On 23 Aug, 12:06, Sir Frederick
fuzzysys.com> wrote:
>>Never had one in my life - have had the 'experience' of being amongst
>>other people who are having religious experiences (prayer, communion
>>with God, baptism, etc). Â If I needed them, I'd surely be utterly
>>starved of my need, and hence dead by now.
>
> Please consider your experiences of "never", "life", and the quandaries of
> participating in alt.philosophy as "religious experiences". Other
> mundane activities such as "awe", "curiosity", and "sense of beauty"
Firstly, they are not 'boring' or 'mundane' activities by any stretch
of the imagination. Most human beings, after they've gone through
puberty, become less curious as they get older. Childhood is usually
the apotheosis of most humans 'curiosity'. Those who manage to retain
the habit of hanging a question mark at the end of some of our most
treasured beliefs are usually geniuses, like da Vinci, possibly the
most inquiring mind ever. And to attribute that inquiry, to insanity,
is not only malicious bad-faith, it irrationally condemns his
achievements.
A sense of beauty, if anything, is an 'aesthetic experience', not a
religious one. I am not sure about awe, but this seems to me to be
based upon the feelings of fear, something which religion has
exploited, so I am more in agreement with you about this one!
>
> etc. are the same. Confusing "religious experience" with "religion" is
> easy, but cultural constraints often confuse. Perhaps try "ephemeral
> experiences", or recognize that perhaps all sensor fields such as visual
> fields are as "visions".
