Posted inPersonal/Stories

The relief of no longer believing in religion

Amazingly, and not a little scarily for me, I've written 2,194 Church of the Churchless posts since I started this blog in 2004.  I've covered lots of subjects. But an important topic hasn't gotten much attention from me. It's difficult to write about, being elusive, slippery, exceedingly personal, difficult to describe. What it feels like to (obviously) be the same person I was when I embraced a religion, yet now being a person who doesn't believe in what once was so important to me. It was difficult to compose those italicized words. Elucidating what they mean... even tougher.  I guess…
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Posted inGod

The answer to “Does God exist?” must be “No”

I'd expect better from a professor of philosophy than William Irwin's poorly reasoned essay in the New York Times, "God is a Question, Not an Answer."  I really have no idea how he can defend statements such as this: Dwelling in a state of doubt, uncertainty and openness about the existence of God marks an honest approach to the question. There is no easy answer. Indeed, the question may be fundamentally unanswerable. Huh, unanswerable?  Here's how the question of the existence of God is answered: with the best evidence available. This is how we humans answer all questions. There's no other…
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Posted inReligions Science

If words sound like spiritual drivel, they probably are

We've all heard lofty sounding spiritual phrases that initially seem like they mean something, but on further reflection are recognized as empty words. In one of his Scientific American Skeptic pieces,  "The True Meaning of BS," Michael Shermer uses Deepak Chopra as an example. Example: “Attention and intention are the mechanics of manifestation.” This is an actual tweet composed by Deepak Chopra, as quoted by University of Waterloo psychologist Gordon Pennycook and his colleagues in a paper published in the November 2015 issue ofJudgment and Decision Making. The scientists set out to determine “the factors that predispose one to become or to…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Profitable spiritual investing: do nothing extra in tough times

My churchless "sermon" this Sunday is based on an article in TIME magazine's March 28 issue, "In a turbulent stock market, the best investment move is the least obvious." This non-sacred secular scripture ends with a paragraph that has deep meaning for those of us -- which means all of us at some point -- who face difficult choices about how to deal with tough times in life. You can't avoid all the dangers that lurk in the global economy, but you can minimize their impact. Timing any market remains a fool's game. Another mistake, says Moskowitz, is that when…
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Posted inBuddhism

Meaningness site well worth an (uncertain) read

Back in 2011 I discovered David Chapman's "Meaningness" writings. In a blog post I praised Chapman's dizzying thoughts about what life is, and isn't, all about.  And shared what I said to the person who turned me on to the Meaningness site. Thanks a lot for the link. I've read several posts/chapters and am blown away by this guy. He's like a more intelligent, more scientific, more coherent, more wise version of me who also can write a heck of a lot better. And has a great sense of humor. I'm an instant David Chapman fan. Since, I've gotten Meaningness…
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Posted inReligions Science

Science’s “faith” is very different from religious faith

Great timing, Steve. Your comment today on my "Why 'man of faith' is an insult" post came soon after I'd come across a perfect reply. But first, the comment: Brian, thank you for taking a moment to respond to my post. I understand and agree with both of your references (although I have a special affinity for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream). Still, I'd like to understand your perspective on faith just a bit more. You indicate that neither of your examples require religious faith, and I agree with that premise. My question is this (and expanding upon your…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Disturbing Radha Soami Satsang Beas land grab in New Delhi

Here's some news items from 2013 and 2014 I've learned about for those who like to keep up on what's happening with an Indian guru-led spiritual organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). RSSB has been appropriating land from a wildlife sanctuary outside of New Delhi. The Hindustan Times reported on this in an April 2014 story,"Forest dept accuses spiritual body of land grab." Download Forest dept accuses spiritual body of land grab | india | Hindustan Times The Delhi centre of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) has occupied 123 acres of forest land, the forest department has alleged. The department…
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Posted inMorality Religions

Our modern secular world is safer and more moral

After reading Steven Pinker's book, "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined," my thoroughly atheist wife recently was moved to write a letter to the editor of our local newspaper, the Salem Statesman Journal. The claim that the 20th century was the most violent is not true. Most other scientific information shows that although the two world wars killed large numbers of humans, in terms of numbers of humans killed versus world populations at the time, this was actually mild compared with killings by Genghis Khan and others eons ago. Historic facts now known demonstrate that the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

A look at Radha Soami by a thoughtful sceptic

Wow. That was my thumbs-up one-word reaction to a well-written, cogent, intelligent, moving comment on a 2006 blog post, "Top ten signs you're a fundamentalist Satsangi." The writer put so much time and thought into the comment, right away I knew it deserved to be elevated into a blog post where it would be more visible.  So, here it is, below. Having been devoted to the Radha Soami philosophy myself for about 35 years, I resonated with much of what this person said. I didn't grow up in a Radha Soami family as the commenter did, so it was interesting…
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Posted inGod

Belief in God fades away gradually for many atheists

Do you believe in God?  This isn't an either-or question where the only possible answers are "yes" and "no." There are many shades of unbelieving and believing when it comes to God.  Many outwardly religious people aren't inwardly sure whether God exists. This includes a surprisingly large number of clergy.  Similarly, many atheists hold on to spiritual beliefs of one form or another, up to and including the possibility of a divine being or universal consciousness.  Personally, I've found that after 35 years of being a believer in an Eastern/Indian variety of religion, then becoming a spiritual sceptic, I've gone…
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Posted inReality Science

