Religion

Apparently the words I'm using aren't really conveying the spirit in which they are intended. I blame myself for being very amateurish in my posts.

I'm not a scientist (obviously) but it seems to be the standard we are all held to in explaining everything. Science focused solely on physical phenomenon explains many things but it is not complete, not to me. Further, I view mind and spirit as domains independent of the physical world, similar to viewing time and space as separate but interdependent phenomenon. They have their physical representations in the form of our brains and nervous systems but they are ultimately not the result of physical processes, they are the reason for them. Bodies exist as expressions of mind and spirit. And as bodies develop (evolve) into more complex organisms, they are able to express that much more into the physical world. It's an exploration of consciousness and its possibilities in physical form. That's backwards from the materialist perspective but it has explained much to me, including the history and practice of magic (a whole other long topic).

Agree or disagree doesn't really matter at this point. All this is to say, the "self-evident" BS comes from the original op throwing out the word "reality" as if it were an obvious thing we would all know if we just dropped the religious bullshit. In the same vein, your statement, "the reality we all live in" appears to have the apparent assumption that we all know what that means. Most people would just nod and say yes but I think that glosses over details that really do make a difference. In everyday life, that's probably as far as it needs to go but I don't think so in this forum about religion since reality is its central subject (a point of obvious contention). The story about the elephant and the the three blind men conveys this notion. Maybe we're not all blind but our senses are limited and our experiences subjective.

That's my take in a nutshell. It can be interesting to compare notes on our experiences and observations and our resultant beliefs about life but it can also be a minefield. More often than not, the response is either "who the fuck cares" or "that's bullshit"...full stop. I'm not really that good at conveying my thoughts out loud so don't normally push it beyond that. I'm trying to be more expressive in this forum than I am face to face; and I do appreciate the banter...sometimes.

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I'll try to add an answer to the other thread you reference.