Skepticism

spirituality without superstition

Hi everyone. I’m about to cut back on my posting on Skepchick, and except for my last pre-scheduled Afternoon Inquisitions, I’ll only be posting in the literature category, for discussing our monthly reading selections and drawing attention to other interesting books that I discover from time to time.

I’ve found that my interests and my own journey have been leading me away from the tone and style of Skepchick, and readers here seem to be less interested in the topic that is interesting me now: spirituality without superstition. I’ve started writing a series on this topic on The Atheist’s Way blog and I hope that those of you who are interested in how we unbelievers–those of us who don’t believe in gods or spirits or maybe even souls–can experience the same wonder, awe, and exhilaration that believers find in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, how we can make meaning and find purpose in our lives without having to depend on a holy book or a sage to show us the way, will join me there for some interesting discussions.

Thanks for letting me participate here over the past years, and I hope that you’ll continue to enjoy the book discussions as we move into the future. Best wishes on all of your own journeys, wherever they may lead.

Writerdd

Donna Druchunas is a freelance technical writer and editor and a knitwear designer. When she's not working, she blogs, studies Lithuanian, reads science and sci-fi books, mouths off on atheist forums, and checks her email every three minutes. (She does that when she's working, too.) Although she loves to chat, she can't keep an IM program open or she'd never get anything else done.

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21 Comments

  1. dd – I’m a little sad about this but that is because I’ve just sort of begun here and you are “leaving”, in a sense. One of the things I like about Skepchick is that each of you DO have different ideas and opinions. Diversity is good. But it is an evolutionary process, after all, and as we grow and adapt, we move on to a new niche. Still, I find I share many of your views though we approach them from a different direction. I’ll look into your new venue. Thanks!

  2. I guess that spirituality isn’t a big deal for me. I am sure that part of it is that the word for me has definite supernatural/magical overtones. I guess I am more into curiosity, excitement, wow, or that is so cool. These are the feelings that science and discovering new things give me. Even if it is as small as some family owned restaurant that I haven’t visisted before with good food or as large as the LHC.

  3. @PopeCoyote, I’ll still be here. I’ll just be going back to my original position of posting about the featured books. I hope by not posting frequently about other things, I’ll also have more time to get back into author interviews and detailed book reviews.

    @Gabrielbrawley, I think a lot of Skepchick readers feel the same way you do, which is why, after talking with Rebecca, I decided that this was not the right place for me to spend a lot of time blogging about “spirituality” even if it’s not based on superstition or magic.

  4. Sorry to see you move a bit into the background, writerdd. I’ll come visit at The Atheist’s Way. Don’t be a stranger – just strange! ;-)

  5. “I’ll take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance every day.”
    -Douglas Adams

    The awe of understanding is awesome. Even the phrase is awesome. “the awe of understanding.’ Any one of us who has experience learning something and completely understanding can attest to the existence of the awe.

    If i were to start a skeptic/science blog, it would be called http://www.theaweofunderstanding.com

  6. @writerdd: I hope I didn’t coming off sounding rude. I didn’t mean anything rude. I was speaking only for myself and I wasn’t trying to say anything bad about you.

  7. I always enjoy your posts, writerdd. The topic of spirituality without superstition interests me as well. I hadn’t heard about The Atheist’s Way before, and I’ll be adding it to my reading list.

  8. I, for one, will miss reading your posts. They were often a bit of something different which helped the flavor of the site from getting stale. Even if I disagree with a lot… OK, that’s not right. Mostly because I disagree with a lot of what you say, I look forward to seeing you both in posts and comments.

  9. Take up Tai Chi. It has often been called “moving meditation”. I have been doing Kuang Ping style for several years (following 25 years in modern dance – too many injuries to do it now). I will vouch for the spiritual side, but just ignore the superstitions that come with it.

  10. Good luck on the atheist spirituality thing, Donna. If you haven’t already done so, consider attending a Unitarian Universalist church some time.

  11. Okay. I’m pretty sure that this is dramatic irony: that’s a topic that’s come up at at least one SitP.

    You know, that supposed church service (because, apparently, Skeptics can’t have social meetings) that you have no interest in attending?

    I had that conversation last night, on my way back from selling crap to support my family (you know, that thing that deadbeat dads have to do), where I explained the place of wonderful surprises in my universe–which is a spiritual conversation.

    Your problem with Skepticism, Donna, isn’t skeptics. Its that you, yourself, are operating in total denial of what actual skeptics are actually like, and what topics we might actually be interested in. You are operating on the same stereotypes that inform so much of the national conversation about atheism.

    It’s your attitude that creates the need for event like Skeptics in the Pub, a space where I can be me without people prejudging me because I’m a “skeptic.”

  12. I’m glad to hear you won’t be disappearing completely, Donna, although I will miss your regular postings. I’ve always enjoyed watching you get folks riled up around here, even when that included me! Hopefully, someone else will take up the challenge of tossing out the occasional Skepchick-ish Molotov cocktail.

    I hope you find what you are looking for on your “spirituality” journey. I think there’s a place for intentional irrationality in everyone’s life.

  13. Donna:
    I am sad that you will not be posting regularly. I’ve enjoyed your comments and perspective. I’ll check out your postings on The Atheist’s Way.

  14. Thanks everyone. Things change, people change, blogs change. I’ll still be posting here “regularly” it just won’t be several times a week. :-) Annually is regularly, right? Really, I’ll probably be posting about once a week on book-related topics.

  15. What was that phrase that Carl Sagan used in The Demon Haunted world to describe spirituality…hang on…here it is:

    It comes from the Latin word ‘to breathe’. What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word ‘spirituality’ that we are talking about anything other than matter (including the realm of matter of which the brain is made) or anything outside the realm of science…Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality…The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a profound disservice to both.

    For years I thought that spirituality was just made up by religionists to justify something that I simply could not comprehend. Then I heard that short phrase on the audio tape of the book (I have the book too now) and my eyes were opened. How could I not have understood the simplicity of the idea before? How could I have allowed those with faith to steal the idea and claim it for themselves with argument on my part?

    I’ll pop over and see you at The Atheist’s Way and look forward to being exposed to more challenging ideas.

    Ha I got books and spirituality down in one go. There must be some sort of prize?

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