Hi. My name is John, and I’m a spiritual atheist. Like “God,” the word “spirituality,” is a conveniently ambiguous term. That said, it’s not so vague as to be totally meaningless. I think it captures an area of concern better than any other term out there. I especially like Wikipedia’s definition: Spirituality can refer to [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Spirituality'
Spirituality for Skeptics.
February 25th, 2010 · by John · 29 Comments
Tags: Atheism · Skeptic · Spirituality
MoF Podcast – Episode 001: Interview with Brecken Chinn Swartz
April 26th, 2009 · by John · 5 Comments
After a long hiatus, I’m starting the podcast back up. There are a few changes, however: I’m abandoning the “Atheist’s Prayer” title, and rebooting this as simply the “Mind on Fire podcast.” The content will range widely, but will include stories I’ve written, interviews and conversations, and fun audio projects like the First of May [...]
Tags: China · Getting over Religion · Podcast · Spirituality
OMG, go watch Kings, now.
April 7th, 2009 · by xJane · 2 Comments
It’s got it all: atheism, spirituality, god, scifi, and good music!! Hulu’s got the first four eps up right now (and it doesn’t keep them forever), so go catch up. It’s too smart and too well written to stay on the air for long. It’s the story of Kings David and Saul transposed into a [...]
Tags: Art · Atheism · Church and State · Creativity. · Current Events · Dialog · Fiction · Gay Rights and Queer Issues · Getting over Religion · Media and Design · Movies/Hollywood · Pacifism · Peace; conflict resolution. · Politics · Pop Culture · Religion · Science Fiction and Fantasy · Spiritual Progressives · Spirituality · Video · Web 2.0
Sexual Identity & Faith: Growing Up Gay in a Christian Family
February 25th, 2009 · by xJane · 3 Comments
This is another lecture that was put on at my school, this time by the ACLU, in response to Prop 8. The California Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments about the Constitutionality of Prop 8 a week from tomorrow. In preparation for that, the local ACLU chapter invited to gay people who grew up in [...]
Tags: Activism · Belief · Christianity · Church and State · Culture Jamming · Dialog · Gay Rights and Queer Issues · Gender · Getting over Religion · Gods · Humanity · Mormonism · Politics · Pop Culture · Religion · Sexuality · Social Hacking · Society · Spirituality
“Are you really an atheist?”
December 29th, 2008 · by xJane · 9 Comments
said the friend sitting next to me at Christmas Eve dinner, with a vague look of disgust on her face, like I’d just admitted to enjoying self-flagellation. I was in the company of a number of people who had escaped Western religion (all some form of Christianity) and landed firmly in Eastern religion (all some [...]
Tags: Atheism · Belief · Buddhism · Christianity · Dialog · Doubt · Feminism · Gender · Getting over Religion · Gods · Humanism · Judaism · Law · Meditation & Prayer · Musings · Mysticism · Personal · Reason · Religion · Skeptic · Society · Spiritual Progressives · Spirituality
Music Monday: Christmas Songs
December 22nd, 2008 · by xJane · 4 Comments
I have a playlist called “Holiday” that contains 379 songs, including a startling number of “O(h) Holy Night”s. One of the things I miss the most about Christmas with my family (probably the only thing, really), is singing. I remember harmonies and piano accompaniment and Spike Jones. Now, I play holiday songs in my car [...]
Tags: Meditation & Prayer · Music · Music Monday · Religion · Spirituality · Video
Spark: Does Religion Empower Women?
October 23rd, 2008 · by xJane · 33 Comments
WaPo’s On Faith asks its panelists Does religion empower women? This is one of the few On Faiths that I’ll probably read each response to. I’m looking forward to the Christian/Catholic answer, which I’ve found generally centers around “having kids is empowering!!1!” There is some wonderful evidence for non-child-based empowerment which I’ve yet to hear [...]
Tags: Atheism · Belief · Blogging · Christianity · Dialog · Feminism · Gender · Getting over Religion · Humanity · Justice · Links · Meditation & Prayer · Musings · Mysticism · Religion · Skeptic · Society · Spark · Spiritual Progressives · Spirituality
Dualism: Revisited
October 8th, 2008 · by xJane · 1 Comment
While reading chandelle’s recent post and the comments that followed, I had occasion to think about my dualism, which I’ve discussed at length before. Many of the comments discuss the “spectrum of sexuality”, how there may be some people who are completely heterosexual or completely homosexual, but that most people likely fall somewhere in between [...]
Tags: Belief · Meditation & Prayer · Musings · Personal · Religion · Sexuality · Spiritual Progressives · Spirituality
You have to be like, insane holy.
August 1st, 2008 · by John · 4 Comments
This comic by Kate Beaton perfectly captures the resignation I often feel towards work, simplicity/consumerism, and ascetic spirituality. Following the link gets you to a long page of unlinked comics–find in page for “Hiked to Italy” for the complete comic.
Tags: Comics · Spirituality
Spark: Training
July 22nd, 2008 · by xJane · No Comments
I’m sorry for all the sparks recently, but I couldn’t resist this one. Enjoy!
Tags: Art · Atheism · Belief · Bible · Christianity · Comics · Creativity. · Fiction · Getting over Religion · Gods · Humor · Pop Culture · Religion · Satire · Skeptic · Spiritual Progressives · Spirituality · Undead

