On indiscriminate beliefs

Either people are plainly stupid or they are delusional.

Stupid?

Well, no doubt that there are stupid people out there. Stupid people don't even bother to try to rationalize frivolous ideas. They just seems to care little apart conforming to some general guidelines provided by society as what good people must do, answering survey accordingly and striving to fulfill basic satisfactions - like sex, good food, and having fun. This is what stupid people do, and I think they are a minority. Stupidity, should not be the average, but rather on the lower side of the so call IQ curve of the population. Stupid people don't care about any concept of existence or achievement in life. So my point is that the ones who strongly advocate ridiculous ideas - like astrology, creationism, 9-11 conspiracies - are far from being stupid.

Delusional!

Most people respond first to an emotional impulse. It is not about reason nor truth but about how a belief makes you feel. Afraid of dying? You will fall for Christianity because it provides you with an interesting solution for the after life – though I would personally choose the Muslim paradise which in many accounts is filled with sensual promises like sex slaves and river of wines, much sexier than angels singing on a cotton cloud. Investigating the truth is of absolutely no interest if you are looking for a cure for your anxiety. You don't care about truth. That is the key of any belief system: it feeds on emotions.

We seem to all more or less fall into a system of beliefs that makes us feel good. Extracting oneself from this set of mind seems quasi impossible.

What made me tick about beliefs emotional response? Penn and Teller’s show, Bullshit. Somehow, they did attack my own belief system and this was quite discomforting – yet exciting. Bullshit destroys any myths: left and right wing myth, hippie’s myths, geek myths, fashionable myths, ... Some of these I already knew were hoaxes like Alien abduction, Drug war, Alternative medicine, but I realized how fond of some other myths I was. Take as an example recycling and environmental activism. I am not convinced by their arguments against environmental activism – Penn and Teller tends to be provocative and shallow - but that is not the point. The point is that I Believed! As I was listening their show about recyclyin I was struck by the fact I could not counter attack any of their arguments. I have claimed to be an ecologist with no knowledge of the science of environment, nothing aside from the usual babbling of mainstream media.

I love nature. Summer vacations in national park are the best memory of my childhood: freedom, peace, happiness, fresh odors, lakes, fishing, wild berries, etc. Being ecological strongly resonate with my needs to connect to this childhood euphoria. Somehow, I also love apocalyptic stories - they are highly dramatic - so the extra ingredient of an ecological apocalypse triggers another strong emotional response in my body. Yes, this is a physical response. Furthermore, Scientifics are longing for an ecological utopia because it appears to put them in a position of power. Who has the authority to dispute ecological issues but scientists? As I still consider myself on the margin of the scientific community – because of my degree in physics, I probably enjoy the idea of a scientific meritocracy. Therefore here are three emotional weaknesses that led me to an ecological ideal without looking into the scientific facts. I became gullible to any ecological argument, because I like the idea of a 'rational' society based on the good will of protecting the environment.

A good friend of mine told me that she was a strict ecologist because it gave meaning to her life. Meaning? I have to admit, I feel the same. Since I am a natural skeptic, I don't completely foul myself.

Beware, I am not claiming that green politics is misleading. Of course not. Just that I don’t really know if it is or not. I am inclined to investigate and use my own reason to judge the issue. I have been challenge by a friend recently about global warming and I have been much more careful on this issue. To be honest, before my investigation started I was 110% convinced about global warning and its ill effects. Now, I am 90% convinced. Pretty high still, but not as faithful as I was. As I investigate further, I am likely to go either go back up to 95% or way down on the renegade side of the ecological spectrum.

Investigating my own beliefs takes an extraordinary amount of energy. And I do have the basic training in skepticism and know how to balance facts and fiction. Most people don't. Really. We go through an education system fashioned on old models striving to get people to believe what they are told, not to think for themselves. I could go on an on about the education system which despite all the reforms remains obsolete. The only thing the average student learns in school is how to get good grades – with a few encounters of extremely gifted professor which are not unlikely to transform the life of their pupil. Whoever would dare removing the grading system, would at last free children and future generation from faith and beliefs.

Therefore, most people are in a delusional state of mind that has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence. Reason does not overrule emotional responses yet. Basically, we are fouling ourselves.

Well, I have not said something very illuminating for the hardcore skeptic. However, any atheist striving for spirituality is likely to be as I am tortured between the beauty and elegance of rational thinking and the exquisite realm of emotional response. There might be a way to fulfill our emotional longings without impeeching our ability for reason. This is what I am looking for here: that way, that door, that space, of absolute emotional fulfillment. This would make sense to me as an atheist if I managed to so without creating beliefs that would impeach my own reason.

I am not alone

There are several web site about spiritual atheism. I am browsing, but so far have not find what I am looking for. I am looking for a deep deep very deep exhilaration. You know the kind of feeling you have when you feel in tune with the universe. So far, the best I have found is this:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229

I will investigate further my spiritual atheists peers. I am sure to find some friends at last!

