Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

[Gertie]

Subgroups tend to normalize to themselves. Meaning that whatever level of observance they practice is "normal" and those do more are fanatics and those that do less are heathens.

Ha! Nice observation.

[Pattern-chaser]

I’m not a theist anymore; I’ve been agnostic towards the proposition of God for a few years now. Having watched the presence of theists on forums like this dwindle greatly over the years, it has become apparent that they lack a credible philosophical position from which to assert or argue their theistic claims, or they would be here doing so.

I'm happy to discuss my spiritual beliefs with anyone who has anything interesting to say about the subject. I think I have a "credible philosophical position", but perhaps that's for you to judge...?



P.S. I'm not a Christian, though. Does that make me, the individual called "Pattern-Chaser", off-topic? ...

[Fanman]

I’m not a theist anymore; I’ve been agnostic towards the proposition of God for a few years now. Having watched the presence of theists on forums like this dwindle greatly over the years, it has become apparent that they lack a credible philosophical position from which to assert or argue their theistic claims, or they would be here doing so.

I'm happy to discuss my spiritual beliefs with anyone who has anything interesting to say about the subject. I think I have a "credible philosophical position", but perhaps that's for you to judge...?



P.S. I'm not a Christian, though. Does that make me, the individual called "Pattern-Chaser", off-topic? ...

Brother, I cannot judge your beliefs, I wouldn't dare. But I will have an opinion on them and deal with them respectfully if you are happy to share them. I've never really cared too much about "off-topic". I don't know if anyone else minds, but I certainly have no problem if you share your beliefs. If you do, I hope that people treat them with respect.

[LuckyR]

Subgroups tend to normalize to themselves. Meaning that whatever level of observance they practice is "normal" and those do more are fanatics and those that do less are heathens.

Ha! Nice observation.

It never ceases to amaze me how much of philosophy is actually (based in) psychology.

[Pattern-chaser]

I’m not a theist anymore; I’ve been agnostic towards the proposition of God for a few years now. Having watched the presence of theists on forums like this dwindle greatly over the years, it has become apparent that they lack a credible philosophical position from which to assert or argue their theistic claims, or they would be here doing so.

I'm happy to discuss my spiritual beliefs with anyone who has anything interesting to say about the subject. I think I have a "credible philosophical position", but perhaps that's for you to judge...?



P.S. I'm not a Christian, though. Does that make me, the individual called "Pattern-Chaser", off-topic? ...

Brother, I cannot judge your beliefs, I wouldn't dare. But I will have an opinion on them and deal with them respectfully if you are happy to share them. I've never really cared too much about "off-topic". I don't know if anyone else minds, but I certainly have no problem if you share your beliefs. If you do, I hope that people treat them with respect.

OK. I'll start as briefly as I can manage, and we'll see where we go from there?

For me, spirituality and philosophy merge. On the philosophical side, I follow Daoism. I don't know a *huge* amount about it, but what I do know rings true to me. The more spiritual side is Gaia, the God of Nature, and also the theme of Lovelock's Gaian Hypothesis. I venerate Gaia as the 'soul' of Everything, in the same sense as the spacetime universe (so ably described by science) is its 'body'. And so, when asked, I call myself a Gaian Daoist.

Perhaps untypically of believers, I acknowledge that my beliefs could be utter tosh. To me, that doesn't matter. It is the directions that my beliefs take me, and my approval of those directions, that justifies my belief. I am happy and content with what my beliefs give me, perhaps in return for my belief?

That last emoji, the smiling one, is important too. That's the Daoist influence, I think? Daoism is a little like Buddhism, but with more humour, IMO.

Over to you...

[Fanman]

I’m not a theist anymore; I’ve been agnostic towards the proposition of God for a few years now. Having watched the presence of theists on forums like this dwindle greatly over the years, it has become apparent that they lack a credible philosophical position from which to assert or argue their theistic claims, or they would be here doing so.

I'm happy to discuss my spiritual beliefs with anyone who has anything interesting to say about the subject. I think I have a "credible philosophical position", but perhaps that's for you to judge...?



P.S. I'm not a Christian, though. Does that make me, the individual called "Pattern-Chaser", off-topic? ...

Brother, I cannot judge your beliefs, I wouldn't dare. But I will have an opinion on them and deal with them respectfully if you are happy to share them. I've never really cared too much about "off-topic". I don't know if anyone else minds, but I certainly have no problem if you share your beliefs. If you do, I hope that people treat them with respect.

OK. I'll start as briefly as I can manage, and we'll see where we go from there?

