Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Determinism and hope are good substitutes for karma and faith

I've always been scientifically-minded. What's changed is that I've realized the absurdity of trying to cram Eastern (or Western, for that matter) supernaturalism into a scientific worldview.  For example, when I was a devotee of an India-based spiritual group, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, I wrote a book for RSSB called "Life is Fair." It set forth a karmic justification for vegetarianism. Much of the book talked about the positive health effects of being a vegetarian rather than a meat eater. But some of the book discussed karmic theory in which causes and effects carry over from one life to another…
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Posted inUncategorized

No, faith isn’t better than doubt. Here’s why.

When I saw the title of a New York Times opinion piece, "How Can I Possibly Believe That Faith Is Better Than Doubt?", I was pretty sure that I was going to disagree with it.  After reading what Peter Wehner wrote, I know that I disagree with him. Here's what rubbed me the wrong way in Wehner's essay. Let's start with this paragraph.But faith itself, while not the converse of reason, is still distinct from it. If it seems like that’s asking too much — if you think leaps of faith are for children rather than adults — consider this: Materialists,…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

What if Jesus died on the cross and was dead forever?

Since I'm an atheist who doesn't believe in Christianity or any other religion, I'm free to imagine alternatives to theological myths that would be more beneficial to society. For example, Jesus dying on the cross and then remaining dead.  I'd find this way more inspiring than the Biblical story of his subsequent resurrection. Sure, dying on a cross so that the sins of humankind can be washed away is an admirable thing to do. But Jesus' sacrificial altruism is markedly lessened if we assume that the final outcome was being brought back to life and spending eternity with God in…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Heart and head need to find agreement

I'm a big fan of Jack Haas' book, "The Way of Wonder." Click on that link to a Facebook post by Haas and you'll be able to read it. For free. Recently I came across an interesting comment by Chad Royer on a post on Haas' Facebook page. I don't claim to understand everything Royer says below, but maybe that's why I like what he said. Give it a read. I wrote the following to a friend who posted on FB “Never let your head overthrow your heart.”  (This was shortly before reading your book.)  I'd say the reverse is…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories

Here’s my darkly humorous irreligious 2017 Christmas letter

Old habits die hard. I still write a Christmas letter for my wife and me. Except we call it "Holiday Greetings."  Below is  the 2017 letter that I wrote last night. Oh, as long as I'm blogging... I'm not a strong law-and-order guy, so I'm not going to strictly enforce the commenting rule that I talked about in my previous blog post. I simply am hoping that Church of the Churchless commenters will keep preachiness to a minimum, and use the Open Thread for drastically off-topic comment conversations. Our Christmas letter can be viewed two ways: PDF: 2017 Laurel and…
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Posted inComments

Please keep comments on-topic

Reminder: as noted in Open Thread 11, comments on a post need to be related to the topic of a post. Don't veer off into using a comment as a way to preach about how wonderful your chosen faith is, or talking about some other subject. It's irritating for a reader of a blog post to click on comments, then find a bunch of irrelevant comment conversations. Use an Open Thread to talk about whatever you want (there should be an Open Thread showing in the Recent Posts section in the right sidebar). 
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Posted inComments Open Threads

Open Thread 11 (free speech for comments)

It's been a while, but Open Thread has been resurrected. This blog has been getting comments that don't fit with the topic of the post in which the comment was made.

So here's another Open Thread (previous OTs are still open, of course). Leave a comment about anything you want to talk about. I'll try to remember to always have an Open Thread showing in the Recent Posts section in the right sidebar.

Comments on other posts need to be related to the subject of the post, or they will be candidates for deletion. So an Open Thread is the place for pro-religion remarks and whatever. 

No PreachingBack in 2015 I wrote "No preachiness" reminder for commenters. Click on that link to learn what is acceptable as a comment on a post other than an Open Thread. I'll also copy in that post below for easy reading.

 
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Posted inPersonal/Stories

“The Prize,” my ready-to-steal spiritual screenplay idea

I've never written a screenplay. I've only read one screenplay. But I know from watching TV and movies that pitches for screenplays often take the form of X meets Y. And I can do that much. The Da Vinci Code meets Contact. There... million dollar screenplay contract, please. Major movie studios can reach me at the email address in the right sidebar. But actually I'm fine with someone stealing my idea, which is a mixture of spiritual (a la The Da Vinci Code) and far-out scientific (a la Contact), since I'd love to see the movie that I'm unable to…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

1986 murder of two RSSB initiates raises serious spiritual questions

I just came across a LA Weekly story, "A 1986 Murder Cold Case in the Mojave Desert is Finally Unraveling," about the gruesome killing of two members of an Indian spiritual organization that I used to belong to, Radha Soami Satsange Beas.    Here's some excerpts from the well-written piece about the disappearance of Barry and Louise Berman, whose bodies were found almost three years later after heavy rains uncovered a skull seven miles from a remote campground. The late summer of 1988 brought flash flooding to Saline Valley. On Nov. 12, 1988, a hiker stumbled upon a human skull.…
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Posted inBuddhism

Donald Trump has some (mild) Buddhist leanings

OK, I get what this guy is saying in "Donald Trump, Accidental Buddhist." Let's just stress the accidental. Have a read on the New York Times site.  Or, the piece is short, so I've shared it below.        Donald Trump, Accidental Buddhist By BEN DOLNICKDEC. 7, 2017 Donald Trump is the contemporary master of a little-used literary device: the narcissistic third person. On the indictment of Paul Manafort: “There’s not even a mention of Trump in there.” On the possibility of Russian interference in the 2016 election: “Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?” Even his very first…
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Posted inReality Religions

How deluded are you? (If you’re religious, you’ll score higher.)

The most recent issue of New Scientist has a story called "Delusional You." The online version is differently titled: Grand delusions: Why we all believe the weirdest things. Now, most of us consider that it is other people who are deluded, and that we're an exception, being nicely connected to reality. Which, I suppose, is another delusion. Here's an excerpt from the story. That we are all prone to delusions may not be so surprising. A range of cognitive biases makes the human mind fertile soil for growing all kinds of irrational beliefs. Confirmation bias, for example, means we ignore inconvenient…
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Posted inDeath/Rebirth

Death and non-existence is scary. Not facing reality, even scarier.

I'm afraid of death. This is natural. It is normal for a living being to try to cling to life and avoid death for as long as possible.  But as I wrote about twelve years ago in "Death and the primal fear of nonexistence," I regularly get glimpses into what it means to not exist forever. I don't mean a glimpse into the actuality of non-existence, because I won't be around to experience either that, or anything. What I feel is an existential terror that seems different to me from a fear of dying. It is the stark reality that…
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