I was told I should not say I am an atheist. This would be bad for business. Well, I have to say, I would rather not do business with people who have a problem with my choice of unfaith. So don’t worry, I have no intention to remain anonymous. I just need to translate my profile and choose a nice picture.

In the mean time: I am Marie-Louise Gariépy, videographer from Montréal, Québec, Canada. I hold a bachelor degree in physics.

Link no 1

Here is the first link I will add to my blog. Post-modernism is a starting point in my quest of a spiritual atheism. I shall study a bit of their ways and ideas.

So here is the link: Everything postmodern.

Why this blog?

Recently, I have been exposed to the ideas of neo-atheism. These ideas resonate strongly with my own convictions. Yet, for some reason, I have been somewhat ashamed to be an atheist in last five years of my life. One of the main reasons is that I did not want to shut myself from any spiritual connections. I have read the bible not to point out to Christians all the parts that don’t make sense but because I thought it was an interesting story and some parts were quite inspiring. I am very found of the most atheist book of the bible: the ecclesiastic. At the same time, I don’t read the bible as the book of God, I don’t think God must exist to explain our mere existence nor does the universe behaves according to the wishes of any God –well, we will have to define God because yes, the constants of the universe could be seen as God but most people would not think that 7 or 8 numbers are the definition of God.

In similar manners, I have been drawn to learn about different religions, not so much to find faith in another culture but out of some anthropological curiosity. I am right now trying to read the Koran. So far, I am still wondering what is so appealing in that book. I feel it is too much like the Leviticus, a book of rules. This does not resonate well with me as I striving for freedom, not conformity in my life. In a way, I do recognize that the suspension of freedom is a possible way to gain a state of enlightenment.

Buddhism is always given as an example of a perfect religion for atheists because it would be more a philosophy than a religion. However, I found Buddhists extremely puzzling. They seem to force themselves into love and good feelings. I do like meditation and Buddhist are very found of this technique. Also, the simplicity of Zen Buddhism is for me a wonderful source of inspiration. Scientific minds consider simplicity as always more graceful and elegant. Hinduism in its balance between good and evil, in its acknowledgement of creation and destruction remains one of my favorite religions. Its complexity made of various legends and myths provides an interesting ground for creative minds.

Yet all these religion are a bit annoying when it comes to the status of women. Even in a modernize cult, old texts and legends need triple interpretation in order to expurgate them from any trace of sexism. As a kid, I remember being unable to read further Genesis as the treatment of Eve seemed unfair to me – especially since I thought God to be so malicious to forbid the tree of knowledge, but I will come back to that in other posts. These feeling drove me to be curious about some primitive religions, in particular matrilineal cult. Again, my interest was not driven by a quest to gain faith but more out of excitement about fantastic stories. The myth of Inanna going down to hell to overthrow her sister is one of my favorite.

Being an atheist seems to be a flaw in the spiritual world. You feel like the policemen banging at the door of a huge party. I did hide my feelings and belief. In truth, I don’t think I need to go to a Buddhist meditation and tell everyone that I don’t believe in God, after life, reincarnation nor any supernatural phenomena. I have a real respect for whatever men or women can create and entertain with their imagination. I don’t despise – anymore – spiritual mind creations, though I do agree with neo-atheists that there is one step between indiscriminate belief systems and ideologies leading to a greater harm. At the same time, I don’t want to behave as a hypocrite. I want people to understand that I am an atheist but I won’t fight spirituality for the sake of fighting it. My goal is to find my true nature and to achieve freedom of my soul. I use that word because for me it is a very powerful description of a mental state. I just don’t think a soul can be separated from the body.

This is a very succinct description of my feelings. With my recent exposure to neo-atheists ideas, I came to a conclusion that we must look at spirituality on a different angle. As weird as it may seem, I am strongly convinced that there is a space where atheist and sincere religious people can meet. This space is somehow similar to a double state phenomena of quantum physics, were a cat is dead and alive at the exact same time. The purpose of my blog is to explore that space. Of course, this exploration will take many form: art, philosophy and science.

French is my mother tongue. Therefore, I am likely to make some mistakes. Writing this blog in English support two goals. First, I want to improve my English written skills as I am trying to write scripts in English. Second, I hope to reach a wider audience. Feel free to correct some mistakes I could make to help me improve myself.

If you are a strict religious person trying to impose your dogma or perception of religion upon us, I don’t care about your point of view, don’t bother. This blog is a place of exploration for atheists with a longing for spirituality and for spiritual people looking for truth in a rational matter. I will quite freely delete any messages that try to argue in favor of God as a rational truth as well as message that provide nothing to the discussion.

I am a convinced atheist and I probably know more about religion than you do about science so get your basis on evolution and physics before trying to preach to me.