Belief versus paradigm evolution Part Two

So what about spirituality? Do theists have the corner on the market when it comes to that other-worldly feeling inside that they are in touch with something beyond themselves? If they are, then there is surely something to the metaphysical that the rest of us can’t share in. Apart from the autoerotic journeys of the sensually deprived nuns and priests and saints, don’t the rest of us share in the non-corporeal manifestation that comprises that other reality? Does one have to be a theist to appreciate poetry, to be transported by the romance of a sunset, or to feel deep elation at a long distance runner sprinting to the finish line.



We are not, after all, an island unto ourselves but members of a community of shared hopes, aspirations, triumphs and failures. Combine our deep rooted emotions with our capacity for language and the reflective nature of internal conversation and the fertile ground for spiritual journeys is ready for planting. Where do we draw the line between spiritualism and emotion? Is spirituality just another emotion rather than a dimension of being human that requires a god given soul?



My sister is into spiritualism. Her vocabulary is rich with expressions such as, “getting in touch with your inner self”, “feeling the flow of energy”, and “looking to a higher power.” She sees her soul as some sort of second self that communes with like spirits and draws positive energies and experiences. It’s more of “I have a soul” than “I am a soul.”



So what do I have that all the other animals who have evolved with me don’t? Anatomically, I can see no gradual development of an organ of spirituality – no vestiges of a primitive soul in my closest genetic species. What I do have is self-awareness and, I believe, a clue as to where the soul resides.



I believe that the story of Genesis is allegorical (for instance, I think of the story of Cain and Abel as symbolic of agriculture supplanting hunting and gathering societies). When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they received nourishment which created the soul. In anthropological terms, when we became self aware, we developed the capacity for abstract thought as well as abstract emotion and wove them together with our social tendencies to experience something beyond ourselves. You don’t need a god to provide you with a soul – it is a sine qua non of social/mental evolution.



Can there be people without souls? Yes, but they’re brain damaged and we call them sociopaths. Do some people have greater spiritual capacity than others (I’m a man so I’m obsessed with size)? Surely, since we also have varying mental capacity and varying degrees of imagination. Can we lose our souls? To the extent that we can give up reflexive thought and emotion in favour of acquisitiveness and sensory preoccupation, most certainly.