The term "secular spirituality" is meant to convey the contemporary phenomenon of spirituality as experienced in different spheres not associated with structured, institutionalised religion. An outline is given of the relation between secular reality (the natural realm) and religious/spiritual reality (the supernatural realm), as it developed from pre-secular animism (pre-modern unity with nature) to secular dualism (modernism) to post-secular holism (influence of postmodernism). Then follows a brief discussion of secular spirituality in Africa with reference to struggle spirituality. Secular spirituality in its technospiritual mode is becoming increasingly important and is dealt with cursorily before dealing with secular spirituality as a model for a postmodern natural theology. In this context "natural theology" is not concerned with proofs of God's existence, but seeks to integrate the natural and supernatural dimensions of human life meaningfully.
Technology is part of all life forms. This does not mean that all technology is beneficial for life. Technological evolution in the human sphere holds promises to attain the status of singularity. This identifies the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. What is at stake includes the emergence of intelligent and conscious super computers and robots, conscious materialism, the possibility of human immortality and the emergence of the trans-human. In the ambit of a new artificial environment in which humans will live, the question of being must be addressed again. How will all of this affect the question of being human and new conceptions of ‘self’? To what extent will the possibility of techno-religion replace traditional religions with its promise of eradicating poverty, illness and death? This article focuses on these and related issues to identify possibilities of a new artificially envisaged lifestyle.
Few human phenomena in our time are as controversial or confusing as religion. People seem to live in two worlds: a mythical and a scientific one. They talk about either of these worlds in isolation but cannot reconcile the underlying presuppositions. Believers are less naïve than the ‘new atheists’ suppose, and atheists do not come without their quota of superstition and belief. Midway between the two opposites is a burgeoning, secular new spirituality that has assumed many forms in recent years. The groups are often marked by some form of naturalism, which try to accommodate science. The premise in this article is that religion, being a product of normal evolutionary processes, is ‘natural’. This implies that cultural evolution is ongoing and supports the thesis that religion (in this case Western Christianity) is making a major transition. As for science, I briefly outline the role of metaphysics. That is because science often has to invoke metaphysical constructs to make sense of the bigger picture. Following Aristotle, the metaphysical dimension of science is a blank page which every era fills with its own interpretation. In that sense, it is ‘more than’ just empiricism, verifiability, and it is accompanied by some metaphysical baggage. At this metaphysical level, the traditional dominance of causality makes way for emergence.
It would appear that the epistemological tradition of the West is culminating in the present science-religion debate. The evolutionary model is being used increasingly in different disciplines as a guideline to understand humans and their action in the world. The struggle for explaining the action of God has shifted from the world of history and texts to the invisible level of quantum physics and molecular biology. It seems that levels of indeterminacy in quantum mechanics and autopoietic systems offer space to explain the action of God. On the human level integrity is sought by linking the highest level of consciousness and rationality to the very basic level of molecular and genetic structures. These issues are dealt with and specific attention is given to autopoietic systems and the biological roots of rationality.
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