Love Of Nature, Not Religion

[RipVanWinkle]

i've been reading a book entitled "Life After Faith" by Chris Highland which is listed on this site as a recommended book. The author was an evangelist who left Xtianity. He describes many of the things we are all familiar with as to the shortcomings of Xtianity. Then he heads into an alternative to religion which he believes has spiritual attributes: NATURE    A closeness to nature can teach us valuable life lessons. Studying nature, he says, is a spiritual experience which is much more satisfying and relevant  than religion, which has outlived its usefulness. 

 

Highland wrote: "Now, without faith, but with a pocket full of hope and a bit of love under my hat, I saunter on with my abiding and ever-faithful companion, new and always, world without end, Cosmos eternal."

 

I don't to claim to have done justice to Highland's book on his love of and with Nature, I didn't even try. But I am interested in your comments about the whole idea of a love affair with nature and its value. I'm having a hard time with it.  bill

[MultifariousBirdLady]

I don't to claim to have done justice to Highland's book on his love of and with Nature, I didn't even try. But I am interested in your comments about the whole idea of a love affair with nature and its value. I'm having a hard time with it.  bill

Hi Bill,

 

I do put a high value on nature, but as some kind of substitute for religion I think it's a mixed bag. 

 

Awe, wonder, a sense of connectedness, yes, absolutely, you can get all that. 

 

Life lessons?  Yes and no, IMO.  I'm curious what exactly the author means when he says this.

 

But also: ecological crisis is real, there are a lot of "losing battles," and as you learn more, along with amazement and appreciation for the natural world comes fear and grief associated with understanding the magnitude of what has been lost so far and what is precarious and vulnerable.  Some problems seem to have no good answers.  At least, that has been my experience. 

[Guest MadameX]

I'm totally there.

 

What would you like to know?

[Annier]

I've always enjoyed and appreciated nature, but previously as a 'gift from god'

 

Now, by making my own direct connection to nature, and everything around me, I find I have what I deem, more 'spiritual' experiences without that intermediary third party.

 

It just seems more real, and exhilirating.  I'm no longer a receiver of those 'gifts' being endowed to me, but part of this exciting and awesome universe.

 

Whether it be a small dried leaf fallen from a shrub, or the vision of the stars in the sky, when I connect,  it is sooo much better than it was before.

[pitchu]

Maybe "socializing" in xianity; "connectedness" in nature?

[Deva]

I think you can learn a lot from observing nature. For myself, the more I do it, the more artificial and ridiculous religion becomes. Also, there are many "spiritual" benefits from looking at beautiful plants, animals, birds, etc...

[MultifariousBirdLady]

I think you can learn a lot from observing nature.

Totally agreed. 

I would still like to hear some examples of what the author considers "life lessons," though.

 

Don't get me wrong.  There are a lot of wonderful, uplifting things in nature, but the saying that it's "red in tooth and claw" is also true.

 

As one example of what makes me cautious: I've seen occasions where some people try to use the behavior of animals as some kind of guide for making a case about what is "natural" (and thus "good") or not.  They usually end up cherry-picking their examples. 

[Guest MadameX]

I find that feeling we are all part of nature, meaning both wonderful majestic things like being made up of the same stuff as the stars as well as horrifying things like being subject to inevitable often painful and awful death, disease/decrepitude and suffering makes me a lot more empathetic to others. So much of our thoughts, our behavior, and what is our essence, is unknowable to us. Most of it happens at an unconscious level. We cannot help us. We are driven by our biology and our circumstances. People are never condemned under this scheme: given different circumstances they might be very different. 

 

That includes every Christian asshole who has arrogantly asserted their wack little myth or bitterly criticized those who are different from their little tribe of homies.

 

Nature has simultaneously a randomness and power and incredible ineffable beauty and it is also absolutely appalling.

 

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fatal-attraction

 

Protozoa Could Be Controlling Your Brain

Some protozoa infect the brain of their host, shaping its behavior in ways most suited to the pathogen, even if it leads to the suicide of the host

By Christof Koch

[RipVanWinkle]

Thanks for your replies. II think there is awesome beauty in nature and awful horror. I don't get the author's major point: that you can devote practically your whole life studying and  enjoying nature which will result in great spiritual renewal and great learning.

I did not see any examples of great learning in his book, and I don't understand what is meant by "spiritual renewal".

