I used to believe that being spiritual had something to do with religious belief. And it does. So whenever I heard an atheist say something about bing spiritual, I thought, How can you be a non-believer, and be spiritual? I never said anything to the people I heard say things like that, I just thought, at the time, they were either not authentic in their atheism, or, more probably, confused. To me, it was hypocritical to claim to be an atheist on one hand, then on the other discuss being spiritual. Aren’t those two things completely different?

Not necessarily. It wasn’t as though I heard this, or read it, on a daily basis so I just placed those I knew of that spoke of their spirituality, into a different category of atheist than I was. Not that I was claiming to be better, just different. I came across a poll in those days, by Pew, that had to do with non-believers.Curious as I was, I read it and found the same instance of some atheists saying they were spiritual. What in the world is going on?

Well, as I have discovered, spirituality doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with a belief in any god or some religious experience. It can just be a feeling of well being, and inner peace. In other words, just feeling good about yourself. Having that feeling every once in a while is good for the average person. Atheists, as I’ve said on multiple occasions, are no different than anyone else with the one exception: We believe in one less god than non-atheists. For a god believer, spirituality is based on a commitment to an unseen god, studying the sacred texts that go along with whatever is believed, and allowing “divine guidance” to determine choices made and character.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with feeling good about yourself, no matter the way it’s obtained. I just find it simpler, to not have to live by special rules in order to obtain self satisfaction. Living a good life may be had whether one believes in some supernatural power, or not. Maybe it’s time to question whether human kind still require a crutch in order to be good, do good, and feel good.