We discuss the biggest questions: "what's real?", "who matters?" and "how to make a better world?" with scientists, celebrities, activists, writers and philosophers. The Sentientism worldview is "evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings." It's a simple, yet radical, philosophy that's grounded in reality (naturalistic epistemology) and has compassion for all sentient beings (mostly human and non-human animals). Naturalism & sentiocentrism combined.
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Jamila (thesoulfulveganista.com & @Jamila_Anahata) is an activist, blogger & holistic lifestyle coach. She is aso Marketing Director of the Afro-Vegan Society. Sign up for their NAVCON2021 summit on Nov 13th – open to all!.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”
Sentientism is “evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss:
0:00 Welcome
01:12 Jamila’s Intro – Soulful Veganista & the AfroVegan Society
– Community, creativity, connection to resist oppression and help others
– “All the isms & justices”. Veganism, racial justice / food justice / climate justice…
– AVS: Veganism through a black lens
02:45 What’s Real?
– Growing up in Maryland in the Southern US
– Raised Southern Baptist Christian. Bible study, daily church, Sunday service
– “I used to down religion… that industry”
– The church as a powerful community for black southern people… “throwing our pain at the altar”
– Experiencing deep racism… beyond bias
– A hunger for something beyond the suffering of “this realm”
– “I was always a gothy kid… a punk kid”
– “3 seconds after I went vegan I decided I wasn’t going to be Christian any more”
– “If I can open my mind about veganism… I can do anything… it was so liberating”
– Leaving religion because of evidence, ethics or rebellion
– “My dad is a natural activist… he reminds me of Malcolm X”
– Learing the painful history of Christianity
– Not wanting to support the religion or animal product industries
– Empathy as a moral compass. I didn’t need religion for that
– Keeping the compassion & community
– Looking within for ethics
– Spirituality. Connection & oneness
– “There’s more to life than my own suffering or flourishing”
– Languages, class, religions, castes, hierarchies, status & how they separate us
– “I swiped away all the titles”
– Eckhart Tolle
– “I am not what they think I am… I am divinely guided”
– “If we wiped away all the oppressive things from Christianity that’s what we’d be left with”
– “I feel like I receive intuitive messages from my spiritual team”
– Scepticism & believing in science… but that can’t be all there is
– Other planes or dimensions
– “I was that faith based person where science was the enemy”
– “This pandemic helped me… I learned that medicine is OK…”
– Believing in ‘what is’ doesn’t make me a less of a spiritual person
– Naturalism on this plane, spiritualism for the others?
…and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info and on YouTube.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our “I’m a Sentientist” wall via this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!
Thanks Graham.
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