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This week: Irreligion & Labels Edited by: Jeff  
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"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
-- Thomas Aquinas
Spirituality Trivia of the Week: According to a 2012 survey, 36% of the world population considers themselves irreligious... up 9% from 2005. That's just over one out of every three people on the planet who considers their spiritual beliefs to include the absence of religion, indifference toward religion, or even hostility toward religion.
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IRRELIGION & LABELS
It's been a while since I've been a guest editor for the Spiritual Newsletter, and I thought I'd take a moment today to talk about irreligion, which can be characterized as the lack of religion, indifference toward religion, or hostility toward religion. The reason why I want to discuss irreligion today is to clarify the different types of irreligious beliefs that exist. Just like all Christians are not the same (there are Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Protestants, Mormons, Lutherans, etc.), and just like not all Buddhists are the same (there are Theravada Buddhists, Mahayana Buddhists, Vajrayana Buddhists, etc.), not all irreligious people are the same. There are differing degrees of irreligious belief, including:
Atheism. In the broadest sense, atheism is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. There are many types of atheism, but the common thread is the lack of belief in a higher power.
Agnosticism. Unlike atheism, which makes an absolute claim that the divine does not exist, agnostics view the existence or non-existence of a deity as an unknown. They claim no knowledge of, and therefore no absolute belief in or against the existence of a higher power.
Secular Humanism. Secular humanists believe in the use of reason, ethics, and morality to make decisions, rather than reliance upon dogma, supernaturalism, or superstition. They believe human beings are able to make moral and ethical decisions without believing in a religion or a deity.
Anti-clericalism. While people who consider themselves anti-clerical are not necessarily irreligious, those who define themselves as anti-clerical are specifically opposed to the idea that clergy or churches have power or influence over people's lives.
There are, of course, many other divisions and subdivisions of irreligion, but these are four of the main categories of belief that someone who considers themselves irreligious may adopt. It's important to understand the difference and, more importantly, respect those differences. In our effort to classify and categorize things, we can often find ourselves heading down a dangerous path where we're making gross assumptions about an entire group of people which may or may not be true.
As someone who was raised loosely Christian (protestant), has gone through a long phase of irreligion (in various incarnations), and currently considers himself a theist, I've seen the harm that generalizations can cause firsthand. Heck, I've even been guilty of making these assumptions for myself. During the irreligious period in my life, I was wary of Christians and believed the "bible-thumping" stereotype that they would try to convert you at every turn, and the whole idea was to condemn you for your sinful nature. Now that I consider myself a theist and regularly attend a non-denominational Christian church, I can see how silly it was that I could ever think that Christianity is a religion composed primarily of religious zealots looking to convert or condemn you. Since I've started attending the church though, I've also seen a lot of fellow churchgoers who seem to think that people who consider themselves irreligious are all the same... which is just as much of a mistake on their part as it is people who consider all Christians to be alike. All forms of religious belief have nuances to them, and it's important to understand and be accepting of the fact that not everyone in a particular category believes the same thing.
My real purpose in writing this newsletter isn't just about irreligion, though. It's not even about religion alone. It's about the labels we assign to ourselves and to others, and how misleading it can be when we assume that those labels somehow define every person in the same way. Not all Christians are the same. Not all Americans are the same. Not all white people are the same. Not all politicians are the same. Not all rich people are the same. Not all high school dropouts are the same. While labels and categories can be helpful in some instances, don't make the mistake of assuming that all people in a particular category are all the same.
Case in point, when my wife and I started dating, I was an atheist, and vehemently anti-clerical. When we got married, I was agnostic and still very anti-clerical. Now I consider myself a theist and - as I mentioned above - regularly attend church service with my wife, who is and always has been a firm Christian. Had I been unwilling to see beyond the stereotypes of Christianity I had in my head... or had she been unwilling to see beyond the stereotypes she had of irreligious people... we wouldn't be together today, exploring our faith together.
When you afford yourself the opportunity to see beyond labels and truly get a sense of who someone is and what they believe, the possibilities are endless.
