NO! 

 

But I refuse to take part in this silly survey today because when I looked at my computer clock earlier, it said 9:11.  Bad omen.  Wait until tomorrow. 

3 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Once again, you're equating religion with spirituality.  I'm not trying to recruit anyone, or convince anyone their views are wrong.  My intent in posting here is to point out that organized religions and spirituality are not the same thing(s).  

 

But I do find one of your sentences interesting and I'm going to violate forum rules and underline that sentence:

 

"In the grand scheme of global differences, religious people are actually quite miserable. Yet, thanks to religious beliefs and practices they are less miserable than they would otherwise be."

 

I suspect the happiness in Sweden has more to do with their high standard of living than it does with them being atheists.  And the general happiness in Thailand has more to do with their spirituality than it does with the standard of living.  I can't imagine the people of Sweden being as happy as the Thais if they lived under the same economic conditions.

 

That's what I meant with my "I'd rather be happy than right" comment.  If people derive comfort from their beliefs that they can't afford to buy with their salaries, I'm certainly not going to convince them they're wrong.  Nor if they take comfort in a higher power when faced with tragedy.  That's just cruel. 

 

I'd like to see organized religions quit sapping money from those who can least afford it in the name of God, or Buddha, or whoever.  But that's one of the things that differentiates spirituality from religion.  The mortgage.

 

IMO spiritual and spirituality are simply "woo" catch words which are loosely thrown around, but have no real meaning...nor can they be adequately explained/defined. I've been told many times throughout my life that I am "spiritual" even if an atheist, but when asked what that meant...nobody could give any kind of intelligent answer. I have no god or afterlife beliefs because there is zero evidence of such, nice as the idea may seem. You presumably do...or you at least you hope there is something other (and after) our natural world, based on faith or more because it makes you feel good. 

 

While we disagree on the above...we are in total agreement on organized religions sapping money from the gullible masses. Also, religions around the world need to STOP imposing their subjective, regressive, oppressive, ancient superstitious dogmas on governments, science and medical procedures/advances, and the individual liberties of others. I'm sure we are in agreement on these issues too. 

Also, religions around the world need to STOP imposing their subjective, regressive, oppressive, ancient superstitious dogmas on governments, science and medical procedures/advances, and the individual liberties of others.

That won’t happen so long as we’re constantly being told that we should always “respect others’ beliefs”. It’s almost been written into the rules of etiquette. Question somebody’s loony beliefs and you’re called disrespectful or impolite.

You can respect people (or not), based on the beliefs they hold, but the beliefs themselves deserve no respect and some beliefs need to be publicly ridiculed (example: belief in a flat earth).

 

me, I ain't superstitious...I just suffer from yer common variety autistic spectrum disorder, repetitive behavior etc...when I was a kid I always thought that if I didn't do things in their proper sequence then bad luck would result...maybe it was because I was always gettin' the boot put in as ASD wasn't recognized when I was growin' up and adults thought that I was bein' disrespectful...

 

folks just need to come to terms with what they're about...but, maybe it's better if the universe remains mysterious...

 

 

 

 

No I am not superstitious , but I have a few rituals which might look superstitious. 

 

I never board an airplane without touching the plane on the outside with my hand just before I enter . Just for good luck I guess, after all my life is in someone else hands  , inside a flying machine , we're up in the sky and there's no escape.

But I love flying so not sure why I would do this ritual . Just have to .  

 

One time I forgot to do the ritual , and I had to fight myself back to the door and touch it before it closed .   

 

Poor choice of available replies. Some say I am slightly superstitious in gambling, but I seldom gamble. To me it is logical, example; I never let anyone else borrow chips, reasoning is chips go up and down, if there are no chips left when they go down I lose. (riding a motorbike in Bangkok traffic is a big gamble 555)

I really hate superstition and superstitious people, they have no place in the modern society, and i would gladly push the whole lot back to the stone age where they belong.

That said, why should i go out on a Friday 17, not touch my nuts when i see a black cat, let alone walk under a ladder ?

Oh, and if your job is about burial services, i will not shake your hand..

I will not give bad luck any chance !

yeah, when i play poker i got my superstitious stuff to create luck

13 hours ago, balo said:

No I am not superstitious , but I have a few rituals which might look superstitious. 

 

I never board an airplane without touching the plane on the outside with my hand just before I enter . Just for good luck I guess, after all my life is in someone else hands  , inside a flying machine , we're up in the sky and there's no escape.

But I love flying so not sure why I would do this ritual . Just have to .  

 

One time I forgot to do the ritual , and I had to fight myself back to the door and touch it before it closed .   

 

That's an odd one, never heard it before. 

not at all, for me black cat crossing the road means a good lucky day

not at all, for me black cat crossing the road means a good lucky day

Being superstitious isn’t just about bad things. Belief in luck, whether good luck or bad luck, is superstitious.

someone said: 'if it wasn't fer bad luck, then I wouldn't have no luck at all...'