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Ive never really spent any time in this section. I'm not sure if its supposed to be a place for debates or what but I'd like to share my own personal opinion on religion.I am not an atheist, as that would require me to believe God does not existbut if i may...To quote myself:"Religion is simply a bad explanation caused by pre-scientific thinking"For me, all religion is mythology and should never try to answer the questions that surround us. I know that the empirical scientific method can only do so much but there can be no argument that it is the universal language we must use. The explanation of our unconscious is being explained by science in greater and greater quality, while mythology remains exactly as it was ages ago.open for discussion.

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Don't underestimate mythology. Myths are symbolic stories that have the potential to represent and transmit information in a unique and powerful way. I'm sure you've learned something from a story or parable that you find valuable. The problem comes in religion when myths are taken to be historical accounts rather than metaphorical ones.

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Don't underestimate mythology. Myths are symbolic stories that have the potential to represent and transmit information in a unique and powerful way. I'm sure you've learned something from a story or parable that you find valuable. The problem comes in religion when myths are taken to be historical accounts rather than metaphorical ones.
The word myth or mythology can be taken in various ways, since its term is somewhat broad when comparing something like Greek Mythology, or with folklore.My views are not to say "Mythology has no place in our world" Like you said, a symbolic story has a way of transmitting powerful information, or rather a message.But a problem arises when religion, or rather myths try to explain a phenomena in the world around us by using our senses for how we view, and perceive the universe dating back thousands of years, before any scientific thinking.example, we know something like seasonal changes in the earth are from an axis tilt and rotation around the sun opposed to the notion that Hades captured Persephone and cast her away, resulting in winter, only for her to return every spring.If only the ancient Greeks knew that during their winter, australia experienced its summer. Many variables in the stories try to account for reason as to why these things happened.But they had no way of knowing, only what they could see, feel and experience. It puzzles me how some people can take the bible as fact.
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not necessarily. it just requires you to believe there's no evidence for god existing.
same thing, different wording. (actually edit... I stand by what i said before. Atheism is the Belief that their is no God.) Not just the lack of evidence.The simple answer is, There is no proof for God's existence, or his lack of.I like to sit on the same fence as Bill Maher in the "I dont know club"
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Ive never really spent any time in this section. I'm not sure if its supposed to be a place for debates or what but I'd like to share my own personal opinion on religion.I am not an atheist, as that would require me to believe God does not existbut if i may...To quote myself:"Religion is simply a bad explanation caused by pre-scientific thinking"For me, all religion is mythology and should never try to answer the questions that surround us. I know that the empirical scientific method can only do so much but there can be no argument that it is the universal language we must use. The explanation of our unconscious is being explained by science in greater and greater quality, while mythology remains exactly as it was ages ago.open for discussion.
You are welcome to your beliefs.But as to the bolded, if in fact there is a Christian God and He had the Bible written over the 1600 year period it was written, why would it have to change?In fact if it did change, it would prove it was false. the continuity of the Bible is required if God told us the truth in the first place.Science changes because it doesn't know its butt from a hole in the ground as recently proven in the global warming lie. But if you want to put your faith in that..good luck to you.Now begins the 'science can change because it is noble and seeking truth and when it finds something that changes it's previous truth, it embraces the change because it is noble and clean as the wind driven snow.'blah blah blah
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The word myth or mythology can be taken in various ways, since its term is somewhat broad when comparing something like Greek Mythology, or with folklore.My views are not to say "Mythology has no place in our world" Like you said, a symbolic story has a way of transmitting powerful information, or rather a message.But a problem arises when religion, or rather myths try to explain a phenomena in the world around us by using our senses for how we view, and perceive the universe dating back thousands of years, before any scientific thinking.example, we know something like seasonal changes in the earth are from an axis tilt and rotation around the sun opposed to the notion that Hades captured Persephone and cast her away, resulting in winter, only for her to return every spring.If only the ancient Greeks knew that during their winter, australia experienced its summer. Many variables in the stories try to account for reason as to why these things happened.But they had no way of knowing, only what they could see, feel and experience. It puzzles me how some people can take the bible as fact.
