People with “beliefs” manage to make me feel inferior somehow (I’m ashamed to admit it), like they are somehow “enlightened†and I’m some cavewoman or animal, materialistic and down-to-earth. I would love some new thoughts on how to deal with this.
Posted: September 2nd 2009
Dave Hitt www
“Spiritual” can mean anything, and it doesn’t have to be religious. Being in awe of a sunset or piece of music or other art can be “spiritual.” I usually avoid the word because the way it’s used now it can mean anything.
But the best way to deal with such people is to shrug them off. You have no control over what they think of you, so why worry about it? Do what you like, find the path that works best for you, change it as needed, and don’t worry about what other people think. No one can make you feel inferior without your permission. Don’t give it to them.
Posted: September 16th 2009
SmartLX www
Keep a few things in mind, which spring from the words you’ve used.
- You are an (evolved) animal, and so is every religious person. That doesn’t reflect poorly on you or them, but rather it speaks well for the potential of animals.
- Cave-people created religion in the first place. Tribes invented their own gods, nomadic hunters made sacrifices and so on. Religion at its core is incredibly primitive, and requires constant theological “scholarship” to modernise it. You’ve moved beyond religion, not the other way around.
- I don’t think you really believe it’s the religious people who are “enlightened”, if you think their fundamental claims are wrong.
- Materialism is not the same as hedonism and greed. It’s simply the idea that the material world is all there is in an empirical sense. It doesn’t prevent the use of abstract concepts such as love, justice, mercy and a sense of the sublime or transcendent. There have been materialist philosophers since the 6th century BC, all the way from Democritus to Daniel Dennett.
- There is nothing wrong with being down-to-earth. It means you approach things sensibly and without too many presumptions or prejudices.
Being a non-believer doesn’t stop you from being “spiritual” in some sense. You can philosophise, you can find beauty in the world, you can identify far-reaching wrongs and seek to set them right. The only way a religious person’s got something on you (purely because of religion, that is) is if the religion is actually correct, which to you and me is very unlikely. If not, then religious “enlightenment” is misguided, no matter how superior it makes people feel.
Posted: September 2nd 2009