I've written on here several times about how the Witnesses have a really shallow spirituality. Remember how there were spiritual activities, "sacred service" as it was often called - bible study, prayer, meetings and field service - and everything else was considered NOT a spiritual activity, not sacred service?
They toyed with expanding the 'sacred service' definition for a short time. I think Ray
Franz may have been responsible for that. It was quickly shot down.
But today I found the paragraph below, and it states exactly what I've come to find - that true spirituality has nothing to do with so-called "theocratic activities." It has everything to do with how we view and live life, how we deal with our fellow creatures and the earth itself. This was something I understood instinctively, and practiced to a degree, but didn't come to fully appreciate until I was no longer a Witness, and no longer a believer in god.
Here's the quote:
"What Western anthropologists noticed when they first studied the so-called primitive peoples (and they’re not really primitive, they’re just not as technologically sophisticated as we are) was that there was not a divide between activities that were sacred and activities that were profane. Life was knit into a fabric of meaning and ritual; even the most mundane acts were seen as part of a sacred existence and a higher purpose." From the sermon "The Spirituality of Basketball" by Unitarian Universalist minister Dr. Arvid Straube.
A "spiritual" JW answers from the paragraph at the meetings, gets out in service 10 hours a month, is at meetings 20 minutes before and after, and seldom misses a meeting. You see, it's all measured in activity, but so seldom did we ever discuss the mindfulness needed, the compassionate attitude that should be brought to all aspects of life, an attitude that could make EVERYthing a person did a spiritual activity.
It's why the Publisher's Record Card is so important in choosing an elder - it's his "performance" that is most important in far too many cases, and not the man's spirituality. It's why far too many elders are bullys and jerks.
It is strange that it was only when I left religion and stopped believing in a god that I began to fully begin to understand the true spiritual nature of humankind.
S4
As An Atheist: Finding Real Spirituality After JWs
by Seeker4 20 Replies latest jw friends
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Seeker4
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startingover
Great post S4
I had a young JW kid who I've know since he was born, and who just got married, tell me that he now had to watch out for his wife's "spirituality". Just like you mentioned above, I knew that he meant nothing more than the shallowness of making sure she got to the meeitings and out in service.
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JamesThomas
I agree. The smaller our concept of god (the divine and sacred), the larger the sphere of evil. Having no god, there is no definable edge to what can be viewed as sacred and divine.
j
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Satanus
For me, it's based on the premis that we are spirit, as well as mind and body. Just as there are exercises for the mind and body, there are things we can learn for our spirit. It has nothing to do w if there is a god or not.
S
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troubled mind
Being a JW can be hazardous to your spiritual health. When I was a young with small children I saw a need in our hall . There were several single mom's of limited income that needed encouraging association . Many of the sisters had candle parties , home interior parties , parties that put pressure on you to buy something . So these other sisters were feeling left out . So I started a kind of tea party that we just got together, no pressure to buy anything, shared some scriptures and association . The brothers put an end to it because of sharing spiritual food w/o a "penis" present . Really..... The first year after I was married I realized my hubby was not the spiritual head I had thought he was going to be . He never prayed or studied with me . I became so down hearted that I asked one of my girlfriends who was single if she would like to come over and study for meetings w/ me so I didn't have to do it alone . One night at the meeting I mentioned this as an encouraging way to prepare for meetings , and one of the Elders nearly bit my head off ! Because it is not a WTBTS sanctioned bible study , and because since I was married it was only proper for my husband and I to study together . Since this sister was a pioneer she was counciled against doing this too , better to be wasting time knocking @ not at homes than encouraging someone that has already been baptised . In recent years I saw efforts of my adolescent kids trying to show Christian love only to be knocked down a rung because it wasn't the JW way to do something . This finally convinced me that spirituality is not something the organization is really concerned with .
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lonelysheep
You see, it's all measured in activity, but so seldom did we ever discuss the mindfulness needed, the compassionate attitude that should be brought to all aspects of life, an attitude that could make EVERYthing a person did a spiritual activity.
And that is why it is so easy to be judgemental and harsh when engrossed in religion and even a diety belief, depending on a person's individual attitude.
It is strange that it was only when I left religion and stopped believing in a god that I began to fully begin to understand the true spiritual nature of humankind.
Here, here! I get better everyday. -
kid-A
"It is strange that it was only when I left religion and stopped believing in a god that I began to fully begin to understand the true spiritual nature of humankind."
Given that all human experiences, real or imagined, are ultimately reducible to neurochemical synaptic communication, I would be curious if anybody could provide a non-nebulous, meaningful definition of "spirituality" that can be demonstrated beyond mere sociocultural conditioning. We have now even identified the precise regions of the cerebral cortex responsible for generating so-called "religious" experiences.
IMHO, "spirituality" is just the ugly cousin of "theism" and spirituality by its very definition necessitates a belief in the supernatural, which would make a believer in said phenomena a "pan-deist" or possibly "agnostic" but certainly not an "atheist".
I would certainly agree their is a collective, sociocultural "spiritual" trait present in human culture, but I strongly disagree that there exists any intrinsic "spiritual" nature in modern homo sapiens that cannot be explained by cultural conditioning.
I would further add that those insisting on using terminology such as "spritual" or "divine essence", etc etc, are simply replacing one form of psychological anesthesia (belief in a sky-god) with another (belief in some ill-defined, nebulous "force" that represents some hypothetical "pure" essence)......
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startingover
Kid-A
Thanks for that post. I used to struggle with "spirituality' and what you said makes a whole lot of sense to me. I get frustrated when I hear people talking about their "spirituality" as I can no way relate to it. I too am of the opinion that cultural conditioning is at the base of it.
Even as a JW, the use of that word irritated me. I would never use it myself, but I felt inadequate because I couildn't. Glad those days are gone.
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proplog2
Kid-A:
Spirit and spirituatlity need to be tuned up for our modern day. Other words in that category are "sin", "faith" , "worship/religion" and "soul". These few words are probably responsible for 90% of the muddled thinking that persists even after people make a break from religion.
Sin = unnecessary selfishness. There is necessary selfishness.
Faith = contentment from some process state of inductive reasoning
Religion = Preservation of society.
Soul = Organism
Spirit = Information (neither matter or energy) most powerful force. It's everywhere.
Spirituality = the state of being receptive to information.
God = sum total of ALL information. Collective mind past, present, future.
Perhaps others here can add to this.
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Seeker4
kid-A,
Perhaps spirituality is the wrong word. I struggle with that, for just the reasons you write about.
Perhaps it might be better expressed as being connected with life, the world you live in, being in the here-and-now, awareness based on compassion for what is around you. I'm not exactly sure how to express it, but I see it as learning to live with as much awareness and respect and connectedness as possible.
I have no belief whatsoever in the supernatural, and I'm not talking about any connection with a "nebulous force" at all. Sam Harris attends Buddhist retreats, and perhaps he has or will write about this and put into better words what I'm trying to get at here.
I see it as a living philosophy, as opposed to a merely intellectual one. A way to live a life as fully alive as possible. No supernatural aspects at all.
Does that make any more sense as to what I'm getting at?
S4