I think people that often correlated disaster, disease and death with retribution from a vengeful God would most likely make every effort to appease or satiate by any means available. A massive storm may have been attributed to a tribal member's failure or deviation from tribal law which triggered God's retributive anger and therefore called for ceremonial sacrificing or other method of atonement and reconciliation with God. Considering that people had a high level of fear concerning God it is easy to see that adoration and praise would be standard fair. Concerning our parents we can see that whether of not we had respect or shown obedience we never really worried that a huge rock would fall off a mountain and kill us on account of that disrespect. Much of what we perceive about God stems from our own behavior, after all we do punish our children when they misbehave and some parents actually disown theirs and so we would think that God is punishing us when we are doing something wrong, which of course is determined by the tenets and dogmas that were laid out by the Prophets, Scribes, Pharisees and Priests of the time. Once they learned that the people would follow their dictum the control issues became more apparent and of course tithing and respect was directed to them, the representatives of God. It's really easy to see how it all evolves into what we have today. As time went on people in the clergy started to realize those at the top were making more money and so they would find some way to disagree with scriptural texts and then branch off on their own thereby establishing themselves as a separate entity and authority which raked in the funds from those who would follow them, many times of course the tenets were less restrictive which was an attraction for those who didn't like following all the rules to the letter. It's still happening today with store front churches springing up on every corner. Let's face it, all you need is a bible, the ability to read and interpret, and a fancy name like church of the heavenly lamb, oh yeah, don't forget the wicker baskets to pass around. TV evangelists are raking in billions of dollars so the incentive is there to start your own congregation.
On Jul 31, 3:44 pm, BB47 <[email protected]> wrote: > On Jul 31, 11:53 am, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I believe it to be a human trait to honor those before us and those > > who brought us into the world, such as parental figures and > > grandparents. > > OK, I can see that, but mine didn't expect "praise" they only > required respect. Not the bow down kind, just the "quit being a > smartass" kind (which didn't exactly "take" did it) and perhaps > "thanks" which I certainly can understand. But a true omni god would > not require *any* of that, the way I look at it. It knows > everything, understands everything, so there is no need whatsoever. > A true onmi-god does not have an ego that needs to be stroked by its > own creations (which is the most hilarious concept I can think of) > > >I just don't get all the fear mongering based on belief > > > and disbelief, being saved and the threat of destruction and torture > > in the abyss of some hell. > > That part seems like a "control" thing to me, but that is just the > way I interpret it. > > > > > On Jul 31, 12:52 pm, BB47 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Jul 31, 9:37 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > > wrote: > > > > > Yeah exactly, I see prayer as no more than singing the praises of the > > > > creator, that and only that. > > > > I don't understand why the creator needs praise- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
