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Hashishi

Can I, for instance, hope to comprehend spiritual peoples` experience of of divinity?

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SWP



"I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty." -- "If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly." -- "Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning." -- "As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns: the ones we don't know we don't know."

 

Buzzby

No. How can you experience something you don't believe to exist?

"A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest" ~ Paul Simon (The Boxer)

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Darque Pervert

While I am not an atheist, I am certainly a non-believer.

I understand peoples' need for spirituality and answers to the big questions, which is why most people are religious and believe in God.
I don't know God the way my wife (who is religious) does. But I do understand her need to worhip, to pray and to forge a relationship with her creator the way she believes.
I respect her beliefs, as well as the beliefs of anyone, excepting those radicals that use religious doctine to spread hate and destruction.


Do I know God the way my wife does? Not at all.
Do I comprehend her spirituality? Definitely.

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Life is always a spiral. It's the choices of the individual as to whether that spiral is aimed up or down.

Richi

Via hallucinogen, yes, but you probably wouldn't call it 'God'.

On a more serious note, in the way you worded the title, no an atheist cannot know God because atheists do not believe in God. I do believe atheists have the potential to be spiritual though, understanding the mystery of our world and enduring mystical experiences of divinity, but we would simply not call this 'God'.

If only He had another name....

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Logos

While I agree with Buzzby in that your beliefs do dictate your reality, I do believe that one can open the door to such an experience by simply asking the question you asked, the universe might just respond with a direct mystical experience. Stranger things have happened, just ask Hank Wesselman. A modern shaman archaeologist who claims to have healed with Christ present. I suppose he could be fibbing though. People do that for some reason.

He didn't say anything about doing any drugs beforehand, but maybe heis one of those closet stoners.

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Brother Logos
The more I learn, the less I know.
THC Ministry | The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ | The Reluctant Messenger of Science and Religion
True religion is real living, living with all one's soul, with all ones goodness and righteousness. --Albert Einstein

 

chadwick

well if know god than you would no longer be an atheist

Hashishi

I was kind of expecting that one. I`m assuming that 'belief' is instigated by something, if not innate, at least tangible enough to be called... presence? Is the psychology of 'belief' or spirituality predetermined by behaviour or by this proposition of something more innate?

If the latter (and as the majority of 'believers' would attest to, I feel and, for the sake of argument, I`d like to assume is the case) why is that absent in my life?

Why can`t I believe? I suppose that`s what I`m getting at. And can I not hope to emulate the 'experience of the divine' (for want of a better term) through reflection and a more developed understanding of the psychology behind it?

Viper420

You're right. An atheist doesn't want to know God. However, God wants to know the atheist.

Buzzby

Or he might have an overactive imagination.

Or you might have an overactive imagination.

Belief is usually instigated by cultural norms and experience.

You do believe. You just don't believe in "God". I've never met anyone who didn't have a belief system. I doubt that a human being could function without one. Most atheists I know believe in reason and that science can tease out all the secrets of the universe.

Understanding the psychology behind it is what draws people away from religious belief. If you know how the tricks work, the magic show becomes boring. The only way I know of to recapture the magic is to immerse yourself in a community of believers, introducing a new "cultural norm" and experience. You can do that and still keep your reservations in a corner of your mind.

In Tibetan Buddhism, we do a lot of taking on "as if" belief systems in order to understand the workings of our minds. The science behind belief and conversion was one of the things I concentrated on at university.

Hashishi

For anybody interested:

Humphrys in search of God

(You`ll need to open it with RealPlayer)