I haven’t heard a really great Humanize Me podcast lately, but I’m half way through this one with Sasha Sagan and it’s already awesome. It addresses some of the meta-discussions on this forum. A few years ago my former pastor pointed out that although I was now atheist, much of the values I have, I learned in church. He wasn’t wrong, note he didn’t say my values came from God, just that I personally learned them there. That’s true.
It took me a while, but 1 part of the answer to that is that religions got those values from earlier ancestors going back before they made clay images or even had language. Part 2 is from Sasha; there are rhythms to life, there are hopes unfilled, there is desire, there are biological changes we all go through. On the other side of the difficult parts of life, there is joy and wonder. Rituals are a way to celebrate that, sometimes to reminds us, and sometimes to teach others. She makes clear that there should not be requirements, no dogma, no shaming if you do one ritual a different way or don’t do any.
She notes we don’t really have the language for this secular version of ritual. Words like “miracle” are too full of religious baggage.
Everything is indeed holy if you give up the crap of religion AND science.
Holy crap, what does that mean
Cute song. I can relate, in a way, although I notice they only showed pretty pictures, There somethings happening that are definitely not holy by any stretch of the definition.
No its not magic. It seems magical, but the process of a beating heart can be explained in great detail. All animals have a heart or pumping organ.
A chemically induced pumping action can already be found in single celled organisms, very early in the evolutionary chronology of biology.
Most people overlook the fact that certain chemicals, when combined, produce a spontaneous dynamic reciprocal action. i.e. A pumping action. It is how bacteria distribute cytoplasm throughout the cell.
Cytoplasmic Streaming
Cytoplasmic streaming, or cyclosis, is a process by which substances are circulated within a cell. Cytoplasmic streaming occurs in a number of cell types including plant cells, amoeba, protozoa, and fungi. Cytoplasmic movement may be influenced by several factors including the presence of certain chemicals, hormones, or changes in light or temperature.
Plants employ cyclosis to shuttle chloroplasts to areas receiving the most available sunlight. Chloroplasts are the plant organelles responsible for photosynthesis and require light for the process.
In protists, such as amoebae and slime molds, cytoplasmic streaming is used for locomotion. Temporary extensions of the cytoplasm known as pseudopodia are generated that are valuable for movement and capturing food. Cytoplasmic streaming is also required for cell division as the cytoplasm must be distributed among daughter cells formed in mitosis and meiosis.
Write4U: No its not magic. It seems magical, but the process of a beating heart can be explained in great detail.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Kids see the magic kingdom because they don't have explanations for anything. We force them to go to school, stuff them with explanations, and transform their fantasy world into the dreadful prison of objective reality where they must suffer and die.
Sree said; Kids see the magic kingdom because they don’t have explanations for anything. We force them to go to school, stuff them with explanations, and transform their fantasy world into the dreadful prison of objective reality where they must suffer and die.
Better to keep them ignorant until they get sick and ask "Dear God, why me? What did I do to deserve this"?
And the preacher tells them, “God works in mysterious ways”! “But rest assured, even as you suffer, He loves you”!
I call that a dreadful prison of subjective reality.
And this is what you call “enlightenement”? C’mon Sree, give it a break. You completely ignore the astounding beauty of what life is and how it evolves.
Watch this and tell me this presents a transformayion of a fantasy world into the dreadful prison of objective reality where they must suffer and die?
Sree, really? Show me this other reality. Show me underpaid, stressed out teachers scheming to be the guardians of this other reality. I think you need to sleep off whatever you’re on right now. Or least stop posting until you come down a bit.
Who do you think fills our art galleries and theaters with imagined realities? Grown ups who went to school to learn how to hold a brush and turn on a camera.
Sree said; Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Kids see the magic kingdom because they don’t have explanations for anything. We force them to go to school, stuff them with explanations, and transform their fantasy world into the dreadful prison of objective reality where they must suffer and die.
So, you presume that teaching children the falsehood of a supernatural God running things is more productive than teaching them what life is and how it evolves . What gives you the authority to make such a claim? It certainly is not a Medical authority!
It is the hubris that irks me most; “absolute divine revelation” v “continuing study and growing understanding”.
Remember, here you cannot invoke ultimate divine authority . That is what is in question. When did Religion cure any disease that sends people into that dreaded prison of objective reality? Objective medical science (stuff that Drew Berry illustrated) does cure many diseases where God has trouble with curing by prayer. The greatest plagues in Europe occurred under religious dominance, also known as the “Dark Ages”.
Write4U: So, you presume that teaching children the falsehood of a supernatural God running things is more productive than teaching them what life is and how it evolves . What gives you the authority to make such a claim? It certainly is not a Medical authority!
Who said anything about a supernatural God? Forget about Jesus. Just reflect on the quotation and examine it on face value. Bigotry is supposed to be a secular sin. Do listen to what a person say and don’t shut him out just because he is gay or black of the Son of God.
It is the hubris that irks me most; “absolute divine revelation” v “continuing study and growing understanding”.
It’s not divine revelation. It’s just words of wisdom.
Remember, here you cannot invoke ultimate divine authority . That is what is in question.
Relax! I am not invoking anything. I am just quoting the Gospel. Don’t be scared.
When did Religion cure any disease that sends people into that dreaded prison of objective reality? Objective medical science (stuff that Drew Berry illustrated) does cure many diseases where God has trouble with curing by prayer. The greatest plagues in Europe occurred under religious dominance, also known as the “Dark Ages”.
Look, anything that prayer can’t do anything about means that the guy needs to die. Cells die all the time (apoptosis), species die off all the time (natural selection). We should be ashamed of ourselves huddling in hospitals and hospices. There are no medical facilities in the wild. No ER even for a broken leg. We need to toughen up. Live like the creatures in the forest. As Xain said, death is not a big deal.
Lausten: Sounds like you are ready to give away all your worldly possessions. Oh right, the people who preach that never actually do it.
I don't have possessions. Admittedly, there are stuff in my life and they are called assets. They flow into my life fortuitously, all because I live right. You've got to live right, Lausten. Then, you don't have to live by the sweat of your brow using knowledge acquired through science . Look at the lilies in the fields, they neither sow nor spin. It's true! Woe betides men of little faith.
They flow into my life fortuitously, all because I live right. You’ve got to live right, Lausten. Then, you don’t have to live by the sweat of your brow using knowledge acquired through science .
I've read those books and heard the prosperity gospel. It's looking at what you have, much of it via luck, including the birth lottery, and claiming some karmic source of the rewards you are receiving. It gets ugly when you start telling others that they are just doing life wrong and if they just opened their third eye or something, they'd get money from a trust fund too. Never mind the pollution those corporations in the fund in are causing, or the kids in Malaysia that are working to create that wealth.
