{"id":32342,"date":"2015-11-17T06:20:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T11:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=32342"},"modified":"2015-11-17T06:20:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T11:20:00","slug":"nones-and-mystics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/nones-and-mystics.html","title":{"rendered":"Nones and Mystics"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-32343\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2015\/11\/Nones-or-mystics.png\" alt=\"Nones or mystics\" width=\"476\" height=\"396\"><\/p>\n<p>There have been\u00a0<em>nuns<\/em> who have been mystics. But that\u2019s not what this is about.\u00a0It has been common for religious freethinkers of various types to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/cosmostheinlost\/2015\/10\/28\/famous-atheists-who-werent-atheist-sartre-eulogizes-merleau-ponty\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">labeled atheists by their religious opponents<\/a>, and then claimed as such by atheists as well. But in many instances, these individuals are spiritual and may not sit comfortably in the \u201catheists\u201d category.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/11\/mystics-andor-atheists.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">mentioned this before<\/a> in relation to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/02\/is-this-atheism.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">labeling of mystics as \u201catheists\u201d<\/a> in Hume\u2019s dialogues.<\/p>\n<p>It is interesting to see that Diana Butler Bass has suggested that this might in fact be typical of the category of \u201cnones\u201d in our own time.<\/p>\n<p>For more, see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bobcornwall.com\/2015\/11\/grounded-diana-butler-bass-review.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bob Cornwall\u2019s review<\/a> of Bass\u2019 latest book, <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0062328549\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062328549&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=jamefmcgrshom-20&amp;linkId=XJHTERG4XMTITZ6S\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">Grounded: Finding God in the World-A Spiritual Revolution<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important;margin: 0px !important\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0062328549\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"><\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0062328549\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062328549&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=jamefmcgrshom-20&amp;linkId=XJHTERG4XMTITZ6S\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;ASIN=0062328549&amp;Format=_SL250_&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=jamefmcgrshom-20\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important;margin: 0px !important\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0062328549\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There have been\u00a0nuns who have been mystics. But that\u2019s not what this is about.\u00a0It has been common for religious freethinkers of various types to be labeled atheists by their religious opponents, and then claimed as such by atheists as well. But in many instances, these individuals are spiritual and may not sit comfortably in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":32343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[870,872,2666,7841,7843,8197,11712],"class_list":["post-32342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atheism-religion","tag-atheism-religion","tag-atheists","tag-diana-butler-bass","tag-mysticism","tag-mystics","tag-nones","tag-spiritual"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nones and Mystics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There have been\u00a0nuns who have been mystics. 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McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-17T11:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. 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