Why are a lot of people who smoke marijuana/do psychedelics atheists?

But just because I might believe nature and everything around including us might be the god force, does not mean we have eternal life.

We die and rot in the ground and become fertilizer.

Why do I want to break out and sing "Circle of Life" from the Lion King?

Haha! I love that movie... Best metaphors for LIFE.

Asante sana squashed banana a wewe buida abada!
It means you are a baboon. And I'm not! Heheheheee...

Why do we have to label everything as 'god?' Why can't we just say 'The Universe is the Universe?'

For me the Universe is god. It has its own agenda and purpose. We seem to be a microcosm of it. That does not mean anything real important but if the force of all that is, is god, we are a part of it.

But I could be totally wrong. I am okay with being wrong.

By your own definition phx123, having spirituality does not entail the belief of a spirit at all. I feel close to nature and feel humans can truly have a strong connection/bond, but I have a hard time believing a singular being concocted the world, let alone any being depicted my mere men. I feel the more we learn, the more we really don't know, but the between ignorance and enlightenment is narrowing, if only gradually. I believe that religion or spirituality is man's insecurities and fear of the unknown grasping at straws in an infinite dispenser, and our answers may only be found after these mortal lives. By no means am I exempt from these thoughts, and they certainly become more active and vivid when smoking or using psychedelics, but they are merely what-ifs and musings from an agnostic. The closest I come to truly being spiritual is holding a young seedling in my hand.

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Originally Posted by Unknown American

We die and rot in the ground and become fertilizer.

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Certainly all major religions and people who believe in an afterlife believe this. There is no doubt that the physical body rots in the ground. The question is of whether or not the non-physical aspects of your body/self (ie: soul, spirit, energy) live on.

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Originally Posted by phx123

Certainly all major religions and people who believe in an afterlife believe this. There is no doubt that the physical body rots in the ground. The question is of whether or not the non-physical aspects of your body/self (ie: soul, spirit, energy) live on.

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Your memory lives on in other people. Other than that I assume "That's all folks!"

That gives me great peace.

Hmm.. well, you guys made a lot of good points to counter some of my arguments and I appreciate that. You all definitely got me thinking... I'll try to think some more about this and respond tomorrow.

This is also something to think about:

Is There Life After Death? An Emminent International Cardiologist Believes He Can PROVE IT! | ClickPress
I think we can learn a lot about death by looking at near death experiences

Also, what do you guys think of this argument?

"If everything in our world is made up of energy, matter, ideas, etc, then consciousness itself must be energy. While in the normal waking state, consciousness may be present on the physical plane, but in other states (dreaming, meditation, etc)consciousness exists there as well, proving it isn't just connected to physical everyday reality. So we when die, if consciousness continues to be energy, and therefore can never "disappear", then in death it is only freed from our bodies, moving onto another plane."

sure it's been said but, simply becuase doing mind altering substances and not believing fall into the same catagorey..... open mindness...

I don't think atheism and smoking MJ can be linked anymore than bungee jumping or knitting can, if someone carried out a survey I think you might find that there is not a disproportionate number of atheists who smoke in relation to atheists who partake in any other recreation.
I hope this makes sense.

NCM

You know it might just be that not everyone believes in a creator or that dope is a path to enlightenment and so, don't necessarily equate the "yeah...wow man" aspect of marijuana intoxication as a 'touched by god experience'.

It's all about interpretation. You use god as a vehicle to interpret your experiences, I do not. John Berger and Peter Luckmann wrote a lovely book called 'The Social Construction of Reality', if you are interested why people don't interpret their experiences the way you do, this book is a good place to start.

Different people interpret the same experience through their own histories and beliefs eg ~

I have a good friend who joined an evangelical church...she loved it and truly believes that she has experienced the presence of the holy spirit during 'praise' nights.

I went to a praise night, there is a lot of music, singing, swaying and clapping. It feels good, but I can get the same feeling of elation crowd surfing in the moshe pit and no one insists I call it 'god'. :jointsmile:

I am athiest, I smoke cannabis. It has opened my mind. Open your eyes, embrace existence while we can. We have free will, we are not predetermined with one function for humanity, no specific human nature. God does not give us morality, we create our own morality through the choices we make, through what we value. If you believe in 'God' then why not Allah, or Budha, or Zeus, or Odin? People believe their beliefs are correct without exploring any other possibilities. They cherry pick from the bible. Religion is not logical. We are rational beings. Humans created God, not vice versa.

I agree with your conclusions, but I didn't smoke dope to reach them. Maybe introspection comes more easily for some, whilst others need a catalyst like cannabis.

Who knows? Who cares? The mix bowl is empty, it must be time for bed. :hippy:

I think the biggest issue concerning the topic of 'spirituality, higher power, God, yadda yadda' is that it's constricted by language. Putting words to abstract thoughts doesn't make them real. People make the mistake of putting a word to something, and then creating a defination of the word. Then they go and try and force said defination on other people. Arguments start up and nobody really gets anywhere.
I've been thinking about this honestly for several years, and while I believe I've made considerable progress on finding out about God, I don't think I can tell or explain my beliefs to anyone because I don't grasp the truth enough to box it in w/ words.