It is easier if you don't use Greek mythology to prove the bible is inaccurate.
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same thing, different wording. (actually edit... I stand by what i said before. Atheism is the Belief that their is no God.) Not just the lack of evidence.
no not the same thing. technically "strong" atheism would be the belief there is no god with 100% certainty, but people who claim that are extremely rare. in practice thevast majority of people who call themselves atheists don't disbelieve in god with certainty. the just reject the positive assertion of god based on evidence (or lack of).
The simple answer is, There is no proof for God's existence, or his lack of.
there is no proof or lack of proof for pink unicorn people living on a planet orbiting beta centauri either, but i assumeyou don't treat the possibility as 50/50.
I like to sit on the same fence as Bill Maher in the "I dont know club"
bill maher doesn't like to call himself an atheist because he actually leans towards deism.
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But as to the bolded, if in fact there is a Christian God and He had the Bible written over the 1600 year period it was written, why would it have to change?
Well, it did.
In fact if it did change, it would prove it was false
Oh, oops!
Science changes because it doesn't know its butt from a hole in the ground as recently proven in the global warming lie. But if you want to put your faith in that..good luck to you.
Ahhh if only scientific knowledge never changed, then we could still be riding horses to work and dying of bacterial infections at the age of 30!
It is easier if you don't use Greek mythology to prove the bible is inaccurate.
Greek mythology is so much cooler than biblical mythology. You guys don't even have a horse with wings.
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no not the same thing. technically "strong" atheism would be the belief there is no god with 100% certainty, but people who claim that are extremely rare. in practice thevast majority of people who call themselves atheists don't disbelieve in god with certainty. the just reject the positive assertion of god based on evidence (or lack of). there is no proof or lack of proof for pink unicorn people living on a planet orbiting beta centauri either, but i assumeyou don't treat the possibility as 50/50.bill maher doesn't like to call himself an atheist because he actually leans towards deism.
whaa? Please just google atheism...2nd the reason you cant compare the proof or lack of proof of a pink unicorn living on a planet orbiting beta centauri is because atheism is denying the existence of deities. Is this pink unicorn a symbol of faith and a supernatural being held in high regard and respected by believers? 3rdBill maher is as follows:During Maher's appearance on Larry King Live on August 11, 2005, he said, "I'm not convinced that god exists. But I do allow the possibility. I'm not an atheist. I'm open."where on earth did you get the idea he leans towards deism
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whaa? Please just google atheism...2nd the reason you cant compare the proof or lack of proof of a pink unicorn living on a planet orbiting beta centauri is because atheism is denying the existence of deities. Is this pink unicorn a symbol of faith and a supernatural being held in high regard and respected by believers?
He's right though. The point is that there are a myriad of other things which you don't have evidence for (e.g. unicorns) that you wouldn't say you believe. Sure, there is a possibility that somewhere there are unicorns. But basically we are all a-unicornists. That really doesn't mean we rule out the possibility. It means we behave as if they don't exist. The view you are describing for yourself is the one that pretty much everyone who calls themselves an atheist shares. I don't really use the term myself because it seems to ascribe some significance to the non-belief, but if someone else describes me as atheist I can't argue.
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whaa? Please just google atheism...
"Atheism can be either the rejection of theism,[1] or the position that deities do not exist.[2] In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities.[3]"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
2nd the reason you cant compare the proof or lack of proof of a pink unicorn living on a planet orbiting beta centauri is because atheism is denying the existence of deities. Is this pink unicorn a symbol of faith and a supernatural being held in high regard and respected by believers?
i don't see the relevance. point was the evidence for deities and pink unicorns is equivalent. obviously the fact that humans respect and regard something through faith isn'tevidence it exists in any way.
