Earlier quoted context omitted.
Religion.
You'll find atheists hate each other as much as religious people. Maybe more.
Name one war, that has no religion involved.
Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
721–730 of 966 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#722Earlier quoted context omitted.
Look into teachings of Gurdjieff. Having similar background as yours, I was interested due to the fact that there is no need to believe anything from anybody else, and you should test everything you believe by yourself.
Just read the main wiki blurb on him and my main question is "Why should I believe in the existence of the unified consciousness or higher levels of consciousness"?
You don’t have to. It’s a choice. My doubts about it not existing came after I realized it’s not clear where to draw a clear boundaries for an organism. For example, each neuron in our brain can be considered it’s own organism but it’s part of our body and from our perspective we are in control of it. If we apply this to ourselves then maybe we ourselves are just a neuron in a bigger living “brain”.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#723Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the fact of sin Yeah, there's your problem right there. At the risk of stating what should be painfully obvious to any sane person, there is no "fact of sin", and you certainly can't use the claim of a "fact of sin" as a justification for the idea of original sin. It's a completely circular argument. Garbage in, garbage out.
> there is no "fact of sin", and you certainly can't use the claim of a "fact of sin" as a justification for the idea of original sin. So, what do you call me the thing that drives otherwise reasonable humans to hate each other?
Genetics, cultural values, chemicals, hormones, electrical impulses, all conspiring to create the illusion of objective morality
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#724Earlier quoted context omitted.
In hindsight, it was definitely the concept of original sin that got my young mind spinning, not understanding how for example a newborn baby could be innately sinful. All downhill after that.
>concept of original sin Personally as an atheist-ish / lapsed Catholic, original sin is just about the only thing I've never actually doubted, Chesterton put it very well: “Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin – a fact as practical as potatoes.…
The problem is that Catholics treat sin as a static field and any sane person treat it as an instance field.
Why do we need to baptize infants? Because they have original sin. How could they get it if they haven't done anything? Because Adam and Eve sinned and their sin is shared with all of humanity. How are we responsible fot their sin? We aren't but God still had to kill himself to forgive us. Cause reasons.
It gets more stupid the more you try to explain this absurd away, and the mess of a quote by Chesterton showcases that. It conflates the original sin with regular sins of adults.
Which BTW according to Catholic doctrine aren't universal "facts" at all - because some people are saints and have no instance sins, just the static (original) sin shared from Adam and Eve. And Saint Mary had neither for some reason (probably because Christ multiple inherited from Human and God and something would break if he inherited the static field).
I was a very religious Catholic for about 20 years and it never made sense to me. If it makes sense to you you probably never thought about it much.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#725Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think I've seen the word Omniscient used in the Bible.
> Psalm 147:5 - Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;His understanding is infinite. > For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things (1 John 3:20). > Known to God from eternity are all his works (Acts 15:18). > The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3).
I agree with all of that but none of those verses use the term omniscient.
The idea of omniscience leads to paradoxes like the one above. Can you know what it is to be non omniscient and be omniscient.
I think God can choose to understand and know what He wants to know. If he chooses to forget sin, He can. Meaning the strict definition of omniscience would not apply.
I'm no theologian or philosopher so there is a good chance I'm simply missing something or don't understand these words.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#726Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is an important point. Being atheist doesn't say anything about your beliefs in ethics or the nature of the universe. It's just the absence of some set of other beliefs.
Moreover, it is really a word semantic point. If someone says that their spiritualism is atheism, they are just using the word atheism for something other than "non-belief in gods", like "non-belief in gods, in combination with some other kinds of beliefs". So, I am not tone deaf: I do hear that. Just let's use "atheism" right, too. But note that someone identifying as an atheist, but with spiritual beliefs, might no…
> Or "There is no such thing as god, but the world was clearly created". Oops again. Creation without a creator?
Is it possible to has have a creator but that creator not to be a god? For example, if we are living inside a simulation created by a software engineer, is that engineer our god?
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#727Going outside and observing the hyperobject of all the other living things, imagining it as well, and looking up at the sky in hopes of seeing other suns.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#728I used to be devout Mormon, and a hardcore one at that. It was woven so deeply in my reality, that everything had spiritual significance for me. A few years ago, I encountered history, documents, and truths about the religion that were never presented to me. Since then, I've slowly, painfully, removed myself from the religion, and removed the religion from me. It's extremely painful to go from a space where everythin…
I'd love to hear more on the history, documents, and truths you found. Would you consider emailing me (it is in my profile)? Summary and jumping off points super welcome.
I had a similar experience to OP. But the catalyst for me was the Mountain Meadows Massacre[1] which I was completely oblivious to until my mid-20s. It was quite a shock to learn that the church (which I thought was "God's perfect organization") had such an ugly past. The most disturbing part was how much effort the church put to hide and scrub events like this from its members and the rest of the world.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#729Tetris. Twice per day. When I get into a good Tetris routine, my mind will continue to play even when I'm not in front of the screen. There's just this constant background game playing in my head. This might sound distracting, but somehow it's enlightening. It provides rhythm. It provides structure. It keeps my thoughts in constant reorganization, constant renewal. Overall, I believe Tetris gets my mind into a place…
I'm scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. So many debates about atheism, Catholicism, Mormons. Deep theological discussions. Discussions on "how to answer the original question". And then I see
>Tetris. Twice per day.
I applaud you in answering the question in a completely unexpected way. Never before in the history of theology has anyone introduced Teris AND kept it thematically appropriate.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#730Traditional Catholic here. I go to the "Mass of all time" every Sunday. I pray and read the daily texts of the mass. From time to time, I recite the Holy Rosary (which I find a wonderful contemplation method). I examine my conscience and confess my sins regularly. I also like to listen to recordings about the Saints of the Catholic Church - unbelievable people.
I appreciate a lot the traditional Catholic doctrine. It's wonderful to see its resurrection and many young priests motivated to preach it in the opposition to the old protestantized Church leaders.
I have been considering myself just as deist until I've learned how amazing is a Catholic philosophy. Did you know, for example, that Saint Thomas Aquinas found a way to determine if the creation have soul (like humans) or not (like animals)? Including extraterrestrial life!