Being an Atheist isn't Enough

Sometimes it takes me awhile to figure out what is bugging me. I'm a bit slow on the uptake and I'm generally a happy person so putting my finger on a thing that is ruminating in the back of my mind can take me a bit longer than most...but I've finally put my finger on it. 
And not in a gross way.

It's this: being an atheist person does not guarantee that one is a skeptic. *

Maybe it is the pervasively anti-intellectual climate that we live in that is to blame. Or it is that popular and warm-fuzzy idea of being spiritual that is to blame; that one always annoys me more than it should. The entirety of that school of thought called New Age just screams ridiculous to me. I'm trying to hold my temper here, but my anger and frustration with the whole idea of spiritual rather than religious just annoys me. There is no skepticism present in this ...what...realm?

I have had more than my share of uncomfortable conversations where the other person insists that the constellations and stars, somehow, tell them important things about their life here on Earth. I'm sorry, but too many people I care about have relationships with their chakras. Lovely, LOVELY people that I know throw their time and money and energy into healing massage and touch, with a belief that there is light and energy emanating from their hands.  I hope that I will never, ever again have to be in the position where a very beloved person looks at me with their puppy dog eyes and says Well, our family truly believes in astrology.

Breath work and Reiki. Chakra energies. Transformational breathing. Various retreats. Energy coming from rocks and crystals. 
The goddess. Astrology. Flat Earthers. Satanism. Aromatherapy. Climate change deniers. Wiccan. Himalayan salt lamps. Vibrations. Essential oils. Numerology. Shamanistic healing. Cleansing scents. Putting your needs out to the universe.  
Colon or liver detoxifying. Sigil symbol magic. Energy healing. Spiritual alchemy. Soul groups. Grounding rituals. Feather magic.
Reflexology. Sacred Geometry. Acupuncture. Homeopathy. Qi gong. Scalar Energy. Naturopathic medicine. Transformational breath work.
Superstition of many kinds.


I find it lonely sometimes being a true skeptic. So many people find these spirituality practices meaningful to them and I truly find them unpalatable to the extreme. Even people who claim to be atheists cling to some of these spiritual practices with no irony or cognitive dissonance. I'm certain that some of these people find me very abrasive or intolerant IRL.

Yeah, it can be lonely being a true skeptic, but I am at a place where I absolutely couldn't be anyone else.

* I'm sure I've offended at least one of my regular readers.

...Feeling a little grumpy and intolerant lately. 
What do you think?

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