Observation Regarding Spirituality

[jakee 1,557]

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It becomes easy to see the level of discernment or level of consciousness the responder is operating in.

Certainly does! The people who do believe your brand of nonsense are obviously much less discerning than those of us who don't.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[jakee 1,557]

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In short, if someone says "I have no soul." it may very well be true. The person could have an intellect that allows them to outwardly function as a human being, but might have little or no capacity for any sort of inner life or spirit or soul (call it what you will).

Well that's nice; brand everyone who disagrees with you as something not human. I didn't have you pegged for being that kind of extremist nutcase.

Anyway, using your terms, I'd suggest that we all have an 'inner life' but only some of us realise which parts of it are imaginary.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[RonD1120 62]

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seed of Abraham? I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Judaism begins with Abraham, his son Isaac, his son Jacob later Israel. God told Abraham his seed would be greater that the stars in the heavens.

I am proposing weak theory in this soul reference.

OK, but my post was about spirituality in general (through any religion, or even through no organized religion at all).

I am saying that there may be some people who lack any capacity for spiritual experience of any sort.

I got off on a tangent. To come back to your point. I think you may be correct. I always try to look for the best possible potential in others. I believe a spiritual value system is good. Therefore, I think I can always influence them to change their minds. Of course that is not possible. Some never will. A psychiatrist friend of mine warned me of falling into that trap at the very beginning of my graduate studies. But, I press on in faith.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[SpeedRacer 1]

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In short, if someone says "I have no soul." it may very well be true. The person could have an intellect that allows them to outwardly function as a human being, but might have little or no capacity for any sort of inner life or spirit or soul (call it what you will).

Well that's nice; brand everyone who disagrees with you as something not human. I didn't have you pegged for being that kind of extremist nutcase.

Anyway, using your terms, I'd suggest that we all have an 'inner life' but only some of us realise which parts of it are imaginary.

Never said they weren't human.

And as I pointed out, we have no way of knowing whether or not our "inner life" experiences are or are not fundamentally different.

Invent the Vulcan Mind Meld, and then we can sort this whole thing out.

edited to add: I do not say that this idea is anything more than a hypothesis. It would, however, explain why the spiritual & the non-spiritual get into these arguments with each side feeling like they're talking to a brick wall.

Speed Racer
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[Andy9o8 2]

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I am saying that there may be some people who lack any capacity for spiritual experience of any sort.

The way I would put it would be that there are some adults whose brains are hard-wired to believe in the supernatural, and some whose are not. The former are inclined to eventually have religious beliefs, even if they'd been raised in non-religious households; while the latter are inclined to eventually consider themselves to be atheists, even if they'd been raised in religious households.

Which explains your point:

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It would, however, explain why the spiritual & the non-spiritual get into these arguments with each side feeling like they're talking to a brick wall.

[jakee 1,557]

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Never said they weren't human.

That is the meaning of the words you used. You're saying that people who disagree with you are less human than you because they lack whatever kind of special perception it is that you think you have.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Andy9o8 2]

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Never said they weren't human.

That is the meaning of the words you used. You're saying that people who disagree with you are less human than you because they lack whatever kind of special perception it is that you think you have.

Well, now you're quibbling over the semantics of what he said at first. But he's explained what he meant.

[quade 4]

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seed of Abraham? I'm not sure what you mean by that.

It means he's justifying holy wars based on race.

Sweet way to side with . . . oh dear . . .

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[RonD1120 62]

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I disagree with your definitions, which I think impart artificial distinctions. To me, they are one and the same; or if you will, the overall category is "supernatural", with everything else
(including, but not limited to, God, gods, the Devil, Heaven, Hell, spirits, spirituality, the soul, reincarnation of the soul, karma, magic, Wicca, witchcraft, faith healing, reiki, predetermined destiny, spirits of land or plants or animals, good luck, bad luck, any and all superstitions, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc.)
all being subsets of "supernatural".

Revealing a certain level of consciousness pertaining to a facet of cultural relativity and lacking actual knowledge of the understanding of the difference as recognized by others.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[Andy9o8 2]

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I disagree with your definitions, which I think impart artificial distinctions. To me, they are one and the same; or if you will, the overall category is "supernatural", with everything else
(including, but not limited to, God, gods, the Devil, Heaven, Hell, spirits, spirituality, the soul, reincarnation of the soul, karma, magic, Wicca, witchcraft, faith healing, reiki, predetermined destiny, spirits of land or plants or animals, good luck, bad luck, any and all superstitions, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc.)
all being subsets of "supernatural".

