Push away at buttons, but do try to do so in a fashion which doesn't make yourself appear foolish; thus my comments about how dumb ass it is to be anti-intellectual.
- the fool isn't always the worst card in the pack you know
Nice to see you totally refuse to engage with my point; i.e., how unreasonable it is for those with little or no knowledge of a subject to try to engage in a meaningful discussion about it from the premise of "if I don't "get" or know something then it can't be so". No smart reply? Illustrative!
You see - I actually agree with you there. I think its good to go away, do a little reseach, have a think about it and then return with your answer. I didn't engage originally due to sheer laziness.
And please don't re-run the tired old myth of atheists/agnostics having no sense of spirituality. It's as hacknied and trite as white men having no rythm. Atheists and agnostics CAN have a sense of spirituality; it's just we look for slightly different explanations for these feelings instead of warming over millenia-old shamanistic nonsense.
I wouldn't say Shamans are completely nonsensical or brush off myths and folk legends as easy as you seem to do. I did think about accusing your heart of being a 'swinging-brick' and was going to add that you had a lack of warmth, but point taken, it isn't the best retort in the book.
Although we would probably have to dissect what 'spirituality' actually is first of all and then see if that quality could be applied from individual to individual.
I have learnt a lot at ocult forums; what I learnt was that not once, ever, in all of history, has any paranormal or occult happening been proved to have taken place to the standards that one would expect in a science lab or court of law. Doesn't mean they aren't 'real' outside of the minds of those experiencing them (and yes, it's easy to explain groups having the same perceptions without invoking the paranormal), just no one yet has proved they are real outside of the minds of those experiencing them.
Well, yes, I have seen you write that before at this forum and I would argue that I have evidence of "supernatural" activity, but nothing that would fully satisfy your scientific investigation, so therefore, you are more than welcome to dismiss it as figments of my own imagination and the imagination of others
I BELIEVE that there are other worldly intelligences operating and that we simply can't detect them due to our limited range of senses. I would base this around study, and having been involved with many people who have had bizarre encounters with what cannot easily be explained and these encounters ' appearing' to be of an intelligent/sentient origin.
Goes back to one of my original questions to you; how do you know you're not imagining things? Wishful thinking + enculturation? How come others have similar 'spiritual' experiences which contradict yours; are they right? Are you right? Are you both wrong? Hmmmm.... no answers?Avoiding a question which effects the credibility of your belief structure is an admission of the weaknesses of your belief structure.
See above in red.