I understand that contemplating the "heavens' and observing the earth's seasons can and should give us a much better perspective on life and death and our part in the universe. And poets and other artists make nature speak to us in beautiful ways in accordance with the artist's purpose. But I don't see volumes of learning from observing nature. Temporary pleasure, peace, tranquility, solace, beauty, wonder, and awe---these I can see. But great knowledge and a continuing elevated spirit I can't see. I think these are hyperbole. I don't mean to devalue nature; it's beautiful. But when it is described as practically an answer to our problems here on earth, I think he goes too far. It reminds me of those many sermons I have heard from the pulpit, describing all of the wonders and "spiritual gifts" we were going to receive by god if we just believed hard enough, which never came. And hearing those promises for so many years without results finally just pissed me off. Similarly, I doubt that being close to nature would  make any significant difference to me in my life, except for temporary pleasure at the beach, hiking in the forest, etc. Maybe a little bitterness from so many lies I've heard has spilled over. But I don't want to substitute one set of lies for another.

                                                                                                                                                                                   bill

[MultifariousBirdLady]

I find that feeling we are all part of nature, meaning both wonderful majestic things like being made up of the same stuff as the stars as well as horrifying things like being subject to inevitable often painful and awful death, disease/decrepitude and suffering makes me a lot more empathetic to others.

 

Sure thing. I'm right there on board with you when it comes to that.

 

 

Bill, it's the "spiritual learning" claim that really makes me wonder what specifically he's referring to. If he means developing a deep sense of "our place in nature," or acceptance that death is a natural part of life, or seeing for yourself that life will return after devastation, sure.  I think there is a way in which seeing/experiencing these things for yourself in nature can help people to grasp these ideas on a level that you don't get by, say, listening to sermons.  But in my experience not everything one learns from nature along these lines fosters a "continuing elevated spirit," as you say.

 

Perhaps that's "as it 'should' be," so to speak.  Nature, like life itself, is not a parade of rainbows and unicorns.  There are seriously difficult things to face in the mix. 

 

I have a guess about the author's use of "spiritual renewal"... usually when I hear people saying something along these lines, they seem to be referring to feeling refreshed and inspired after getting out and getting involved with the natural world, whether through experiencing beauty on a walk or finding gratitude and connection in something like, say, eating from one's own garden. 

[RipVanWinkle]

Well, maybe I 'm making too much of this. I just get the feeling the author was greatly exaggerating the results one can get from paying close attention to nature. Nature can be incredibly cruel. To me that just proves there is no personal god. But its beauty is also incredible. bill

[MultifariousBirdLady]

Hi Bill,

You might not be making too much of it. I have seen some people write or speak about about Nature in ways that struck me as idealized to the point of being naive. It didn't sit well with me.

I don't know if that's happening in this case or not, but if it is then I can appreciate your discomfort.

[Guest MadameX]

Societies that are increasingly artificial, urbanized and removed from the vicissitudes of nature tend to romanticize it.

[Eugene39]

Well, maybe I 'm making too much of this. I just get the feeling the author was greatly exaggerating the results one can get from paying close attention to nature. Nature can be incredibly cruel. To me that just proves there is no personal god. But its beauty is also incredible. bill

 

Bill, I don't think you are making too much of it at all. If God's attributes are exhibited through nature, to be intellectually honest with myself, I have to believe that God is the creator of both the healing process and the viruses, bacteria, infection, etc. that ends life. Just finished a great book by John Burroughs titled "Accepting the Universe". He writes at length about this problem with the Christian definition of God.

[MultifariousBirdLady]

Societies that are increasingly artificial, urbanized and removed from the vicissitudes of nature tend to romanticize it.

Yep.

[RipVanWinkle]

Thanks for your thoughts.    bill

[alpha centauri]

I personally have found my appreciation for nature and the universe to have increased after I cast away the shackles of false religion.

 

Soaking one's self in dogma tends to dull the senses, while embracing nature/logic/reaity increases my appreciation for the world around me.

 

It's really too bad people's false beliefs (religious, political, racial or otherwise) have done so much to harm this world and its occupants.

[BDPApostate]

I have always loved nature, and now that I am no longer delusional, I do even more!

The amazing chance I have to be alive, despite the apparent rarity of life in the universe, is just so awesome! 

That and every ancestor I have was a successful breeder! 

Really.....if you cannot be inspired by the vastness of the universe, and the chance you have to be a part of the fabric of life here, you are missing out.

Spiritual? 

I don't think so......

Emotional and uplifting? Yes