This week we talk with our friend Bob Alberti about being a Universal Unitarian. Nick spent time in a Unitarian congregation growing up as well. We talk about being an atheist who is also a member of a church. We also talk about what spirituality means to us. Nick manages to associate spirituality with pooping. Then Bob gets a crack at our legendary five questions. He actually watched a couple movies so he could answer question #1! We love guests who do their homework.
Show notes below the fold!
Here’s a link to Bob’s church.
And here’s the seven Unitarian Universalist principles.
Bob also mentions the First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis as a place atheists tend to gravitate.
Tim also mentioned the Minnesota Atheists.
Information about Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren.
Here’s a link to the Tekumel Foundation (of which Bob is the treasurer).
If you want to know more about the Sasha at Cecil’s, look here.
I like to use just “inspirational/inspiring” as opposed to “spiritual” since it seems to have less of a supernatural connotation. It kind of reminds me of something I heard on an Atheist podcast about a survey of doctors who said they believed in miracles. It made me wonder how the question was asked. I’d think some might call a case of spontaneous remission of cancer a “miracle” without necessarily connecting a supernatural agency to it.
Bob’s comment about stars we could not see if it were not for the lens effect of other bodies in space made me think of some of the “Symphony of Science” videos, a couple of which brought a tear to my eye the first time I saw them http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zSgiXGELjbc
I also wanted to tease Molly about having a “moment” while running since exhaustion is one of the tricks used by cults… 😉
Even though I might use the word spiritual, I hardly ever use it to describe myself publicly, especially not without a whole lot of qualifications and defining. It’s just easier to not use it, because as soon as people hear “spiritual,” they assume I’m a lapsed Lutheran who believes in angels and the healing properties of crystals or something.