Hmm... and yet atheists adamently argue that atheism is not a belief system or a religion. The fact that a major atheist is now the chief chaplain at Harvard pretty much proves that claim wrong.

Can a person be spiritual without being religious?

That's a solid foundational question Pike River.
Most people believe (defined as religious) in a supernatural power. Most always have. And spiritual can be assigned to anything and everything. Pantheists like Hindu and Buddhists believe god is everything and everything is god.

Christians have always maintained biblical truth in studying spiritualism, and while on one hand the last half century has seen a renewed sensationalism of devilphobia, deliverance ministries of all types, and even "hired" exorcists, (started right around the time of "The Exorcists" movie) on the other hand there is great North American cynicism concerning anything supernatural.

Both of these extremes are what Timothy Warner, in his book "Spiritual Warfare," calls faulty. Too much fascination on one hand and a dismissal on the other.

It'd be somewhere in the middle of the extremes is a majority view.

At least Harvard didn't bring in an avowed satanist or wiccan.
Yet.

Blessings,
Mark

Would those beliefs systems be any different than a Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi or a Christian sect that we do not follow? They are all religions but there can only be one truth. Anything that is not truth, originates with the evil one.

^^^^^^ Said very well. Very well indeed!

Blessings,
Mark

The Bible says there will be a great apostasy during the end times, a total abandonment of the truth. Aren't we seeing that today? Boys are girls and girls are boys.

I wonder what's worse, leading people astray or being so willing to be led.

After reading a bit about Mr. Epstein, I'm not really sure he's an atheist. And a unanimous vote from 40 other chaplains? Not one nay?
That says all we need to know. We live in a time when people will not speak out for fear of being shamed, losing employment, or being a "target" of the intelligencia.
Go along to get along.
The Karl Marx mantra is being drip-drip-dripped on us all.

From Mr. Epstein, "There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition but still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life,” Epstein, the author of Good Without God, told the New York Times. “We don’t look to a god for answers,” he said. “We are each other’s answers.” Epstein, who also serves as humanist chaplain at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has served as Harvard’s humanist chaplain since 2005 and, according to the Times, has been “teaching students about the progressive movement that centers people’s relationships with one another instead of with God.”

Question; Why be good if there is no God? For what reason?
Heck, just under 50% Millennials don't even believe in treating others as you want to be treated. "Good" is this century, more and more, in the eye of the narcissistic beholder.

This kind of humanism junk is ages old. Today is just blended 4th century Pelagius (humans are not born with a sin nature) with 19th century Darwinism (humans evolved from a process of selection called "survival of the fittest) >>>> and culture defines it as "good."

Where's the good we ask?
Us Fundamentalists have been written off as odd-balls because we say folks who're trying to be "good" are having a tougher time of it each and every year.

The atheist doctrines are;
1. There is no god.
2. I hate God.

Both. IMO

Name one atheist organization that has helped humanity in anyway over themselves.

Atheism is simply replacing one faith with another faith.

Don’t be naive a PM can be turned against you by some so choose wisely.

"Question; Why be good if there is no God? For what reason?"

How about because we owe each other decency and respect for being fellow human beings?

Some people don't need the threat of burning forever in Hades to be good.

Question for you, Mark. If there was no God or Hades, would you go bad?

Jim

Never understood why nonbelievers get so fired up with people that do believe in something. Never seen people snatched off the streets on Sundays and forced into churches (kids maybe) LOL

You can be spiritual and not religious might answer Snow Shoes question.

Exactly, the concept that you have to believe in the Christian version of God to justify being "good" never made a bit of sense to me. Kinda like saying "if I didn't fear Hades I would just raise Hades my whole life. Jarhead

No man is good if he examines his own heart honestly. Temptation to do evil is only curbed by the idea of being punished by society or being held accountable to God. Some may do more good things compared to others but evil lies in the heart of everyone that I've know on a very personal level. Not every evil tempts me but neither am I immune to the temptation of every evil.

My forty plus years I've lived in this country we have steadily moved away from the Christian values we were founded on and I have also seen a decline in the moral standards of this country those 40 plus years. Does one affect the other or is it just a coincidence?

Many here are leaving out another component that is forgiveness so it’s not that only good, evil are the only paths to follow.

Blessings,
Mark

Mark:

1. Says me. I was responding to a question.

2. Then why is there a Hades in Christian ideology? What is Hades for?

3. I don't believe in punishing people for the sins of their fathers. What Adam did was exercise the free will God gave him. (Adam is figurative, not a real person.) I don't know if you're a bad person, Mark, but you don't come across that way,

Jim

Blessings,
Mark