I don't think religion was invented just to answer questions regarding natural forces such as violent storms, predators, etc. It was also seen as a taming power over the behavior of members of early societies. The Ten Commandments of the OT are still valid guidelines and have instructed civil laws in modern societies. Life was seen as more than survival but a way of interacting with one another to the benefit of all. Reason alone lacks the emotional spur to the Soul and conscience and was a step forward in the understanding of just what makes a human different from other creatures. The rituals of religion binds a group together and instills a sense of community- even the military understand this concept. A more important question might be where is conscience developed or has the absence of God/religion in modern society created a segment of the population with faulty or few values and morals? An infant's world expands from his mother's approval or disapproval into an ever widening experience and I do think this is a valid point of departure to examine the development of a conscience. Otherwise, we are speaking of relativism with nothing and no one accountable or psychobabble. In addition, certain sects and religions have coupled with wealth and power as a signature of divine blessing. Even forms of government have justified conquests and unfair policies plus plunder under the guise of being superior to others.// England's wool production had a great influence on its domestic and foreign policy even during the time of Elizabeth I. I do think England had "little man's disease" among nations which has caused no end of trouble. At least they gave us a splendid language and literature- perhaps the least they could do.
On Aug 17, 7:37 am, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > It seems many things and possibly all things are perishable but it > bears no meaning nor represents any point beyond something being > perishable. To consider life being a product of "intelligent" design > requires a great deal of blind faith, for nothing in our history has > ever demonstrated that notion as conclusive evidence but has clearly > maintained itself to be deduction. Fact is that any real observation > of life will reveal numerous design flaws which fail to meet any > standard of a super intelligence. Health and disease concerns are > evidence of a faulty design just from start; tack on the natural > disasters that kill millions each year and the intelligence portion of > your argument continues to shrink. > > A feral child is born and throughout life fails to reach any level of > discernible intelligence therefore it could be reasonably understood > that intelligence in an of itself is a product stemming from multiple > factors such as environmental influence. You fail to recognize the > fact that we have ascended from a prehistoric time of limited mental > capacity, that we were simply another beast roaming the earth, that > other now extinct beasts of mammoth proportion were our co-inhabitants > and very little if any of that existence exhibited signs of > intelligent design. > > Humans developed the ability to speak and communicate ideas which were > shared among groups and through travel were extended to other areas. > While some groups progressed others remained primitive, which is still > evidenced today by primitive cultures who for some reason remain > isolated in remote areas of jungles and forests. Early man conjured > ideas from simple deduction based on environment and finally reaching > a point of recognition of helplessness over certain conditions began > to look elsewhere for help, ergo; gods were created. By mere > observation of cultural systems whereby different charges were > delegated to certain individuals it became clear that the environment > must have been commanded by individual gods, ergo; the sun god, god of > the sea and others. > > Then of course there came the ultimate source of knowledge "religion" > and along with it came power and the destruction that ensued. > Individuals became aware that others less astute would turn to them > for answers and so having answers was a must in order to establish one > as being an authority. At the same time there were others who > branched off with other ideas such as monotheism and established their > congregation. One led to another and the ramification of the idea > that there were gods filled the earth. Governments were literally > built on the ideas and once it was realized that the resultant bi- > product of religion was monetary wealth it became clear that others > needed to be destroyed because they were taking away from the > profits. > > Well here we are living in a world with thousands of years behind us > filled with a myriad of religious beliefs and a gazillion hours of > "prayer" to imaginary gods imploring them to help us out of our > misery. Still after all this time and effort we find ourselves > floundering in the muck and mire of a self induced quagmire of world > hunger and poverty. Your god and any other person's god has done > nothing about hunger and poverty and it remains a crucial human > issue. But there is a cure without a god. > > There are simple solutions to world hunger/poverty but humanity is > just not doing anything about it. There are simple solutions to > homelessness but humanity is not doing anything about it. > > What humanity "IS" doing is foreclosing on homes and farms, paying > farmers not to grow crops as a means of controlling stock figures and > numerous other blockage devices designed to encourage quagmires. > > What humanity "IS" doing is setting up systems of government and > financial institutions that create "Mega Wealth" and "Wars" to gain > wealth and it "IS" being accomplished without any problem. > Mega wealth>No Problem War>No Problem Hunger>Problem > Homelessness>Problem Poverty>Problem > > And here is the story about how religion gets going...... > > First you have the sheep that are freezing in the cold while their > wool > is constantly being fleeced. They don't understand why they are > always in the cold when they have so much wool. They look and see > the fleecers living warm and cozy with their wool and see piles of > wool not being used but sold to other fleecers. The sheep get tired > of being cold so they start to buy back their wool but the prices are > really high and some sheep can't afford to buy any, so they must > remain cold, some are so cold that they freeze to death. Some of the > sheep protest but many of them are jailed, assassinated and turned > into mutton soup. > One of the sheep named Shep tells the other sheep that the reason they > are cold is because they were born as bad sheep and must pray to > BahBah the great sheep deity. Shep teaches the sheep how to pray and > tells the sheep they need to keep him warm so that he can keep > teaching them about BahBah. The sheep gather whatever wool they can > glean from the fields and barns and keep Shep warm. Thousands of > years go by and many sheep replace Shep and the sheep continue to > support the huge organization that Shep built, but the sheep are still > cold and giving all their wool to the fleecers 'and' the Shep while > waiting for BahBah to deliver them to freedom. Nothing ever happens > but the sheep are told not to worry because as long as they keep > praying and giving wool to the Shep they will have everlasting life in > Sheep Heaven. > Then there is Wolfy, Shep's friend, he sees how Shep has created an > empire and so starts telling the wolves that the reason they are > hungry is because they were born as bad wolves and must pray to Wol > the wolf deity. The wolves did not have anything to give Wolfy so > besides praying they began to"Prey" on the sheep so they could keep > Wolfy well fed in order to keep teaching them how to pray to Wol. > Well the story goes on until hundreds of other Shep's and Wolfy's > began to spring up but......."The sheep are still Cold." > > Moral of the story? BahBah is Bull.
