Atheism - Obvious Default?

[HansMustermann]

TBH, I would rather people just called it "awe and wonder" rather than try to redefine a loaded word like "spirituality". The reason being that the latter has had something like two millennia of loaded religious meaning, ranging from how to perfectly save your soul to outright mysticism nonsense, and is still used in that way by most people. It never meant just sensing awe when listening to an organ piece in an awesome cathedral, but rather the part where you listen to the sermon, worry about your place in connection with God, and try to brown nose God properly in that cathedral. Trying to redefine the word is just adding confusion.

Trying to go "I'm spiritual too, but I'm an atheist" strikes me as being about on par with trying to go "I'm a nazi too, but I'm not a racist" to try to fit in with that gang too

But then words change meaning all the time, so, meh, I'm not particularly miffed about any one word being used wrong either. Not gonna play the dictionary nazi, basically.

 

[HansMustermann]

I don't know, I think there have been many more credible stories of others trying to save the world, since Jesus was supposedly doing his thing.

Yes, well, considering that I don't believe in a Historical Jesus in the first place, that was supposed to be the joke. But I guess it wasn't a good joke if I have to explain it

 

[Apathia]

TBH, I would rather people just called it "awe and wonder" rather than try to redefine a loaded word like "spirituality". The reason being that the latter has had something like two millennia of loaded religious meaning, ranging from how to perfectly save your soul to outright mysticism nonsense, and is still used in that way by most people. It never meant just sensing awe when listening to an organ piece in an awesome cathedral, but rather the part where you listen to the sermon, worry about your place in connection with God, and try to brown nose God properly in that cathedral. Trying to redefine the word is just adding confusion.

Trying to go "I'm spiritual too, but I'm an atheist" strikes me as being about on par with trying to go "I'm a nazi too, but I'm not a racist" to try to fit in with that gang too

But then words change meaning all the time, so, meh, I'm not particularly miffed about any one word being used wrong either. Not gonna play the dictionary nazi, basically.

So much baggage with the words, even in Buddhism, so that using the terms is like "putting new wine in the old wine skins." But secular Buddhists (That's a thing.) make do.

 

[ehhz]

TBH, I would rather people just called it "awe and wonder" rather than try to redefine a loaded word like "spirituality".

How about "urge" or "striving"?

The reason being that the latter has had something like two millennia of loaded religious meaning, ranging from how to perfectly save your soul to outright mysticism nonsense, and is still used in that way by most people.

Regrettably.

It never meant just sensing awe when listening to an organ piece in an awesome cathedral, but rather the part where you listen to the sermon, worry about your place in connection with God, and try to brown nose God properly in that cathedral.

That is surprisingly correct, it's supposed to be a mental activity. Plato and Cusanus claimed that a stimulated memory was the cause of devout feeling when gazing upon something they recognized.

Trying to redefine the word is just adding confusion.

This is true in most cases, but I think certain words can still be reclaimed from ecclesiastical circles, such as "esoteric". Some words merely need to be de-Latinized and rendered in their original Greek. The word "occult" can be dispensed with, however, since much of the knowledge has become public.