The main flaw in your "argument" (it's not really an argument i just cant think of an appropriate word to described it) is that everyone has the same set of values and beliefs that you do.

Hindus, Buddhists, Christians all have every different meanings for what "god" is. Spirituality is pretty much unique to everyone. Think of it like traveling, say you fly from the east coast to the west coast and I drive, we're going to have different travel experiences but our final destination is still the same. Simply because someone does not experience it the same way you do doesn't mean that they are experiencing a diluted form of what you perceive to be enlightenment. Perception is a very relative thing.

Personally I am an atheist / agnostic. I don't believe in a god or an afterlife, but I have no way to disprove either and I have no way to prove how we got here on this planet. When I get high, which is a rare thing these days, I feel completely at peace, my brain stops racing around my head at 2 billion miles per-hour and grinds to a halt. I gain the ability to step back and examine my life and the simple things in it that I over look on a daily basis. I see incredible beauty in sunsets even though I know that it's only caused by our atmosphere bending and filtering out most of the different spectrums of light to only allow the red in. To me thats true enlightenment, being able to step out of yourself and see yourself for what you truly are and appreciate the simple things that nature put there for us to observe and enjoy.

One of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had was watching the Aurora Borealis dance through the night sky while I lit out of my brain. I know that it's simply caused by the way particles enter our atmosphere at certain areas with the influence of the earths magnetic field, but still it was the most beautiful and spiritual thing I've ever experienced.

(after reading over this again it may sound like I'm attempting to attack you, I have no intention of attacking you or defaming your ideas. Simply just wish to express my own as I feel that the free exchange of ideas is one of the best ways to encourage personal growth in ones self and others).

I know the fiendiest of fiends that are devout catholic...............lmao

Studies show that a lot of so-called near death experiences is just a chain reaction of neurotransmitters combined with epinepherine and lack of oxygen that intterupts normal brain patterns, and your subconcious may provide images from memory.

Skeptic magazine showed that a lot of paranormal experiences can be almost exactly replicated (i.e. feeling of a presence, hearing noises, hallucinations, ect) can be caused by fluctuations in brain chemistry caused by magnetic fields.

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Originally Posted by phx123

"If everything in our world is made up of energy, matter, ideas, etc, then consciousness itself must be energy. While in the normal waking state, consciousness may be present on the physical plane, but in other states (dreaming, meditation, etc)consciousness exists there as well, proving it isn't just connected to physical everyday reality. So we when die, if consciousness continues to be energy, and therefore can never "disappear", then in death it is only freed from our bodies, moving onto another plane."

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I've seen similar arguments before, and to many people they're very convincing. But, we know that energy can not be created, nor destroyed, it can only change forms. If consciousness is indeed a form of energy, it is dissipated just like any other energy in our bodies, and we slowly become a cold dead corpse when energy is no longer introduced into our bodies.

But to the topical question at hand... I'm not sure that atheists are more apt to smoking weed, but if it's indeed the case, it might be due to the fact that there's no sky daddy above them becoming upset with their harmless actions.

Thats the way i feel man!

yeh i smoke weed everyday, and like to do hallucinagens too. Spirtual experiences.

Well, im agnostic too though. but who knows?

Using drugs and finding God are two different things. You cannot know God through drugs, as they are just an attachment as is the question "does God exist". To truly find God, you must detach yourself from all drugs and all forms of thought, including questions regarding God. Drugs can guide you on the path, but sooner or later they must be abandoned if you are to truly find Source.

In response to the original poster..

People have the ultimate say as to how they use their drugs. Some people will use their drugs to help further their spiritual understanding while some people will use their drugs with their sex and rock'n'roll.

The problem comes into focus when people start telling other people what to do.

edit: I forget that this board doesnt allow edits after five minutes so I will say now that I agree for the most part with what everyone else has posted. Its a fairly easy issue.

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Originally Posted by Purple Banana

Simply because we don't believe in a theistic being doesn't mean we're unable to feel one with ourselves or nature. That's why psychedelic use in general is also very personal, because it's not only spiritual enlightenment, but intellectual enlightenment and emotional discoveries. I don't need to believe in a deity in order to learn something from an insight or revelation, it simply occurs.

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Exactly. I don't get why people think everything is tied to some deity, that is scientifically impossible and logically implausible.

Spirituality is wholly separate from a god or higher power. They are two absolutely different things. Spirituality deals with an inner-self (Or your conscious and subconscious). A God or higher power is an unconnected deity. To reiterate, all a god or higher power is, is an unconnected, unrelated deity. Buddhist monks are technically atheists, but they have a STRONG sense of spirituality.