Reply #2: Very good question! [View All]

[InvisibleTouch]

I only have a couple of minutes this morning, so I won't go into a lot of detail (and later will probably kick myself for forgetting to mention some important concept), but this is my viewpoint: theology-wise I would call myself an atheist, as that's the closest pidgeonhole I can find, but it's not entirely accurate since I do believe in a "life force" that pervades the universe - not a consciousness, exactly, and certainly not a personal individual god or gods, but a living energy, which can be tapped into. I also believe that natural features have a "presence" of sorts that can be communed with (but I also fully acknowledge that the mind can easily fool itself, and what I've perceived as a "presence" when crossing a great river, for instance, or standing at a seashore, may very well just be my own imagination). My educational background is scientific, but I've long understood that science as we know it today doesn't and cannot tell the whole story. I respect the beliefs of others as long as they don't try to force them on me, as I have a great interest in what other people believe, what works for them, and I'm big on taking bits and pieces of concepts and applying them to my own life where they work, without necessarily subscribing to a whole belief system. Thus I feel that there's a lot of wisdom in the metaphysics community, for instance, but their interpretation of the world is narrow, just like any organized religion's interpretation of the world is narrow. Most of them contain some element of "the truth," whatever that may be, but the whole story is not what anyone thinks it is.

Okay, so that's where I'm coming from. What's sacred to me? First and foremost, personal loyalty. The fundies like to say that without a religious structure, there can be no morals, but that's complete bunk. "Morals" are guidelines and social norms that allow us to live in a community, and that's been shaped by thousands, even millions, of years of evolution. Those who can't function in a group, have been weeded out over time. A lot of what we call "morality" and "altruism," in an arrogant human attempt to look down upon other animals, is nothing more than kin selection in action. That doesn't cheapen it or make it lesser, it just puts it into perspective. So, loyalty to those who deserve loyalty (strong distinction there for me), is the highest of all virtues, IMO. Conversely, betrayal of trust on a personal level is the greatest of all crimes.

Likewise nature and animals are sacred to me ... I wouldn't have chosen that exact word, but in the context of your question, it fits. There's something "holy" about the whole vast span of geological time, the slow unfolding of evolution from its earliest beginnings - and something comforting about the knowledge that humans, as destructive as they are, are only one species among billions, with a limited geological lifespan. The rhythms of the natural world are sacred, I guess you could say.

There's more I could talk about, but that will do for now. Good topic!