Atheist Guys and Spiritual Guys

Spiritual atheist vs spiritual 03An atheist friend says the existence of a spiritual realm is horse pucky. And he may be right, in a be careful what you wish for kind of way.

My friend is both an atheist and a scientist, the poor bastard, and when he insists there is no God, he may be creating his own self-imposed reality.

“But why, Mr. Wizard?”

“Well, Little Timmy, it’s because the physical and the spiritual are manzanas and naranjas.”

“What?”

“Apples and oranges, and the whole thing has become very, very confused.”

For many, the physical realm and the spiritual realm exist completely apart from one another.  The spiritual realm suffers the big disadvantage of not being quantifiable, even to religious people. Nobody can measure or weigh it. You need to have determination just to believe it exists in the first place. It requires eye-scrunching prayer and that most illogical of all human concepts – faith.

Those rooting for the spiritual team are on pretty shaky ground. That’s why they can’t nominate God for president or even get a manger scene going in the park.

How did this happen? How did the physical and spiritual parts of life get so separated? Who did it, godless liberals? Well, yes of course (smiley face), but really and truly it happened long before God even created godless liberals.

The separation is unfortunate. Every spiritual person alive is painfully aware of the barriers between humans and God. Most faiths understand God was easily perceived by the first created beings in a kind of Eden-like setting. However there was some kind of falling out or betrayal or whatever, way back at the beginning, and now all we see around us is physical stuff. This is the spiritual understanding of what went down.

From the purely physical perspective it’s like, what God? Sure it’s a crappy world, but we did it ourselves, and God is not involved.

Spiritual my precious (JPG)

PHYSICAL WORLD: One-stop shopping

Think of the physical world as a self-contained sphere. Everything inside it can be measured in some way. You tap on it and it makes noise. It sizzles when you fry it. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.

A person can be born, raised, educated, get that dream date to the prom, have a ton of friends and find love and happiness completely within this realm. And when they die, they just go poof.

Personally I think that, by their insistence on oblivion, they will get the reality they request. And poof it is. If someone wants the other side of life to be devoid of all consciousness, they don’t need my approval for that to be the case for them, but I give it anyway. Is this a great country or what?

The well-mannered among the strictly physical will not badger you about there being no realm of the spiritual, and they will shut the door in the face of religious types who rudely demand they “see the light.” Can’t say as I blame them.

Seen on the internet: “Being an atheist is kind of like being the only sober person in the car, but nobody will let you drive.”

Heathens have always had the best one-liners.

Spiritual spirit world (JPG)

SPIRITUAL WORLD: Due to the unfortunate separation of the physical and spiritual, we can’t easily see spirit. So through the ages, we have depicted it with art that is way cool and dreamy.

Now think of the spiritual world as its own sphere. In it are God, heaven with angels, and hell with boogeymen. You can also include the spirits of the dearly departed. Spiritual people claim this stuff is real. Fine.

The advantage held by spiritually-oriented people is they’re also okay with the physical world because they live in it. For them, the physical and spiritual world are two spheres that overlap (either a little or a lot), and people are both physical and spiritual beings at the same time. For these people, there is little or no separation between the physical and spiritual realms, and many have no problem reconciling the compatibility of religion and science.

It seems logical to me that a spiritual person, who acknowledges both realms, has the most resources available to them and the widest range of options. In my life I have seen, felt, touched and otherwise tasted the spiritual. I know that place; I know those guys. We interact all the time. My intuition tells me that my life on Earth, no matter how brutal it is to my sensibilities, is preparation for that spiritual world. I know that realm to be exquisitely beautiful. It is also exists eternally. Most important, it is real.

On the other hand, my physically-oriented friends say they are the ones who have the advantage because they are not hampered by the sky-pie delusions of spiritual folks.

That’s okay. We can all be friends. If someone tells you there is no spiritual realm, don’t argue with him if you are not part of his worldview. Likewise, if someone says I guarantee there is a God, don’t hassle him if it’s not your turf. Debate utterly fails with both types of people, so forget it.

What each one can do for the other type of person is love them. Just do that much. I will love you who denies what they can’t see or feel in the moment. And you will love me in my dewy-eyed perkiness as I lean on my superstitions like Tiny Tim’s crutch.

Speaking of whom…

“But golly, Mr. Wizard, can’t a scientist believe in the physical and spiritual worlds at the same time?”

“You betcha, Little Timmy.”

It’s a separate essay, but plenty of scientists also acknowledge God, and are aware that existence has a spiritual dimension. There are scientists who say that the God who invented religion, is the very same God who invented physics, chemistry and, yes, evolution. There, I said it. I find no incompatibility between a creator and evolution. Again, a separate essay.

Everyone has a lifetime lasting between one second and a hundred years. That’s how much time each person has to come to their own freely arrived at decision as to where they stand on existence’s big-ticket item:  To go poof or to not go poof, that is the question.

I think you will get whichever your consciousness and soul demand.

I arrived at these conclusions through the use of my intellect, and prayer, during my shower yesterday. Your mileage may vary.

Larry Moffitt
Nov 13, 2013

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Author:Larry Moffitt

Larry Moffitt seems like someone who would be smarter than he actually is. He has visited nearly eighty countries in the past four decades. From the Amazon River to North Korea, from Angola to Guatemala to Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, he has mispronounced his way around the world, eating the unidentifiable, pondering... you know... stuff. Mile markers along his life's path include: husband and father, farmer and beekeeper, fiction writer, editor, blogadero, amateur chef, stand-up comedian and so-so poet. His idea of a perfect existence would be to walk around all day, without a tie, and talk with people about God. He and his wife, Taeko (Honey Nim), have five grown children and live in Bowie, Maryland.

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