Spiritual Atheism

Spiritual Atheism is the absence of belief in the existence of "God", defined as an entity external to the universe that created and rules the universe; but the presence of belief in the existence of "God", defined as the personification of the universe itself.

Note that traditional atheism does not make any attempt to define exactly what is meant by the term "God"; while spiritual atheism is very specific about it, making it a specialized and discretionary type of atheism. This reflects the different underlying philosophies — atheism actively rejects belief in all possible definitions of the term "God"; while spiritual atheism actively rejects belief in only one very specific definition of the term "God".

Spiritual Atheism does not represent a specific spiritual philosophy; but, rather, a family of spiritual philosophies (compare to Atheism and Theism).

The following spiritual philosophies are generally considered to be part of the Spiritual Atheism family:

*Buddhism
*Non-literal Christianity (also known as Esoteric Christianity)
*Non-literal Islam (also known as Esoteric Islam)
*Non-literal Judaism (also known as Esoteric Judaism)
*Non-literal Theism (also known as Esoteric Theism)
*Hinduism
*New Age
*Paganism
*Pantheism
*Panentheism
*Spiritual Humanism
*Spiritual Naturalism
*Taoism
*Wicca

Spiritual Atheists

Spiritual Atheists do not believe in a literal "God" (thus the term "Atheist"), but still consider themselves to be (often deeply) "Spiritual" people. Even so, there is no consensus among Spiritual Atheists regarding the literal existence of one's own "spirit" or a collective "spirit". However, there is consensus that if any "spirit" does exist, it is not external to the Universe and it is not "supernatural". Spiritual Atheists believe that all aspects of the Universe are strictly natural.

For Spiritual Atheists, being "Spiritual" means (at the very least) to nurture thoughts, words, and actions that are in harmony with the idea that the entire Universe is, in some way, connected; even if only by the mysterious flow of cause and effect at every scale. Therefore, Spiritual Atheists generally feel that as they go about their lives striving to be personally healthy and happy, they should also be striving to help the world around them be healthy and happy. (This empowering concept is referred to as "Wholistic Ethics".)

Although Spiritual Atheists do not believe in a literal "God"; they generally recognize "God" as an important and powerful symbol of the inter-connectedness and one-ness of the Universe. They see that, individually, everything in the Universe is a part of "God"; and, collectively, everything in the Universe is "God". And that there is only one "God".

Is God's body not the very Universe itself? Is God's consciousness not the very consciousness that is present in all of life everywhere? Is not all of life sacred?

Even so, many Spiritual Atheists are extremely reluctant to make use of the word "God", due to the extreme desecration it has suffered by traditional Theists and Atheists alike.

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