My weekly #SundaySermon from a #ScientificRationalist perspective -- aka -- a #Religious #Rant #thread

Were I to believe in a #devil, I'd venture a guess that it's a #white, #male, #christian #sociopath whose #hunger for #power knows no bounds.

And based on my #survey of the #demographic #landscape, he's winning the #battle between #good and #evil hands down.

Consider: a recent PRRI survey still finds that 71% of #americans identify as christian. Make no mistake, #christianity is evil on multiple levels. My #argument follows
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I'm a #ScientificRationalist, who #prays. I know, weird. Right? But, please give me a chance to explain.

I'm an #alcoholic. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I got sober through #AA and would likely not be here today w/o having worked the #12Steps. Some take issue with the program. I'm sorry if your experience was unpleasant. It worked for me. Getting sober is unpleasant business.

I like to think I'm a #spiritual being, and I learned that spirituality through AA. When I came into the program I was told I needed to begin praying to a higher power. And, holy shit I struggled with that. I rebelled, and I relapsed -- hard. Hard enough that I became desperate. Desperate enough that I became teachable.

I was still struggling with the higher power concept a year later -- without taking a drink. I went back to finish my undergrad in psychology. There, I came across the concept of mindfulness. Which, to me, looked a lot like prayer. And, SNAP. It all fell into place.

I realized I didn't have to pray to any "thing." Or, any "one." Indeed, to "name" what I was praying to impressed me as the pinnacle of human presumption. To NAME the ineffable? WTF??? To name something is to hold power over it. It clicked that religions are not about spirituality. They're about power. Holding power through our natural inclination to spirituality by giving the ineffable a name.

Thus, I learned that prayer, together with mindfulness, was a way to focus and quiet my hamster-wheel brain. I took AA's advice and began praying to a higher power. I became mindful that my prayers focused solely on gratitude. I invented prayer-mantras of gratitude -- to nothing. To, everything.

Today, I practice them habitually. My mind is, as AA members like to say, no longer a "dangerous neighborhood." The bonus? I got to remain the scientific rationalist I always was, without trading my convictions in the process. And learned, I could be a spiritual being at the same time.

I'll end with one more little piece of AA doggerel:

"Religion is for people who are scared of going to hell. Spirituality is for those have been there ... and returned to tell their stories."