Understanding reality (including religion) is a matter of “likely”

After almost a dozen years of writing Church of the Churchless posts, and reading comments on them, I'm familiar with the arguments religious people use to justify their beliefs.  When I point out that there is no demonstrable evidence supporting a belief in God, heaven, soul, spirit, angels, the afterlife, or any other form of supernaturalism, frequently I'll hear something like this: Hey, Brian, you can't prove God doesn't exist, so there's no proof for your skeptical view either.  Thus, it's a tie! There's no proof God exists, and there's no proof God doesn't exist, so it's up to each…
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Posted inReligions

Why “man of faith” is an insult

So, I was browsing through the Sunday Oregonian a little while ago and came across a story about how recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered as a "man of faith" at his funeral.  This is a similar story I found on Google News, "Justice Scalia eulogized at funeral Mass as man of faith and man of law." Forever combative about the law, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Saturday as a man whose deeply held religious faith brought him peace. Rather than a star-studded funeral service featuring judges and politicians, Scalia’s sendoff at the…
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Posted inMorality Politics

An atheist Supreme Court justice would be great for the U.S.

Being a member of an oppressed minority -- atheists -- I'm totally on board with physicist Lawrence Krauss' call to put one of us on the Supreme Court, now that Antonin Scalia's death has created a vacancy.  Three per cent of Americans say that they are atheists—which means that there are more atheists than Jews in the United States. An additional four per cent declare themselves agnostic; as George Smith noted in his classic book “Atheism: The Case Against God,” agnostics are, for practical purposes, atheists, since they cannot declare that they believe in a divine creator. Even so, not…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Reality

The Cosmic Significance of how I get back to sleep

Here's how I ended my previous post, "When trying to get back to sleep: to think or not to think?" Now, does this insight have any Cosmic Significance regarding the Big Questions of Life? Damn, I sure hope so! But that's a subject for another blog post. I'm starting to feel sleepy... very sleepy... I don't want to leave the question of Cosmic Significance hanging out there. Sure, I might be the only person on Earth who cares about the answer. But since I'm pretty darn important to me (leaving aside the issue of whether there's any difference between us),…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories

When trying to get back to sleep: to think or not to think?

Having reached the venerable age of 67, I'm familiar with the Yes! Aha! feeling I frequently have when I ponder questions in the What Life is All About category.  Those Yes's/Aha's mean something to me, obviously, or I wouldn't feel so positive about them. But whether my personal mini-revelation resonates with anyone else... who knows?  Well, I'll get some clues if anybody leaves a comment on this post. So here goes my attempt to explain why getting back to sleep has become so interesting to me. Sleeping is very personal. Here's how it typically goes in my case. I drop…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Billionaire Shivinder Singh plans to volunteer for Indian guru

Recently someone left a comment on one of my blog posts that had a link to a story, "Shivinder Singh's ties with low-profile sect go beyond spirituality." Download Shivinder Singh’s ties with low-profile sect go beyond spirituality - Livemint The commenter said: Looks like Shivinder is on his way to become the next Guru ..... What do you think Brian and Dr. Lane? Well, I don't have an answer to that question, because I have no idea what is behind Shivinder's decision to give up being a billionaire Indian businessman and do volunteer work at the headquarters of a spiritual…
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Posted inReligions

Malheur Refuge militants praying to God while calling the FBI evil

There's high drama playing out here in Oregon right now. Four remaining armed militant militia members (is there any other kind?) who have taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County are now surrounded by the FBI, who apparently have moved in to within 50 feet of them with armored vehicles. The Oregonian newspaper has a story on this, which includes an embedded You Tube live audio feed of the militants talking among themselves, and to some supporters who currently are driving to the refuge from Portland.  The militants see themselves as Christians standing up for their twisted…
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Posted inReality

Since everything is “sacred,” no particular thing is

I liked this letter in New Scientist a lot. It won't please religiously-minded people, because religions like to divide the world into parts -- like sacred and profane, godly and devilish, spiritual and material.  That sort of thing. But as letter writer Howells says, the word universe starts with uni, one. Meaning, a whole. Once we start making manmade divisions such as sacred and profane, we're moving away from reality and into unproductive abstractions. Wisdom leads us to either think, everything is sacred or nothing is sacred. They really amount to the same thing. Read on to understand why. Editor's pick:…
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Posted inReligions

Atheism is perfect. So says David Silverman.

My wife, who in some ways has become even more fervently churchless than I am, was the one who recommended David Silverman's book to me. "Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World" takes no prisoners. After reading the first few chapters, I can tell that Silverman makes other anti-religion writers like Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens look like comparative pussies.  In the book's introduction, he says: But religion is not just incorrect, it is malevolent. It ruins lives, splits families, and justifies hatred and bigotry, all while claiming to be the source of morality.…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Another disillusioned RSSB devotee tells his deconversion tale

I'm a big fan of religious deconversions. They're just about as common as conversions, since few people stick with a chosen religion for their entire life.  (See here, here, here, here, and here.) Below is a mildly edited message that I got a few days ago from someone who has deconverted from the India-based religious/spiritual/mystical group I belonged to for many years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas. At the sender's request, who wishes to be anonymous, I took out names and other personal references. I also added in some explanations (in italics) for words that will be unfamiliar to most readers,…
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