You probably have twigged to the fact that I am a philosophy buff, although I could claim to be a philosopher in that historical that simply meant anyone who studies philosophy, but I don’t. I read philosophical works almost constantly.
Recently I have been made aware of a cadre of serious philosophers who claim that atheists, like me, live only partial lives because we lack the numinous or transcendent aspects that religious worship provides.
numinous: : supernatural, mysterious. 2. : filled with a sense of the presence of divinity : holy. 3. : appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense : spiritual. (Thanks Merriam-Webster)
transcendent: 1. : superior to or going beyond the usual : extraordinary. 2. : going beyond the limits of ordinary experience. (Again Merriam-Webster)
They argue that humans around the world feel the feelings they associate with divinity, the supernatural, etc. so the need those things fulfill must be significant.
Really?
I suggest that people all over the world frequently feel the need to take a shit, so is that super special too? Oh, that is ordinary. But if all people around the world fill some need as claimed, is that not ordinary, too?
And how transcendent can such things be if the need is fulfilled by imaginary entities? There are currently over 3000 gods being “worshipped” on Earth and at least 4000+ over human history. There are myriad religions. In the case of Christianity over 40,000 sects, or denominations if you will, have been characterized, each claiming to be unique, not like the others, and in effect superior to the others. (Note—the correct term is sect but many people think that term is negative when it is, in fact, neutral and denomination is just a name or designation like a name, i.e. a named thing: from Latin dēnōminātiōn- (stem of dēnōminātiō “calling something by other than its proper name, substitution, metonymy,” equivalent to dēnōmināt(us) + -iōn-; denominate, -ion).)
Now, “going beyond the limits of ordinary experience” . . . imagination . . . hmm. What is imagination but a mental ability to . . . wait for it . . . go beyond the limits of ordinary experience. So, imagining gods, pixies, sprites, cherubs, angels, gods, etc. seems like just manifestations of imagination and nothing real.
And imagining is not just a rational exercise. We can imagine up emotional reactions, too. We can imagine the terror of being bombed from the skies, or catching a deadly fever, or being bitten by a poisonous snake or the terror of having a heart attack with no medical help nearby, or . . . I think you get the idea. (Many very well-to-do Americans are terrified of dying, for example, which of course has to be imagined because no one alive has experienced it (in toto, anyway).)
The whole benefit of imagination to our species is we don’t have to try out every hair-brained idea that comes to mind to figure out if it is viable, e.g. “If I run and jump off of this cliff I will be able to fly!” Running this scenario in your imagination results in your body in a broken heap at the bottom of the cliff, so . . . bad idea.
So, are we capable of imagining “appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense.” And then imagining that feeling coming from a deity who loves and protects us? Easy peasy, I think. As I have argued before all of this is supported by the very human need to feel “special,” all evidence from the Church Lady to the contrary.
“Now, isn’t that special!”
And how important can the need for transcendence in our lives be if the need is easily fulfilled by imaginary entities? Are we not just worshipping our imaginations and the imaginings of others?
And, trust me, I have a cartoon mind. I am not missing out on transcendent thoughts. As to “numinous,” this word is an expression of an industry, the religious industry, which sells worship, gods, afterlives, for the low, low cost of . . . ten percent of your income, your time, effort, obedience, etc. This is a made up word describing a sense also made up, all with a sales pitch in mind.
I used to love sojourns into the Sierra Nevada mountains. Once alone I always felt small, but part of something very large, called nature. That I had a place in nature. I could be food for a hungry mountain lion, or pick up some seeds in my boots and carry them to places where they can geminate and thrive.
I wonder how many philosophers were raised with no religious indoctrination, indoctrinations which told them how and what to feel, how to act, etc. Part of the manipulation involved music, especially communal singing. All jokes regarding the quality of singing congregations aside, communal singing is a powerful bonding exercise for any group, as is communal chanting, a practice around the world of religious acolytes. Just the communal activities undertaken with members of a “special” group (you were told it was special by your parents, so it had to be, no?) results in bonding to the group. Members of religious groups are often forbidden from attending religious services of other groups, or any activities of those other groups, because everybody’s bonding techniques are roughly the same. The differences between the new experience and the old ordinary one in your own church may make the “new” seem superior.
While these philosophers can argue, they really have no ammunition in their guns to fight out disagreements, because we are talking about the realm of the imagination and it possesses no bounds.
They also tend to roll out the tired old “meaning of life tropes.” No one has yet established that life has any meaning outside of what individuals create for themselves, nor do they establish how it is that religions have any better perspective on such questions than, for example, philosophy. (Maybe, “I was having a beer with God the other night and He told me. . . .) Philosophy was created around hashing out such questions and philosophy has never satisfactorily answered any of these so-called “big questions,” so why do they think imaginary religions can?
Oh, the Irony, the Irony!
Tags: Chrsitian nationalists, corruption, Donald Tump, liars for Jesus, Mafia Don, politics, religion, Republicans
Are the Christian Nationalists deluded? Well, yes, but they have had help. I recently ran across this statement in a post in The Guardian:
According to Jews and Christians, it was King Cyrus of Persia that enabled the “Return” of exiled Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem (ca. 539 BCE), along with providing funds to rebuild the temple to Yahweh in Jerusalem. They refer to the “Cyrus Cylinder” as proof. This clay cylinder was found buried in the foundation of a building near Babylon. It was the habit of the powers that were to place such cylinders in those places, much like we do time capsules now, but back then these were a form of propaganda, so if the building were demolished, who built it in the first place would become known.
If you read this “scroll” it refers to a pronouncement of King Cyrus to rebuilt the temple . . . of Marduk, and not only that but the temples of many lesser gods in the surrounds of Babylon. It does not even mention the Hebrews or Jerusalem.
From its earliest times, the Hebrews were prolific liars and Christians adopted the same practices. Facts were made to be spindled, folded, bent, mutilated, or whatever to fit the company line. Propaganda was invented as an advertising technique in the early 1900s. It had been practiced for all of human history.
So, it is fitting that Mr. Trump, one of the most prodigious liars and supporters of fake news is supported by the Christian nationalists who come from a long line of liars and shapers of history to fit their desires.
They deserve one another.
Postscript The Christian nationalists are a real danger. They want to replace our democracy with a theocracy. They base this claim on the “fact” that the creators of the Constitution were Christians. By this logic, if makers of horse harness were Christians, that would make those harnesses Christian harnesses. If your baker was a Christian, that would make the bread he made Christian bread. And, if your abortionist were a Christian that would make your abortion a Christian abortion. No?
These people are dangerous liars and are to be weeded out of our society. If conservatives want to weed out Muslims carrying signs “Death to America!” then they should also be opposed to Christian nationalists carrying signs that say “Death to Democracy.”