Oh dear, ladies and gents, but I'm afraid I have to bow out on this particular subject. I'm an atheist and as such have no belief in anything holy. Even though I have written a couple of ghost stories, I don't believe in ghosts or the hereafter. So, not wishing to offend anyone, I will say no more, and look forward to the next topic.
But you do believe in sex, right? ;^)
ReplyDeleteYes I believe in sex - who doesn't? and while I admired your post Lisabet I just can't connect the two.
DeleteBoth of my parents were atheists...that's how they raised my brother and me. We were taught that only people with weak fathers, or those who were too weak-minded to face reality, needed to believe in a non-existent "big-daddy in the sky". Dad would even make rude remarks in churches when we attended weddings. He always said that "Religion has a lot to answer for", in regards to the constant warfare between factions who both claim zealously that God is on THEIR side. And on his deathbed, when a priest attempted to come in to visit him, he scolded him to go peddle his "nonsense" elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came time for me to get married, since we aren't believers in any organized religions (being quasi-Druids who worships the life-force doesn't lend itself to regular church/temple/mosque attendance), husband's parents said it if wasn't in a church they wouldn't attend. My parents said if it was in a church they wouldn't attend. We scheduled it for the local courthouse and told them all, "Be there or not. Your choice." All 4 came. But my father complained bitterly afterwards that the judge kept intoning about God during the whole 5-minute ceremony. I reminded Dad we live in a town that has a college specializing in training Bible-thumping missionaries to proselytize throughout the world, so folks around here even bless their DQ ice cream cones before they accept them.
But the union of two bodies in an intense sexual event can be a spiritual experience. Husband and I learned early on that it wasn't just the "tab ! fits into slot B" kind of thing when we got together. Feelings, aspirations, sharing of our souls, happened regularly. A strong marriage can be made in many ways. I guess we were practicing Tantric sex without realizing it, I've since learned from reading about it.
You know I work in a bookstore where reading material of all genres is available - the New Age section is prodigious and I have looked through several of them, but for some reason they leave me cold. I just don't believe in mysticism, psychics or anything remotely paranormal. And of course the Westboro Church, Palin saying that the missing Malaysian plane found the gates to heaven, Rick Perry, Santorum, Pat Robertson et al, do nothing to stir any religious spirit with me. Quite the opposite in fact. And there's nothin' sexy about any of them!
DeleteWhile I share your objections to religious trivia, JP, we can't deny there are things of this universe we don't yet know about. Things of which experiences have offered peripheral evidence. Lisabet mentions psychedelics, and others will cite sex as a vehicle to another level. Over the millennia, ascetics, whether fasting, or practicing other paths to the mortification of the flesh have achieved knowledge of dimensions we can't describe or even conceive of. Take the 4th dimension, time, for instance. It's just a dimension, the same as length, width or height, but we can't control it as we do the more familiar three. We are drawn, beholden to time's effects, as we experience them.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Fiona- Your Dad sounds like the classic (read admirable) Hitchens-type denier. As you've read in earlier posts, I'm no friend of religion either. I was once reprimanded in St Patrick's Cathedral in New York. I was complaining about the fact that to see the inside of the beautiful church, the path directed visitors through the gift shop and cash register before you got in. I was saying (loudly) that Jesus threw the money-lenders out of the temple, for the love of christ.
Short as it is, JP, I wouldn't be surprised if this post gets the most comments.
All best,
DX
The universe fascinates me Daddy. The infinite galaxies out there are a source of wonder, but I don't see a divine hand in any of it. When I hear 'Christians' saying they believe the world is 10,000 years old and deny any knowledge of what went before I despair. I am a disciple of Richard Dawson, Sam Harris and the redoubtable Christopher Hitchens. And Sam Harris is sexy!
DeleteYeah there's some wild theories out there, JP. They say that fossils were put in the ground either by god or the devil, (your choice, I guess) to test your faith
DeleteNo, there's no 'Big Daddy' up there in the clouds, but there are things that are at the moment beyond our ability to reason through. In the big picture, it wasn't that long ago that electricity was considered magic. We just need to understand the mechanics/chemistry of it all to define phenomenon in terms within our collective experience.
Damn it, JP, you stole my post!
ReplyDeleteI don't identify all spirituality with religion, or class all religious doctrines as equally destructive, but the worst do seem to drive out the somewhat better. I'd better save the rest of my ponderings for my own post.
ReplyDeleteDaddy seems to be right about this post pulling the comments! Just wanted to drop a quick note that I respect what you're saying, JP, and I'm glad you felt free to bow out. I'll look forward to your return for the next amenable topic!
ReplyDelete