OK so we all get bored to death with the meaning of 'spiritual' question. But a lot of people here list themselves as 'Free-thinker'. What the #### does free-thinker mean ?
Pretty much None Of Your Business, methinks.
Nothing on this site is any of my business, but it is fun.
Good question. Someone who goes around to village fetes and does thinking for charity.
To me, it simply means you are able to think about the world at large and reality as objectively as possible and without any problematic preconceptions based on conditioning. For some, that isn't easy and no one is immune to this completely. I think the strongest counter effect to this is being raised in religion. Hats off to those who have liberated themselves from it.
I see what you mean. the "free" is really redundant
Not really...the free means that you are not allied to a particular school of thought.
@Marionville would that mean that having feminist or egalitarian beliefs or following something like critical race theory or queer theory means one is allied to a school of thought? And hence, is not a free thinker?
@demifeministgal no...not really what I meant!
@Marionville what is meant by schools of thought then?
@demifeministgal Philosophical and religious.
Here’s a good explanation: [ffrf.org]
Yes but surely that is just called 'thinking'.
@Fernapple “No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.”
If you don’t like the term then don’t use it yourself. Others use it and that’s ok.
@Marcie1974 I don't mind the term at all. It is perhaps just a transatlantic thing, in the US it may seem quite normal, but in the UK it would sound pompus and self congratulatory. That is why I posted in the "silly" cat.