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When you cannot find something inside something you can try looking outside where you were looking for answers. In my experience, my spiritual health, acceptan

When you cannot find something inside something you can try looking outside where you were looking for answers. In my experience, my spiritual health, acceptances, lack of rejecting bad (and source of) things is the direct cause of all negative thoughts, feelings. Reject the bad, false, negativity, darkness and move toward the love, true, light and goodness. When I was depressed, only spiritual teachings, love and God moved me nearer good feelings and comfort.

rpastuszak 4y ago
For the love of God and all that is holy, please stop.
- NateEag 4y ago
  What did you find objectionable or offensive in the grandparent post?
  - rpastuszak 4y ago
    > When I was depressed, only spiritual teachings, love and God moved me nearer good feelings and comfort. This is a potentially dangerous statement. Many of the people reading this thread are probably struggling which makes them more vulnerable to snake oil. Talk to a priest if you like, but seek help from a trained specialist.
    - NateEag 4y ago
      I strongly agree that spiritual-sounding platitudes can be a dangerous stand-in for actual mental health assistance. I grew up in conservative evangelical Christianity and saw that happen far too often. I don't see how the OP describing his own experience is telling other people they should do that. He offered spirituality as an option, and said it was the only one he'd found helpful. I think that's an unusual experience, and I understand your concerns about it potentially misleading others into thinking it's the only legitimate path, but I don't think saying "Stop sharing your personal experience!" is actually going to help anyone. Explaining your concerns, like you did for me above, seems much more likely to. Thanks for doing that.
nobody9999 4y ago
>Reject the bad, false, negativity, darkness and move toward the love, true, light and goodness. When I was depressed, only spiritual teachings, love and God moved me nearer good feelings and comfort. I'm glad that works for you, and I encourage you to do those things that make your life better. As an empiricist, for me "spirituality" is just a trope that many use as a crutch (which can be very useful to some). There is only the natural (nothing "super" about it) world. There is no "spirit" or "soul" that defines us separately from our physical existence (i.e., I reject the concept of Mind-Body Dualism[0]) And the "God" you mention is just an imaginary sky daddy, whose inscrutable "motives" are generally co-opted[1] by the opportunistic to gain acceptance from those who have such beliefs. I prefer to create meaning from the natural world and take great comfort in the vastness and incredible beauty, variety and complexity of the universe as it actually is, rather than the, unsupported by evidence and often manipulative, ideas around the existence of supernatural beings/causes/effects. All that said, what's most important is (by one's individual estimation) living a happy, satisfying life. If others require beliefs I reject to do so, I have no issue with that. We all need to make our own (whether good or bad) decisions about what constitutes a "happy, satisfying life." And while expressing opinions about that is certainly reasonable and expected, attempting to force[2][3] those opinions on others is wrong. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_dualism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_dualism [1] https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/religion-and-slavery https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/applied-and-social-scie... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Health_Organization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Hea...
- mx24 4y ago
  >I prefer to create meaning from the natural world and take great comfort in the vastness and incredible beauty, variety and complexity of the universe as it actually is, rather than the, unsupported by evidence and often manipulative, ideas around the existence of supernatural beings/causes/effects. If your life is so meaningful why are you taking so much time to prove how rational and knowledgeable you are? I mean are the references linked above really necessary? You sound like a teenager that just discovered Atheism.

rpastuszak 4y ago

For the love of God and all that is holy, please stop.

NateEag 4y ago
What did you find objectionable or offensive in the grandparent post?
- rpastuszak 4y ago
  > When I was depressed, only spiritual teachings, love and God moved me nearer good feelings and comfort. This is a potentially dangerous statement. Many of the people reading this thread are probably struggling which makes them more vulnerable to snake oil. Talk to a priest if you like, but seek help from a trained specialist.
  - NateEag 4y ago
    I strongly agree that spiritual-sounding platitudes can be a dangerous stand-in for actual mental health assistance. I grew up in conservative evangelical Christianity and saw that happen far too often. I don't see how the OP describing his own experience is telling other people they should do that. He offered spirituality as an option, and said it was the only one he'd found helpful. I think that's an unusual experience, and I understand your concerns about it potentially misleading others into thinking it's the only legitimate path, but I don't think saying "Stop sharing your personal experience!" is actually going to help anyone. Explaining your concerns, like you did for me above, seems much more likely to. Thanks for doing that.

nobody9999 4y ago

>Reject the bad, false, negativity, darkness and move toward the love, true, light and goodness. When I was depressed, only spiritual teachings, love and God moved me nearer good feelings and comfort. I'm glad that works for you, and I encourage you to do those things that make your life better. As an empiricist, for me "spirituality" is just a trope that many use as a crutch (which can be very useful to some). There is only the natural (nothing "super" about it) world. There is no "spirit" or "soul" that defines us separately from our physical existence (i.e., I reject the concept of Mind-Body Dualism[0]) And the "God" you mention is just an imaginary sky daddy, whose inscrutable "motives" are generally co-opted[1] by the opportunistic to gain acceptance from those who have such beliefs. I prefer to create meaning from the natural world and take great comfort in the vastness and incredible beauty, variety and complexity of the universe as it actually is, rather than the, unsupported by evidence and often manipulative, ideas around the existence of supernatural beings/causes/effects. All that said, what's most important is (by one's individual estimation) living a happy, satisfying life. If others require beliefs I reject to do so, I have no issue with that. We all need to make our own (whether good or bad) decisions about what constitutes a "happy, satisfying life." And while expressing opinions about that is certainly reasonable and expected, attempting to force[2][3] those opinions on others is wrong. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_dualism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_dualism [1] https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/religion-and-slavery https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/applied-and-social-scie... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Health_Organization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Hea...

mx24 4y ago
>I prefer to create meaning from the natural world and take great comfort in the vastness and incredible beauty, variety and complexity of the universe as it actually is, rather than the, unsupported by evidence and often manipulative, ideas around the existence of supernatural beings/causes/effects. If your life is so meaningful why are you taking so much time to prove how rational and knowledgeable you are? I mean are the references linked above really necessary? You sound like a teenager that just discovered Atheism.