Spirituals for Agnostics

[Jason76]

http://hollowverse.com/james-taylor/

Does anyone think agnostics have a superior grasp on spiritual things? Perhaps they are seeing things from neutral POV, but not an arrogant one like you see from many atheists. The popular singer James Taylor seems to be someone with lots of spiritual insight. Of course, many have misunderstood him, and thought he was a Christian.

Many of his songs–while often wrongly considered to be spiritual in some way or another–are actually more anthems to the opposite. He even called his album, Hourglass, a series of “spirituals for agnostics.”2 Many have misinterpreted the line “look down upon me, Jesus” in perhaps his biggest hit, “Fire and Rain,” to be a Christian tribute. But in fact, Taylor was writing about withdrawals from heroin and saying “Jesus” as a response to being in pain.3

 

[Lagboltz]

It is possible for someone to be an atheist and very spiritual. The best example is pantheism (not to be confused with paganism). Taoism embodies that principle.

 

[dogtowner]

Does anyone think agnostics have a superior grasp on spiritual things?

No, they have no grasp at all. They know there ought to be something but what that is escapes them.

 

[Jason76]

Even the Bible itself predicts Christianity would be corrupted. The whole mess is called Babylon the Great. Of course, considering the Christian religion is massively corrupted, doesn't it seem reasonable that some people would rather avoid the whole mess? It would make sense to want to avoid corruption and have a pure mindset.

 

[Alexia]

Spiritualism means different things to each of us. Agnostics may have a wider POV, but it doesn't mean they understand it any better than a religious minister or spiritual guru. No one really knows, and I actually write on spiritual matters and always keep an open mind.

All we have is theories and concepts and take what works, and ignore what sounds cuckoo.

 

[Jason76]

Oddly enough, James Taylor's cover of You've Got a Friend is an incredibly good summation of the Christian message. Think about it. Anyhow, who is the friend in the song? I guess some people might interpret the friend as being a close human friend, not Christ or God.