What exactly is this 'spirituality' thing anyway and how can it be useful?
This is the kind of spirituality that can unify a world. To be able to see that it took all the time that it took--from the combined efforts of all of us--to finally answer the most perplexing question man has been asking since he was conscious of himself. When the people of Earth realize that we are alone in this universe, perhaps then we will learn to depend on one another and see that only by cooperation can we possibly survive.
"The purpose of religion is to help cope with this tension between one's own will and other wills, and make life meaningful, whatever the particular configuration of destiny may be."
Isn't it just a bit presumptuous of religion and/or you, Ersi, to assume that I or anyone else need a god of some sort to make life meaningful. Religion would reduce my life to being created for the sole purpose of worshiping my creator for all eternity. That is what religion offers--"the opportunity in heaven to sing His praise forever". How many times would I have to thank God for my existence? I honestly can't imagine anything more meaningless than that.
Religious people speak about the wonderful spirituality of having God in charge of their lives, but know nothing of the greater spirituality felt in understanding our existence through man's best efforts to discover nature's truth. The story of mankind is before us right now--from the instant of spontaneous creation, to the formation of stardust, to the first self-replicating cell, to evolution, to mankind today--it is all there for each of us to comprehend and marvel at. I prefer to stand in awe and reverence to what our species has accomplished in this universe and not to some possible supernatural being--that, to me, is a much, much greater spirituality.
