Philosophy | Must Spiritual Belief be an Either/Or?

Must Spiritual Belief be an Either/Or?

(c) 2023 by VernonMilesKerr and VernonMilesKerr.com

Is spiritual-belief an either/or situation?
Must we either, carefully purge our minds of any primal remnant of curiosity about unseen, non-physical forces which might be affecting us and the universe — or, must we succumb to one of Earth’s thousands of musty, pre-packaged, traditional religions?
Atheism, or Religiosity?
I’ve tried both. Until my 30s, lifelong atheism had its benefits, with its acceptance of, and coming-to-terms with, the harsh realities of physical life on this planet. Religiosity’s providing a society and a pleasant myth of an afterlife in a perpetual utopia, was also a benefit. But, it was a benefit that came with a price: submitting one’s self to a hierarchical, often disrespectful, dismissive, and elite priesthood or ministry. That was certainly the case with the so-called “Christian” cult we were sucked into. Our membership experience lasted through the early ’70s and into the’90s.
When the cult fell apart, starting at the death of its founder, so did the apparent truth of his Biblical interpretations and assurances.
Left adrift in a sea of religiosity, I sampled other mainline Christian fellowships. The doctrines may have been various, but the underlying, hierarchical, patriarchal inner-government of each religion, was sadly similar.
With both my comfortable and logical atheistic-commitment to a non-spiritual universe, and my later reliance on a Biblical view of life, stripped-away, now I was adrift on an agnostic sea of uncertainty. Long story short: I’ve since arrived at a new shore which happily reconciles my scientific skepticism with that primal urge to understand the hidden, but intuited interactions of a spiritual essence with our physical world. My current state of mind is poured-out in elsewhere on this blog and in my #FirstCuppaJoe columns on Twitter at @kerr_vernon .
Cheers,
Vern