Spirituality and Emotion

[Destiny Fallacy]

A family member of mine recently stated that it was impossible for a person to not be spiritual because he believed that experiencing emotion was spiritual. I have my own opinions on the matter, but I was wondering what other people thought of the idea.

[CuAnnan]

AniraSilver

A family member of mine recently stated that it was impossible for a person to not be spiritual because he believed that experiencing emotion was spiritual. I have my own opinions on the matter, but I was wondering what other people thought of the idea.

Your family member is wrong.
If he said that he didn't believe it was possible for a person to not be spiritual because he believed experiencing emotion to be spiritual, then he'd be right in as much as it would be what he believed.
But someone could just as easily counter with "I believe it is impossible to be spiritual because I believe that experiencing emotion prevents spirituality". Neither belief is particularly useful. Neither one is particularly meaningful. But, more to the point, neither can be supported.

Emotions are chemical reactions in the brain. They are fundamentally naturalistic in nature and do not require any supernatural element to explain or experience.

I am a spiritual religious person.

I could not disagree more with what your family member has to say and, to the contrary, I find it offends reason and spirituality alike.

[Destiny Fallacy]

I would agree with you. In fact, everyone else there at the time disagreed with him.
He had tried to argue that "things that make you happy=spiritual", but a baby might be happy if you make faces at it and it doesn't make it spiritual. A dog might be thrilled that you're taking it for a ride in the car, but I think very few people would draw the conclusion that the dog is spiritual from that.

[Pseudo-Onkelos]

Well, I don't see the issue. I think "spiritual" is the same as "mental", but I also think "mental" is technically physical. A dichotomy (or trichotomy) is just made like Canadians and Americans, although technically, Canadians are Americans. (I'm enjoying this use of analogy today.) Look up "sensed presence" some time.

[Xenoglossicist]

AniraSilver

A family member of mine recently stated that it was impossible for a person to not be spiritual because he believed that experiencing emotion was spiritual. I have my own opinions on the matter, but I was wondering what other people thought of the idea.

The problem with that is that emotions are pretty much entirely physical reactions that can be controlled chemically. The fact that drugs (both medical and otherwise) can alter someone's mood, personality, and emotional state proves that.

[Ask Jappleack]

Play me the beat boys to sooth my soul get lost to the rock n roll and drift away.

That part of a song tells me 'soul' is not real but rather has to do with stress, which is physical, the soul people usually see as seperate from the body. The soul is nerves therefore, so our 'brain' is the soul. But body soul spirit and mind, that means soul is mind so mind body spirit, spirit is prolly the same way and the body includes our nerves which conenct to our brains, we are just physical.

So what does the idea of the mind body soul provide? That the needs are seperate. Religion states your soul goes to heaven or hell, so then the souls needs are placed above feeling good, and are placed above thinking good.

Its just a way to manipulate people into doing what common sense tells us is wrong.

[Lucky~9~Lives]

We Are Organisms

Religion states your soul goes to heaven or hell, so then the souls needs are placed above feeling good, and are placed above thinking good.

Not all religions refer to heaven/hell.

[Ask Jappleack]

Lucky~9~Lives

We Are Organisms

Religion states your soul goes to heaven or hell, so then the souls needs are placed above feeling good, and are placed above thinking good.

Not all religions refer to heaven/hell.

I know. I tend to just word things like that sometimes. I guess.

[Destiny Fallacy]

Pseudo-Onkelos

Well, I don't see the issue. I think "spiritual" is the same as "mental", but I also think "mental" is technically physical. A dichotomy (or trichotomy) is just made like Canadians and Americans, although technically, Canadians are Americans. (I'm enjoying this use of analogy today.) Look up "sensed presence" some time.

He was using "spiritual" in the religious sense though.

[Destiny Fallacy]

Xenoglossicist

AniraSilver

A family member of mine recently stated that it was impossible for a person to not be spiritual because he believed that experiencing emotion was spiritual. I have my own opinions on the matter, but I was wondering what other people thought of the idea.

The problem with that is that emotions are pretty much entirely physical reactions that can be controlled chemically. The fact that drugs (both medical and otherwise) can alter someone's mood, personality, and emotional state proves that.

I would agree with you.
I think the issue started because my sister had said she wasn't really religious and he had said something along the lines of it being impossible to not be religious because people feel emotion (which for him=spirituality=religion).
His thinking, I suppose, depends on the assumption that everyone has a soul and that all things emotional affect the soul, so I guess for him emotional would equal spiritual, because emotion would affect the soul. For him the definition of religion is something spiritual, so I can kiiiind of follow his thinking, but I think his explanation is far to simple and doesn't rely on enough factual evidence.

[Destiny Fallacy]

We Are Organisms

Play me the beat boys to sooth my soul get lost to the rock n roll and drift away.

That part of a song tells me 'soul' is not real but rather has to do with stress, which is physical, the soul people usually see as seperate from the body. The soul is nerves therefore, so our 'brain' is the soul. But body soul spirit and mind, that means soul is mind so mind body spirit, spirit is prolly the same way and the body includes our nerves which conenct to our brains, we are just physical.

So what does the idea of the mind body soul provide? That the needs are seperate. Religion states your soul goes to heaven or hell, so then the souls needs are placed above feeling good, and are placed above thinking good.

Its just a way to manipulate people into doing what common sense tells us is wrong.

Mmmm I don't think that was his point at all....If we're saying the soul is really more of a "mind", then I would think emotion would be included as part of the soul, considering that all would be linked to a physical body, and as it was previously brought up, emotions can easily be affected by physical changes in the body.
Also, I don't quite follow your religion statement. Many religions have neither heaven nor hell, and some have either one or the other. I'm not really sure why emotion and thought and separate are from the soul in your definition, if you're linking the soul to the physical body. They would all be the same, so why would one be more important that the other. I am confused as to how this links to heaven and hell as well.

[Destiny Fallacy]

In any case, I know many people say they are religious and not spiritual. Some are spiritual but not religious. Some are both or neither.
I just found the notion that all people are religious and spiritual to be...inaccurate.

[Pseudo-Onkelos]

AniraSilver

Pseudo-Onkelos

Well, I don't see the issue. I think "spiritual" is the same as "mental", but I also think "mental" is technically physical. A dichotomy (or trichotomy) is just made like Canadians and Americans, although technically, Canadians are Americans. (I'm enjoying this use of analogy today.) Look up "sensed presence" some time.

He was using "spiritual" in the religious sense though.

I would understand it in no other way, since that tends to be the common understanding. Unless you mean to use "spiritual" synonymously with "awe-inspiring". In that case, you're just experiencing "a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder". (OED)

[Crystal8Phoenix]

AniraSilver

In any case, I know many people say they are religious and not spiritual. Some are spiritual but not religious. Some are both or neither.
I just found the notion that all people are religious and spiritual to be...inaccurate.

Very much so. I'm spiritual but not religious. I'm not christian, I'm not agnostic, I'm not Wiccan, I'm not any of those things, I have no religion. I don't identify with anyone else, my beliefs are unique to me.

[CalledTheRaven]

So in this person's view Emotion = Spirituality = Religion right? I call bull. Those are three separate things. They may sometimes be connected by experience but they are not the same.