For me, spirituality and philosophy merge. On the philosophical side, I follow Daoism. I don't know a *huge* amount about it, but what I do know rings true to me. The more spiritual side is Gaia, the God of Nature, and also the theme of Lovelock's Gaian Hypothesis. I venerate Gaia as the 'soul' of Everything, in the same sense as the spacetime universe (so ably described by science) is its 'body'. And so, when asked, I call myself a Gaian Daoist.

Perhaps untypically of believers, I acknowledge that my beliefs could be utter tosh. To me, that doesn't matter. It is the directions that my beliefs take me, and my approval of those directions, that justifies my belief. I am happy and content with what my beliefs give me, perhaps in return for my belief?

That last emoji, the smiling one, is important too. That's the Daoist influence, I think? Daoism is a little like Buddhism, but with more humour, IMO.

Over to you...

That sounds like a beautiful way to live. I don’t know much about either, so I can’t comment. But the most important thing is that you, as an intelligent human being, see sense and reason in the beliefs that you follow. It doesn’t matter what other people think or if their beliefs and understandings align with yours. Let them criticize all they want; at the end of the day, you have found something that fulfils you.

I believe that people can achieve a high vibration through practising gratitude, compassion, empathy, gracefulness, and cultivating a deeper understanding of nature. We can raise our inner state to a place where we vibrate more naturally with the harmonic frequencies (or vibes) of those aspects of the universe. This results in a more complete understanding of life, respect for nature, inner warmth, self-awareness, and feeling lighter and less burdened within our bodies. I have been practising these principles for a while now, and the main difference I have noticed is an increase in general functionality. But I don’t just do it for the rewards; it is to maintain a sense of being grounded in a deeper connection with reality.

[Pattern-chaser]

For me, spirituality and philosophy merge. On the philosophical side, I follow Daoism. I don't know a *huge* amount about it, but what I do know rings true to me. The more spiritual side is Gaia, the God of Nature, and also the theme of Lovelock's Gaian Hypothesis. I venerate Gaia as the 'soul' of Everything, in the same sense as the spacetime universe (so ably described by science) is its 'body'. And so, when asked, I call myself a Gaian Daoist.

Perhaps untypically of believers, I acknowledge that my beliefs could be utter tosh. To me, that doesn't matter. It is the directions that my beliefs take me, and my approval of those directions, that justifies my belief. I am happy and content with what my beliefs give me, perhaps in return for my belief?

That last emoji, the smiling one, is important too. That's the Daoist influence, I think? Daoism is a little like Buddhism, but with more humour, IMO.

Over to you...

That sounds like a beautiful way to live. I don’t know much about either, so I can’t comment. But the most important thing is that you, as an intelligent human being, see sense and reason in the beliefs that you follow. It doesn’t matter what other people think or if their beliefs and understandings align with yours. Let them criticize all they want; at the end of the day, you have found something that fulfils you.

Just in passing, I am sometimes a bit reticent about claiming that my beliefs, such as we are discussing here, are in accord with "reason". It's not that they are unreasonable, or outside/beyond reason, either. I think spiritual beliefs are sometimes located alongside reason, in a complementary fashion.

Spiritual matters are not always judged by the same criteria as, say, mathematical theorems. Didn't someone say something along the lines of "non-overlapping magisteria" (from memory), or something like it?

I believe that people can achieve a high vibration through practising gratitude, compassion, empathy, gracefulness, and cultivating a deeper understanding of nature. We can raise our inner state to a place where we vibrate more naturally with the harmonic frequencies (or vibes) of those aspects of the universe. This results in a more complete understanding of life, respect for nature, inner warmth, self-awareness, and feeling lighter and less burdened within our bodies. I have been practising these principles for a while now, and the main difference I have noticed is an increase in general functionality. But I don’t just do it for the rewards; it is to maintain a sense of being grounded in a deeper connection with reality.

Those aren't the words I would've chosen, but I see nothing to argue with here.

[Fanman]

For me, spirituality and philosophy merge. On the philosophical side, I follow Daoism. I don't know a *huge* amount about it, but what I do know rings true to me. The more spiritual side is Gaia, the God of Nature, and also the theme of Lovelock's Gaian Hypothesis. I venerate Gaia as the 'soul' of Everything, in the same sense as the spacetime universe (so ably described by science) is its 'body'. And so, when asked, I call myself a Gaian Daoist.

Perhaps untypically of believers, I acknowledge that my beliefs could be utter tosh. To me, that doesn't matter. It is the directions that my beliefs take me, and my approval of those directions, that justifies my belief. I am happy and content with what my beliefs give me, perhaps in return for my belief?

That last emoji, the smiling one, is important too. That's the Daoist influence, I think? Daoism is a little like Buddhism, but with more humour, IMO.

Over to you...

