{"id":24695,"date":"2014-07-16T08:12:29","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T12:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=24695"},"modified":"2014-07-16T08:12:29","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T12:12:29","slug":"spirituality-and-skepticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/07\/spirituality-and-skepticism.html","title":{"rendered":"Spirituality and Skepticism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I saw the cartoon below on Facebook. Take a look at it, and then I\u2019ll share some thoughts on it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It strikes me as ironic that the supposed skeptic is having a conversation with a fairy. But it seems to me that the supposed skeptic is being deliberately difficult. Lots of things are incorporeal \u2013 love and beauty, and not just ghosts. When people talk about energy they often mean something other than electricity. \u201cHumanism\u201d might not have received a negative response if it were not associated with this sort of obtuse attitude. And talking about the gaps in our knowledge encompasses philosophy and more, as well as science.<\/p>\n

Of course, there is plenty of \u201cspiritual\u201d talk that pretends to be something other than metaphor and symbol, and which thus becomes nonsensical pseudoscience. Talk of a vital essence sounds like something that science has led us to set aside, and I wouldn\u2019t like to see such phrases continue to be used even metaphorically. But since Tinkerbell is talking about awe and inspiration, it is clear that the language is non-literal, and thus responding with \u201celectricity\u201d is at best somewhat rude sarcasm, and at worst sad incomprehension.<\/p>\n

What do you make of the cartoon? I know that I\u2019ve had conversations in which people insist that I explain in detail what an ineffable transcendent reality is like, and the person I\u2019m talking with may feel frustrated, but seems not to grasp that the feeling is mutual nor why it would be. Any thoughts on how the conversation could be improved on both sides?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw the cartoon below on Facebook. Take a look at it, and then I\u2019ll share some thoughts on it. It strikes me as ironic that the supposed skeptic is having a conversation with a fairy. But it seems to me that the supposed skeptic is being deliberately difficult. Lots of things are incorporeal \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":24696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[870,11712,11720],"class_list":["post-24695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","tag-atheism-religion","tag-spiritual","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nSpirituality and Skepticism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I saw the cartoon below on Facebook. Take a look at it, and then I'll share some thoughts on it. 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