The central thesis in my scripture is that trauma = sin. Sin is not necessarily something you *do* but something that happens to you.

Both sin and trauma:

1. Have consequences.
2. Separate us from god, transcendence, nature.
3. Separate us from each other.
4. Block progress.
5. Cause or greatly risk harm to someone else or ourselves.
6. Limit free agency.
7. Keep us from “coming home.”
8. Prevent blessings and happiness.
9. Block us from the free-flowing vibe of the Spirit.
10. Self-perpetuate.
11. Are passed down from generation to generation.

The only definition of sin that doesn't parallel with trauma is that "Sin is anything that goes against God's commands."

If we can prevent/heal trauma, we can prevent/heal sin.

#ScriptureWriting #exmo #exmormon #philosophy #religion #theology #SecularSpirituality #SpeculativeTheology

Going to try to get started on #ScriptureWriting today, but a flare of seemingly unending IBS plus some frustrating bad news is keeping me distracted. It's hard to write about #SecularSpirituality with a bad attitude.

The word “psychology” is to me synonymous with spirit. At the very least, we know that minds are squishy things. That doesn’t dismiss the real value in spiritual experiences, even if they might not reflect a “real” place or thing. #SecularSpirituality

There are, in fact, some consistencies in some spiritual experiences. For instance, many folks across many cultures experience transcendence of feeling at one with everything or with all beings. This is either psychological or reflects evidence of a real spiritual realm, BUT there are inconsistencies in the details, for instance, which god or force had anything to do with it. That’s where you’ll find me being skeptical of claims about what it all means. #SecularSpirituality #ScriptureWriting

If a consistent spirit world exists and has a tangible effect on material life forms—for instance, if praying to the right god increased your chances of survival even by 20%—nature would have selected for beings capable of sensing and manipulating that world. Thus there would be consistent reports of how that world functions by those with powers. We might expect that not everyone would have these powers, but of those who do, they’d return with similar stories, miracles, and descriptions of what it all means, across all cultures.

There is evidence that people experience largely inconsistent things that cannot be explained. That implies that these are either psychological rather than phenomenological events, OR that a spirit world does exist, it’s just not consistent (and therefore not so important that you guess right).

This is my present belief. It’s one of the two. And if psychological, that’s important! That’s why I call myself a spiritual atheist. #SecularSpirituality

I find this rock song to be deeply spiritual in a very Carl Sagan kind of way. "Hello, my name is human, and I came down from the stars." #Music #SecularSpirituality #NowListening

https://open.spotify.com/track/3VYgUNGdcQwfjDukoYkFWf?si=4baf8b569c05442f

I think this helps describe my level of tolerance for woo, and when woo crosses the line from harmless-possibly-beneficial to harmful or dangerous. If the claim is that essential oils will help you relax so you spend $10/month on new bottles, great. If it’s that the oils will cure your cancer and you deny medical treatment and loop all your friends into a $200/mo habit, that’s too far. #SecularSpirituality #Spirituality

Trying to think of some examples.

So say you believe Joseph Smith was a righteous prophet of a benevolent God who is benevolent in a moral system where honesty is a value and sexual violence is a sin. This directly contradicts solid evidence that Smith was, among other things, a con artist who sexually abused women and minors.

But say, like me, you believe the psyche is influenced by symbols and that rituals can provide those symbols, and that it may even be possible to slightly redirect energies, at the least emotional energies, to subtly contribute to a desired outcome… well, this proposition might not pass Occam’s Razor, for there are far simpler models of reality, but neither is there any direct evidence against. #SecularSpirituality #Spirituality

There’s a difference between believing things that contradict the facts, and believing things that don’t happen to have many supporting facts.

I think this is what my spirituality is based on. I believe a few things which are not supported by known facts, but neither are there facts in contradiction. I’m believing something that could be possible, rather than something that’s been proven impossible. The danger with harmful religions is that they do the latter. They get you to believe things that the facts contradict, things that concrete reality shows to be impossible. #SecularSpirituality #Spirituality

According to the latest census, some 46.2% of the population of England and Wales described themselves as Christian on the day of the 2021 census, down from 59.3% a decade earlier.
More than 1 in 3 people — 37% — said they had no religion, up from 25% in 2011.
#Mastodon #FreedomOfMind #Secular #SecularHumanist #SecularSpirituality #NewHere

I'm hoping to share it with you because if #secular folks ever had a scripture, this is it. It is mystical and poetic and layered and evocative, but it points towards self-actualization without the need for a literal god. #atheism #psychology #SecularSpirituality

I would like to geek out for a moment about Carl Jung's Red Book, aka Liber Novus. Only recently published, Jung created a fully-illuminated scripture-like work of visions, dreams, self-exploration, and exploration of the unconscious. #Jung #psychology #SecularSpirituality

#WIP #CrossStitch #LGBTQIA2SPlus #SecularPagan #SecularHumanism #SecularSpirituality #SecularHolidays #Yule #Handmade #FiberCrafts #NoBuyBlackFriday

@onalifeglug Will there ever be a hashtag for #SecularSpirituality Movies: #AvatarMovie #TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton #TwitterMigration #TwitterExodus #Graygoose #TwitterRefugee #MastodonTip #Mastodon #Newhere #HappyMastodoning
#Accessibility #CamelCase #AltText