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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I encourage you to check out the following spiritual items:
I have never been one who cared much for political correctness, and the subjects of religion and politics are two subjects I most often like to talk about. I am sure one of the main reasons is because I am a non-conformist; I don't act in a particular manner because society says that I should. If society decides something is taboo, chances are that is the exact thing I will talk and write about. I also have several articles that are of a political nature, so if speaking about the unspeakable is something that is damaging to your delicate senses, then you should pass on anything I may write because those are going to be the subjects.
I will be writing this as an atheist for atheists who may find themselves debating people of faith and may not be as versed on all the talking points, but also for people of faith who are not afraid to look at other views without feeling threatened or offended. You should never be unwilling to look at other points of view, no matter how much you believe you already know the 'truth.' Many people of faith have never taken the time to really even investigate their beliefs, they just accepted them...after all that's why it's called faith.
Life and its complexity is under similar scrutiny in our modern scientific age. Those who reject the concept of deliberate creation claim that scientific evidence indicates that life is not the result of design and construction and that the fundamental principle established in the non-biological world, namely that design requires intellect, does not apply to the biological universe. They make these claims despite the fact that they cannot explain why biological organisms are exempt from the application of fundamental logic. Ironically, belief in a creator of life is logical and scientifically sound.
Its an interesting question I feel. Does one really choose to believe that they are in fact alive and breathing? Try for a moment to decide that you no longer believe this. Can you do it? Now try to convince yourself that the entire continent of North America does not exist. This is much easier for some of us to do, especially if you live on a different continent. If you do happen to live in North America, you could convince yourself that you have been lied to and are not actually living on a continent and that your entire existence has been artificial and that some strange entity with amazing powers is building the world for you as you go through your life and see new places. Can you convince yourself of this?
Why do people hold beliefs in the first place? What good does it do us to believe something? Seems to me that the best explanation for holding beliefs is to allow us to do the right things, such as avoiding injury or death. Any rational person believes that they will drown if they submerge themselves underwater for too long. They also believe they will die if they jump off of a cliff or a tall building. Most of us also believe that we will most definitely get hurt when we walk in the path of a locomotive or motor vehicle. So beliefs are very important, for our protection.
The Holidays are approaching. People are decorating their homes ahead of celebrations, and rushing around to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Amidst all the merriment, charitable organisations work hard to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and needy members of society. It's a tough job. There's an economic crisis squeezing countries around Europe, and people who would normally love to help are barely able to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
That doesn't mean that the general public is suffering from a lack of empathy. Countless volunteers do their best to make life easier for the disadvantaged. There is no doubt that many give what they can, when they can; it's just that a lot of people find themselves with less to give. The unemployment rate in Britain has reached 8.3%, or 2.62 million unemployed people. Living on £67.50 a week doesn't leave much room for Happy Holidays, let alone the fulfillment of a spirit of generosity. Others face a reduction of their hours, or wage cuts, or the threat of redundancy.
Recently the general public has been surprised by the news that the government has been collecting and storing emails, cell phone calls, Internet searches, as well as all other types of personal data trails of all of its citizens. This large scale surveillance operation is being conducted with the purpose of protecting citizens from those with serious intent to harm them. The purpose is a good one, but you can imagine how this surveillance could be easily abused by someone in power.
There is another surveillance system in operation that far exceeds in power any used by human government. This system has the capabilities to gather and store every bit of information about every thought, word and deed that has ever taken place. It is a ‘complete’ surveillance system even detecting the innermost intents of the heart.
As I continue my spiritual path, I've always asked questions to which I finally found some answers. How do we know when we have experienced God? Many religious and faiths define God in different ways. God, to me, is life. St. Thomas Aquinas says beautifully that "the world, and man, attests that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and the final end of all things, a reality that everyone calls 'God'".
Out of inspiration, I wrote what it means to me to experience God. First, I focus on experiencing God in general. Then, I focus on the Christian definition of God and how I understand "Him" through Jesus Christ.
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Feedback from an earlier newsletter on the power of prayer:
shepherd46 writes, "Wonderful newsletter on the power of prayer! I agree with you that one of the most important aspects of Christianity is that we are not alone. Knowing this and believing this, is a wonderful revelation...Toni"
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Spiritual: August 28, 2013 Issue [#5857]
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