look at the first two since we will speak in context of what we are discussing here

spir·it           Listen to the pronunciation of 1spirit
Pronunciation: \?spir-?t\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French, espirit, spirit, from Latin spiritus, literally, breath, from spirare to blow, breathe
Date: 13th century

1: an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms
2: a supernatural being or essence: as acapitalized : holy spirit b: soul 2a c: an often malevolent being that is bodiless but can become visible ; specifically : ghost 2 d: a malevolent being that enters and possesses a human being

NOTE: If your definition of spiritual is like the Einstein’ian way of poetically calling nature as spirit then read no more. You have nothing to do with this blog. If your definition of spirit deals with your love for the biological process of evolution then your poetry is welcome, regardless of me agree’ing with it or not. We are not talking about poetic spiritual references, we are dealing with religion and supernatural claims. 

So the question is, who has seen a spirit? How can the spirit be contained or evidenced or  quantified or qualified to be a spirit? What does the spirit comprise of? What are the physical and chemical properties of the spirit? Is the spirit of a human being different from that of a cat’s? If so what are the biological differences between the spirit of a cat and a human being?

Unless and until i get completely honest, logically and scientifically acceptable answers i shall declare this:-

Those who make statements such as "Spiritual but not religious" are nothing but being pussies. Spiritual and Religious mean the same rubbish and there is no difference really, i mean if one of the interpretations can be Ghost, you sure can bet the term Ghost did not come from the study of the Quantum Theory.

There is no medical term that talks about rescuing the spirit. Doctors save lives. If the spirit is the most important thing that gives life to a body then the spirit is the life, life is not the real life that makes us a lively person. All we need to do is save the spirit so that we can transplant it to another body or perhaps repair a damaged body or perhaps even cryogenically freeze it so that we can re-introduce the spirit into it and give it life once the body is in working condition. How come there is no scientific research in this area if spirit was such an awesome thing?

Let me put it like this. When you believe in something and if you have the nerve you have to stand up for it. For example, i’m an atheist. I stand up for the belief that there’s nothing supernatural in this world. I will stand up for this fact unless and until someone proves me wrong by providing…

(a) scientific evidence
(b) testable means to prove the evidence
(c) peer review within a scientific community relevant to the discussion

So let me ask all the moderates here to stop being cowards. Please just declare you are indeed religious. Why hide behind the curtains of ambiguation to save yourselves from being mocked at for being plain stupid? You cannot even provide excuse stating you are deist because they do not believe in supernatural claims either. Certainly not spirit or souls. So for one last time can i request the real slim shady please stand up, stop being a mouse and act like a normal human being with a little bit of self respect and stand up for what you believe in, rather than hide behind the cover of moderate terminology to appear like you are smart and secular when you actually are not.

The only difference between religious and spiritual is this. Religious people don’t care if they are stupid. They know it already and they rely on faith, in other words some garble written 2000 years ago about how to cut your raped house maid into 12 pieces and distribute it across town to clean yourself off an evil spirit. They are here to hurt other people, they want to reject knowledge, understanding and prefer to live in the stone ages. You on the other hand, the ‘spiritual person’ (or the moderate) realize you are stupid when you say you are religious. Why not be honest and accept the fact you don’t want that crutch called religion and for once in your life, you can think of your own and act with morals based on your logical and rational judgement. Come out of it, spi
ritual is just a better way of saying "I’m still religious and don’t want to come out of it but then please don’t call me stupid for being so because im just to scared to face reality and take it like a man."

In a way religious people at least have the nerve to accept who they are and stand up for their beliefs which spiritual people (or moderates) lack. So much for trying to be nice.


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4 Comments

  • The universe is far larger than anyone can imagine, and its nature and possible inhabitants will be difficult to verify scientifically, quite likley because activity may be taking place at speeds exceeding that of light, and thus beyond the range of instruments available. This does not invalidate the possible existence of these realms, or indeed other dimensions that are beyond imagination. The conclusion must be that only personal experience can provide evidence strong enough to be seen as proof by the individual, but evidence of a lesser sort is abundant. Please go to E-Bay, and look for member Spiricom0, and review the CD-ROM @Spiritualism Explained’, which summarises the research so far notified to Spiricom, and offers multifarious interactivity and search options.

  • I Usually do not respond to Anonymous commenters since i consider them cowards who cannot disclose identity to stand-by for what they believe. Let me make an exception today.

    Please be reminded that i clearly said…

    (a) scientific evidence
    (b) testable means to prove the evidence
    (c) peer review within a scientific community relevant to the discussion

    Point out how this CD education material fits my description. Provide the names of doctors and scientists from the panel who reviewed this and provide the license number for the publication of this book as a legal and trustworthy educational material. I will buy it.

    Otherwise please don’t flash 2 pounds worth of ebay trash as evidence and insult my intelligence.

    Guess what? Here is the link to that book.

    The Advertisement says “This CD is revised every ten days. You are invited to send in your own articles for a future edition.”

    To the best of my knowledge even the most insignificant scientific paper takes a year to review and validate and compile and it looks like any dork can send trash to be added into this CD. Wow, thats some example i can rely upon, isn’t it?

  • I don’t know if you read this, but check this out http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Books/2002/07/Spiritual-But-Not-Religious.aspx

    That said, this certainly is not “the” article. But laziness stops me from looking for a better definition. I don’t really know what people mean when they say “spiritual but not religious” but i am guessing they mean to say they acknowledge the existence of some higher power but they don’t really belong to a cult or a religion.

    Just my 2 cents. :D

  • wow..so u do delete comments as well !!
    good – the geek in u , does know to make a product out of a plastic !! ROFTL

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