Bring-Your-Own-Brunch 12-1, Open Space Discussion 1-2:30 @ TVUUC
Free child care services provided
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This month we are very lucky to have Britt Hartley joining us over Zoom to lead the discussion of her book, No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools, No Belief Required.
Drawing from the wellsprings of science, philosophy, religion, and psychology, this illuminating work charts a course for those who seek a meaningful life without dogma or woo. Hartley draws on her work as an atheist spiritual director to provide practical guidelines for navigating a secular approach to ritual, morality, awe, transcendence, wisdom, community, intuition, connection, and meaning that can withstand the harsh truths of reality.
Britt also has a popular TikTok and YouTube Channel where she creates videos that offer advice on how to cope with religious deconstruction, how to overcome nihilism and doomerism, and how to embrace spiritual practices and traditions in a way that resonates with those who don't believe in the supernatural.
The Rationalists of East TN Skeptics Book Club will be joining us to discuss her book, but you can still have an informed discussion if you check out some of her videos below.
Check out her website at NoNonsenseSpirituality.com.
Videos and materials are shared for the purpose of inviting participants into open discussion, and are not endorsed by or representative of TVUUC.
This video exemplifies the type of approach Britt takes to spirituality. She confronts the nihilism that often accompanies a loss of faith, and looks for evidence-based methods for restoring meaning and pursuing a life of flourishing.
Feeling lost, apathetic, or stuck in an existential funk? This episode breaks down 10 research-supported practices that reliably increase meaning and purpose—no religion required. You’ll learn how engaging on purpose, acting by your core values, designing rituals, serving others, and cultivating awe can re-train reward systems in the brain so life feels worth showing up for again. We also map what therapists can help with and where you’ll need to take the lead yourself.
In this long-form interview with Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute from The Office and notable Baha'i) Britt discusses her loss of her Mormon faith, the nihilism and depression that followed, and how she found a way to take back her sense of spirituality from a secular perspective.
A great overview of how different personality types are drawn to different forms of religious and spiritual practices.
How meditation, psychedelics, and other mystical experiences can be experienced and embraced from a secular perspective, and what does spirituality mean without God?
How spirituality has undermined women's ability to get the most out of spiritual practices, and what you can do about it.
A discussion of how things like fandom, political ideologies, and other modern phenomenon are becoming America's newest forms of religion.
What happens when humans do religion badly? In this video, Britt Hartley breaks down the structural features that make some religions cause more harm when misused—exclusive truth claims, cosmic high stakes, centralized authority, state fusion, outsider treatment, adaptability to science, apocalyptic urgency, and sanctioning violence.
Do you believe in a loving God, a wrathful God, or maybe a distant cosmic force? According to this eye-opening video, the god you believe in may say more about your personality, environment, political values, and cultural history than it does about the divine.
Can you raise emotionally strong, morally grounded children without religion, certainty, or belief in an afterlife? In this raw and thoughtful guide, a secular parent and philosopher shares 9 practical tips for raising kids in a world without divine scripts.
What if I told you that every decision you’ve ever made wasn’t actually your choice? In this video, I’ll break down the science and philosophy that prove free will is an illusion—showing how neuroscience, genetics, and environmental factors shape every thought and action you take.
Chapter Summaries
CHAPTER 1 - WHERE WE MEET
How I came to write this book, and how it meets thousands of others I have met who are curious about spirituality but overwhelmed or skeptical of the options
CHAPTER 2 - SECULAR SPIRITUALITY
The benefits of approaching spirituality without it being dependent on truth claims that we don't know
CHAPTER 3 - ORDER AND CHAOS
The tools for how best to proceed in your journey depend on if you are coming from the side of too much order, or too much chaos
CHAPTER 4 - RITUALS AND CALENDARS
Rituals scientifically help us process emotion, mark our values, decrease pain, and increase pleasure
CHAPTER 5 - AWE AND CONTEMPLATION
The science of awe and options for practices that help you connect
CHAPTER 6 - AWAKENING THE FEMININE
Wisdom from the embodied spiritual approach of mystic women
CHAPTER 7 - MEANING AND PURPOSE
Building meaning from the ground up rather than from a supernatural story
CHAPTER 8 - SECULAR MORALITY
Building a moral life when objective morality from God breaks down
CHAPTER 9 - INTUITION AND THE OCCULT
How to integrate tools such as paganism, tarot, archetype, etc. with a no nonsense framework
CHAPTER 10 - MYSTICISM AND WISDOM TRADITIONS
The roots of religion as a focus on experience
CHAPTER 11 - COMMUNITY AND LOVE
Integrating love as your default mode of being
CHAPTER 12 - SACRED STORY
What are the stories that inspire you, and what is the chapter you are in now?
CHAPTER 13 - HUMAN FLOURISHING
What are the markers of human well-being and how do those relate to spirituality?
CHAPTER 14 - THE FUTURE OF SPIRITUALITY
Where is all of this headed?
Discussion Questions
This month's discussion will be led by Britt Hartley and will use a Q and A format so we can best take advantage of her knowledge. Please consider which questions you would like to as Britt and come with those in mind.
Some prompts that will get you thinking include:
What does "spirituality" mean to you? Is secular spirituality possible or does it lack an essential ingredient?
Do you think it is important to have a sense of "meaning" or "purpose" in your life?
How have male-dominated religious traditions impacted female spiritual growth? How do male, female, or nonbinary approaches to spirituality differ?
How do you define a "mystical experience"? Have you ever had one? How did it influence the way you think?
How is human flourishing different from happiness? What would be different in a society that encourages flourishing?
What are the emerging new religions in America? Do they actually meet the human needs that religious communities provide? If not, what are they lacking?