Is nothing sacred?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

One thing I like about this forum is that it sure isn't an echo chamber. We have strong believers, strong atheists, and all sorts of strata in between.

I am interested in hearing what folks consider sacred in their lives. Is "sacred" a word reserved only for believers? Do non-believers hold certain values, events, items, etc. as so special they might be referred to as sacred? Or is the concept off base?

I think this is an exercise that will help us understand one another just a bit better.

So what is sacred to you?

[LiberalEsto]

1. Mother Earth

The air, the water, the living creatures, the safety and well-being of all children

the Constitution of the US

[InvisibleTouch]

2. Very good question!

I only have a couple of minutes this morning, so I won't go into a lot of detail (and later will probably kick myself for forgetting to mention some important concept), but this is my viewpoint: theology-wise I would call myself an atheist, as that's the closest pidgeonhole I can find, but it's not entirely accurate since I do believe in a "life force" that pervades the universe - not a consciousness, exactly, and certainly not a personal individual god or gods, but a living energy, which can be tapped into. I also believe that natural features have a "presence" of sorts that can be communed with (but I also fully acknowledge that the mind can easily fool itself, and what I've perceived as a "presence" when crossing a great river, for instance, or standing at a seashore, may very well just be my own imagination). My educational background is scientific, but I've long understood that science as we know it today doesn't and cannot tell the whole story. I respect the beliefs of others as long as they don't try to force them on me, as I have a great interest in what other people believe, what works for them, and I'm big on taking bits and pieces of concepts and applying them to my own life where they work, without necessarily subscribing to a whole belief system. Thus I feel that there's a lot of wisdom in the metaphysics community, for instance, but their interpretation of the world is narrow, just like any organized religion's interpretation of the world is narrow. Most of them contain some element of "the truth," whatever that may be, but the whole story is not what anyone thinks it is.

Okay, so that's where I'm coming from. What's sacred to me? First and foremost, personal loyalty. The fundies like to say that without a religious structure, there can be no morals, but that's complete bunk. "Morals" are guidelines and social norms that allow us to live in a community, and that's been shaped by thousands, even millions, of years of evolution. Those who can't function in a group, have been weeded out over time. A lot of what we call "morality" and "altruism," in an arrogant human attempt to look down upon other animals, is nothing more than kin selection in action. That doesn't cheapen it or make it lesser, it just puts it into perspective. So, loyalty to those who deserve loyalty (strong distinction there for me), is the highest of all virtues, IMO. Conversely, betrayal of trust on a personal level is the greatest of all crimes.

Likewise nature and animals are sacred to me ... I wouldn't have chosen that exact word, but in the context of your question, it fits. There's something "holy" about the whole vast span of geological time, the slow unfolding of evolution from its earliest beginnings - and something comforting about the knowledge that humans, as destructive as they are, are only one species among billions, with a limited geological lifespan. The rhythms of the natural world are sacred, I guess you could say.

There's more I could talk about, but that will do for now. Good topic!

[cosmik debris]

3. Nothing is sacred

I never found a good use for the word sacred. It seem to me that it is a made-up concept that people use to ascribe artificial value to things for which they have extraordinary respect. To me, the intrinsic value is sufficient to earn my respect. It speaks for itself and needs no label to promote its value to extraordinary levels.

So I say that there is nothing for which I have extraordinary respect.

And that is the opinion of ONE atheist.

[Warpy]

4. Yeah, the word "sacred" bothers me too

since it's an utterly meaningless word to me. There is nothing I consider awe inspriring enough to want to exclude people from my company who don't share the awe, nothing I'd consider raising an army to kill other people over.

That's where the concept generally leads, too.

How many people have lost their lives over sacred rocks, sacred icons, sacred pieces of land, sacred traditions?

[izzie]

5. Odd but what I think of my self. Did I do the good thing to wards others.

You must treat people how you wish to be treated even of it does not always work that way. You must try. When you leave I think it is all I will have and it is what I think of when I think of the people who went before me.

[Finder]

6. Sacred to me is anything I feel should not be desecrated...

and many of the things I held sacred as a theist, I still hold sacred as an atheist.

A few things that came to mind without thought surprised me.lol

[FDRLincoln]

7. everything

Everything, properly understood, can be sacred in the sense that it connects you to the Universe around you.

Sex can be sacred.
Love can be sacred.
Work can be sacred.
Pleasure can be sacred.
Even pain can be sacred if we learn from it.
Food can be sacred.
Music can be sacred.

[Evoman]

8. No. Nothing is sacred.

To me, there is nothing that can be called sacred. There are things I love, and there are things I hate, but I hold none of them sacred.

Except Jessica Alba. Anybody says anything bad about her, I'll Jihad your ass. You have been warned.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. What is sacredness?

For most people, sacredness (or sanctity?) is a very strange, mixed-up portmanteau feeling that combines fetishism and loathing as well as the more exalted experiences.

It's like "honor" -- it's something that derives from healthy impulses, but usually gets twisted and sick.

--p!

[Realityhack]

10. Perhaps.

The thing is we need to have a common definition of ‘sacred’ first.

It seems to me the word sacred is typically used to put something beyond question. ‘sacred truths’, ‘sacred ceremonies’, etc. This seems to simply mean ‘off limits to question’ or something equivalent.
As such I think there is anything we should put in that category. One could perhaps make a case for ‘human life’ but I think even that can be twisted around.
I would prefer to leave everything open to question and challenge.

[Lilith Velkor]

11. Everything, therefore nothing.

:D

[Lars39]

12. The closest things I have to 'sacred

are the health and well-being of my kids and husband...my family. I consider 'boundaries' to be sacred.
I have had to weed toxic family members out of our lives due to violence and threats of violence.
You don't mess with them and stay in my life.
I have come to realize that teaching my kids to respect their 'boundaries' is one of the most important things I have done.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

13. The word sacred doesn't mean anything except in the context of a God

Or similar entity.

Sacred means, roughly, "special to a God" or "Holy"; if you don't believe in the existence of a God then clearly nothing can be sacred to them.

[hunter]

14. She wore a granny dress, granny glasses, and a flower in her hair.

I think she worshipped the Earth Goddess, although she claimed to be an atheist.

Her name was Rachel, and there was a whole lot of sacred in her world.

She once woke me up to watch the sun rise.

(Oh man, that was almost thirty years ago...)

[FooFootheSnoo]

15. my family

I can't think of anything more sacred to me.