That sounds like a beautiful way to live. I don’t know much about either, so I can’t comment. But the most important thing is that you, as an intelligent human being, see sense and reason in the beliefs that you follow. It doesn’t matter what other people think or if their beliefs and understandings align with yours. Let them criticize all they want; at the end of the day, you have found something that fulfils you.

Just in passing, I am sometimes a bit reticent about claiming that my beliefs, such as we are discussing here, are in accord with "reason". It's not that they are unreasonable, or outside/beyond reason, either. I think spiritual beliefs are sometimes located alongside reason, in a complementary fashion.

Spiritual matters are not always judged by the same criteria as, say, mathematical theorems. Didn't someone say something along the lines of "non-overlapping magisteria" (from memory), or something like it?

I believe that people can achieve a high vibration through practising gratitude, compassion, empathy, gracefulness, and cultivating a deeper understanding of nature. We can raise our inner state to a place where we vibrate more naturally with the harmonic frequencies (or vibes) of those aspects of the universe. This results in a more complete understanding of life, respect for nature, inner warmth, self-awareness, and feeling lighter and less burdened within our bodies. I have been practising these principles for a while now, and the main difference I have noticed is an increase in general functionality. But I don’t just do it for the rewards; it is to maintain a sense of being grounded in a deeper connection with reality.

Those aren't the words I would've chosen, but I see nothing to argue with here.

I think that I understand what you’re saying. I don’t mind how my beliefs accord with the differing schools of understanding and comprehension. The important thing is that they make sense to me. There must be some backing behind them. And they are beneficial to me and others.

[Pattern-chaser]

Just in passing, I am sometimes a bit reticent about claiming that my beliefs, such as we are discussing here, are in accord with "reason". It's not that they are unreasonable, or outside/beyond reason, either. I think spiritual beliefs are sometimes located alongside reason, in a complementary fashion.

Spiritual matters are not always judged by the same criteria as, say, mathematical theorems. Didn't someone say something along the lines of "non-overlapping magisteria" (from memory), or something like it?

I think that I understand what you’re saying. I don’t mind how my beliefs accord with the differing schools of understanding and comprehension. The important thing is that they make sense to me. There must be some backing behind them. And they are beneficial to me and others.

Well, yes, all of that. But I was thinking more one the level of philosophy. Science and Spirituality are just two of the tools in our philosopher's toolbox. Together and separately, they offer different ways of looking, and of seeing; two different perspectives. Each of these tools — not forgetting that there are other tools too — offers one or more ways to look at the world, and maybe travel in the direction of understanding. This, to all of us, is the value these tools offer.



P.S. I venerate God by any and all names. Gaia, Jesus, Quetzlcoatl, and Apollo, all of them are the name of God, and all of them illustrate different aspects of the one ineffable God, that I think the Hindus (who also subscribe to this belief) call Brahman. I find Gaia more accessible, but if Allah makes God clearer to you, then that should be your choice, I think.

[Fanman]

Just in passing, I am sometimes a bit reticent about claiming that my beliefs, such as we are discussing here, are in accord with "reason". It's not that they are unreasonable, or outside/beyond reason, either. I think spiritual beliefs are sometimes located alongside reason, in a complementary fashion.

Spiritual matters are not always judged by the same criteria as, say, mathematical theorems. Didn't someone say something along the lines of "non-overlapping magisteria" (from memory), or something like it?

I think that I understand what you’re saying. I don’t mind how my beliefs accord with the differing schools of understanding and comprehension. The important thing is that they make sense to me. There must be some backing behind them. And they are beneficial to me and others.

Well, yes, all of that. But I was thinking more one the level of philosophy. Science and Spirituality are just two of the tools in our philosopher's toolbox. Together and separately, they offer different ways of looking, and of seeing; two different perspectives. Each of these tools — not forgetting that there are other tools too — offers one or more ways to look at the world, and maybe travel in the direction of understanding. This, to all of us, is the value these tools offer.



P.S. I venerate God by any and all names. Gaia, Jesus, Quetzlcoatl, and Apollo, all of them are the name of God, and all of them illustrate different aspects of the one ineffable God, that I think the Hindus (who also subscribe to this belief) call Brahman. I find Gaia more accessible, but if Allah makes God clearer to you, then that should be your choice, I think.

From my perspective, as long as I have a reasonably coherent understanding of my belief system. I'm content. I don't expect perfection, but there should be a degree of logical alignment between the conceptual, physical and spiritual aspects [things that would come under the definition of the human spirit]. In other words, the belief should be holistically beneficial and comprehensible to human beings. As an agnostic, there is a place for God in my current belief system. However, the conceptualisations of the ones presumed to exist don't hold enough water to justify integrating into that system.