where on earth did you get the idea he leans towards deism
"Maher has stated on both Politically Incorrect and Real Time, and in several appearances on Larry King Live, viewpoints that reference a kind of deism, although Maher has never declared himself a deist. He has stated that he does indeed believe in a god, but that religion is nothing more than tradition and superstition. In 2002 he told the Onion AV Club, "I'm not an atheist. There's a really big difference between an atheist and someone who just doesn't believe in religion. Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don't need. But I'm not an atheist, no. I believe there's some force. If you want to call it God..."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_maher
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You are welcome to your beliefs.But as to the bolded, if in fact there is a Christian God and He had the Bible written over the 1600 year period it was written, why would it have to change?In fact if it did change, it would prove it was false. the continuity of the Bible is required if God told us the truth in the first place.Science changes because it doesn't know its butt from a hole in the ground as recently proven in the global warming lie. But if you want to put your faith in that..good luck to you.Now begins the 'science can change because it is noble and seeking truth and when it finds something that changes it's previous truth, it embraces the change because it is noble and clean as the wind driven snow.'blah blah blah
The bible is a collection of stories written down hundreds of years after the fact. Do we agree to this?Lets just look at the Nativity of Jesus. There are many discrepancies in these stories from Luke and Matthew, which has lead to several critical scholars to claim these stories are totally fictional, or at least predate the Gospels themselves. If you look at various religions dating before Christianity, we see several similarities in the stories of the birth of a savior. (Look up Zeitgeist to learn more on this. Or just dive into the books yourself) Science, asks questions and poses answers. With evidence to back up these answers. The idea that science doesnt know its "butt from a hole in the ground" sounds childish. It sounds like you want answers to why something is what it is. And you've turned to the bible to give you the answers to these questions.
It is easier if you don't use Greek mythology to prove the bible is inaccurate.
The point of using Greek Mythology was not to prove discrepancies in the bible, doing so would sound silly to anyone who believes the bible as truth. It makes the idea of worshiping several gods foolish, doesn't it?Do you believe in a burning bush that talks?
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"Atheism can be either the rejection of theism,[1] or the position that deities do not exist.[2] In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities.[3]"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheismi don't see the relevance. point was the evidence for deities and pink unicorns is equivalent. obviously the fact that humans respect and regard something through faith isn'tevidence it exists in any way. "Maher has stated on both Politically Incorrect and Real Time, and in several appearances on Larry King Live, viewpoints that reference a kind of deism, although Maher has never declared himself a deist. He has stated that he does indeed believe in a god, but that religion is nothing more than tradition and superstition. In 2002 he told the Onion AV Club, "I'm not an atheist. There's a really big difference between an atheist and someone who just doesn't believe in religion. Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don't need. But I'm not an atheist, no. I believe there's some force. If you want to call it God..."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_maher
Uhhh.. sorry to burst your research bubble but Nope.Maher makes it perfectly clear in his movie Religulous that he chooses the side of "I dont know"meaning he doesnt have evidence to claim god exists or does not exist.Viewpoints that reference a kind of deism, is far from being a Deist
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"Atheism can be either the rejection of theism,[1] or the position that deities do not exist.[2] In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities.[3]"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
Are you a religious person?This example you just posted is exactly what i'm saying.I said I dont consider myself an atheist. To be honest, I'd lean towards agnosticism.
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do you see flaws in my definition of atheism?please elaborate.
I really have no interest in debating the definition of atheism.It was just funny to me because crow has been doing so pretty much since this forum started.
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You're not using a credible source to prove Bill Maher is a deist.
Probably not worth your time to argue the bill maher point or the atheist definition point. No one cares what bill maher thinks. Just stick with making fun of balloon guy for his stupid ancient beliefs.
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Just stick with making fun of balloon guy for his stupid ancient beliefs.
Although I laughed at your knee slapping post, it's not really accurate to say he believes in talking bushes. It's more like he believes that God can speak through a burning bush if he chooses to do so. Because, you know, he's God.
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This example you just posted is exactly what i'm saying.
[2] is. [1] and [3] are not.whatever though. i'm just telling you that most people who call themselves atheistsdo not claim to believe no god of any kind exists. if you want to use a stricterdefintion feel free, but since by your defintion virtually everyone is an agnosticso I don't see why it's useful to do so.
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Probably not worth your time to argue the bill maher point or the atheist definition point. No one cares what bill maher thinks. Just stick with making fun of balloon guy for his stupid ancient beliefs.
fair point.see what religion discussions do... they throw you off course into a rage fueled debate over small issues resulting in car bombings mass genocide
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