WHAT I'M ON ABOUT

This blog intends to provide some balance in the religious debate by providing a counterpoint to Billy Graham's religious advice. On his website http://www.billygraham.org/ he responds to readers' questions by quoting from the bible. I am attempting to respond to those same queries by resorting to reason and rationality.







I must acknowledge a debt here to Jeff Hope who started in this vein but who has unfortunately taken a hiatus. His blog is http://atheistsanswer.wordpress.com/. Jeff has inspired me to continue.







Friday, July 2, 2010

Alternate Spirituality

QUESTION: Today's comes from RK...
"I went into a shop the other day and the owner started talking with me about her beliefs, which I found fascinating. She says she has the ability to communicate with spirits from centuries ago, and she's into all sorts of things of a mystical nature. I'm interested in spirituality. Could this be what I'm looking for?".

IRRELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE:
It's not hard to encounter someone who will try to impress their beliefs upon you. It happened to you in a shop, but it can happen when someone stops you in the street, or knocks on your door, etc. This demonstrates that these beliefs must be conveyed to others via human discourse. Believers may genuinely think their dogma to be authentic, but no spiritual dogma is inherent in us and it is never conveyed directly from the supernatural beings themselves, so it is obviously man-made.
You tell us that you are interested in spirituality. This is quite common because it's an area that defies rational analysis and for some reason the human being is receptive to such thoughts. Just look at the number and popularity of movies, TV programs, books, etc that are based on the supernatural. By all means be entertained by these sources (I'm sure the shopkeeper is fascinating), but beware giving any credibility to other people's delusions.
Furthermore any spiritual person will warn you off other belief systems bacuse they deem them to be erroneos and hence misleading. They describe other beliefs as superstitious and dangerous. This leaves the open-minded enquirer with a choice between competing systems. The only logical conclusion is that none of them have any credibility.

BILLY GRAHAM'S ANSWER:
http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=6129

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