Revealing a certain level of consciousness pertaining to a facet of cultural relativity and lacking actual knowledge of the understanding of the difference as recognized by others.

Not recognized by others - believed by others. And I reject the premise that variances in the way different people's brains are hard-wired are simply "cultural relativity." I'm referring to a function of the hard sciences, not the social sciences. See my post #30.

[jakee 1,557]

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Well, now you're quibbling over the semantics of what he said at first. But he's explained what he meant.

He explained what he meant in the first post, which came along with the comment that says only his type of people are fully human.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Andy9o8 2]

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Well, now you're quibbling over the semantics of what he said at first. But he's explained what he meant.

He explained what he meant in the first post, which came along with the comment that says only his type of people are fully human.

That's not the way I read it, but that's beside the point - I'm more interested in his explanation of what he meant.

[happythoughts 0]

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There is nothing supernatural...The things that people attribute to the supernatural are simply natural things that we don't understand yet., not the realm of some mythological god.

I was really disappointed to discover that lightning is
not really the sparks off of Thor's anvil.

I'm pretty certain that animism probably lacks some
reality also.

Much more knowledge and we will be completely out
of the religion business.

[jakee 1,557]

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I'm more interested in his explanation of what he meant.

That's not very interesting at all - it's nothing that hasn't been said a hundred times before by people trying to justify their belief in any number of imaginary things.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Andy9o8 2]

Sigh. Well, now it's a hundred and one. Can we move on, now? This is getting too much like arguing with my wife.

No, Jakee, your thighs don't look fat in those shorts. I swear that's what I meant all along.

[jakee 1,557]

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Sigh. Well, now it's a hundred and one. Can we move on, now? This is getting too much like arguing with my wife.

So you get tetchy when your wife expresses an opinion of her own, then? Poor woman.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Andy9o8 2]

Jakee. Your ass looks fat.

[jakee 1,557]

Dude, you're hitting on a dude.

(You said you wanted to move on - but it was you who started this by picking up on my comment to someone else entirely, and now you who won't let it die by needing to have the last word, no matter how unrelated to the topic. What's with that?)

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Andy9o8 2]

No sense of humor. This is why there's no future for us.

[Zee 0]

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I have often thought about the possibility that some folks are without the genetic predisposition for any understanding of spirituality. My thought is that without the seed of Abraham in their heritage it is difficult to impossible for them to comprehend. As the AA Big Book says, "There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way."

We should probably kill them.....

Action©Sports

[winsor 236]

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There is nothing supernatural...The things that people attribute to the supernatural are simply natural things that we don't understand yet., not the realm of some mythological god.

Or, stuff that never happened but the 'observer' reported it anyway ... and some people are gullable enough to believe it. ... There's one born every minute

There's a sucker born again every minute.

[winsor 236]

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However, to some of those in the substance abuse/chemical dependency/mental health profession, both professionals and client/patients, spirituality is an integral aspect of treatment.

Fixed

Do you have experience or knowledge on a treatment facility/program without a spiritual component?

Yeah. It's called jail.

[RonD1120 62]

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Not recognized by others - believed by others. And I reject the premise that variances in the way different people's brains are hard-wired are simply "cultural relativity." I'm referring to a function of the hard sciences, not the social sciences. See my post #30.

Hmmm! My career field was in the social sciences. Cultural relativity is paramount for understanding others. Certainly brain functioning is different between individuals and types. For example, left-handed people tend to be more creative than right handed people. Women use both sides of their brains simultaneously. Ukrainians are more mean spirited than Okinawans. What causes people to change?

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[RonD1120 62]

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Do you have experience or knowledge on a treatment facility/program without a spiritual component?

Yeah. It's called jail.

[rehmwa 2]

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I'd suggest that we all have an 'inner life' but only some of us realise which parts of it are imaginary.

all parts of it are imaginary. But if someone needs a 'blankie' then that's fine. It doesn't bother me.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants