Aggressive Secularism and Extreme Atheism

What needs do mythology and religion serve in today's world and in ancient times? Here we discuss the relationship between mythology, religion and science from mythological, religious and philosophical viewpoints.

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lancimouspitt
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Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:32 pm
Location: Ohio

Post by lancimouspitt »

this is a bit of a rant and maybe my thoughts wont come across cleary but here I go....


The other day I was thinking back to a post I saw on a website where a man was bringing up the austrocties Christianity has produced through the centuries. The list seemed accurate but what bothered me was a picture of the young man with a banner behind him in bold letters displaying the words, “Imagine a world without religion.” Despite all of our technological advancements we are still stagnent in our human psychology to radical degrees.

As long as we impose these projections upon ourselves how can we as a race,or society move forward in progressive and positive ways? The banner may as well said “Imagine a world without weapons, imagine a world without hate,imagine a world without people,or lets get to the core of it and just proclaim this; imagine a world without duality.” We can't make the focual point of our predicimate a sole creed against religion for we will all too sadly discover more devils of polarity emerge in its place. All that is needed for violence,death,and hate to prosper is a
an X amount of space confined within time. Thinking back on Athurian legend I can't help but compare this to the eleven kings who plotted to overthrow the king destined to rule. Instead of excepting the circumstances and allowing life and its events to unfold these elven kings allowed their ego's to cloud the situation and when invaders came upon their shore's revenge could ill be given for all their energy had been exhausted on their hate towards the young Arthur.

I feel that we as humanity face this same ordeal and always have. It's not a problem that can be solved but what seems to be an even bigger issue is the thought that few even have the foresight to even see this far. We live in an age where knowledge litters the streets. Knowledge that was fought to be had and be given,yet we still revert to groups and always point the finger to an other way of thinking. How conveinant for us. Pointing the finger but always failing to see we have three more pointing back towards our own hate and malice. So our groups divide into sub groups and even more discord trickles down through the rocks. This takes me back to Michael Crichton criticizing the enviromental movement as a system of religion. People believing in a lost eden where all life lavished in clean air and venerated the forces of nature. Yet now if you are so savy as to even drive a large vehichale you are surely a bad person and we must convert the world back to its prestine state. This type of thinking has worked its way into the mind of atheist as well. If we could just let the spirit of science flurish and demolish those troublesome people who believe in religion the world will be well and no longer will suicide bombers plague streets. Childrens bibles will be replaced with microscopes and where statues of Jesus once stood we can replace them with Darwin and Aristotle.

I am in no way suggesting we excuse what horrors religion has unleashed upon the world for they have been many and unjustly carried out. Yet we can not forget how easy politics can plauge pure waters and that men with money and power can just as easily replace the horrors of religion with the horrors of science. If a new system cannot make right the past errors of the last system than of what worth can it really be to us?

jonsjourney
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Post by jonsjourney »

As I sit here on a Christmas morning sipping my coffee and watching the snow falling out the back window, a choir is singing "O Come All Ye Faithful" on the television set. I am thinking, what a beautiful song. We have that song because of religion. Because someone (the authorship is a bit fuzzy) believed, we have this carol...
Oh, come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels:
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

The Highest, Most Holy,
Light of Light Eternal,
Born of a virgin,
A mortal He comes;
Son of the Father
Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of Heaven above!
Glory to God
In the highest:
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

The rational me could easily criticize this song as nothing but dogma that promotes beliefs that cannot be proven and have led to much human suffering, probably as much as have led to any sense of purpose and meaning in life.

Yet, I can also stand outside of that kind of thinking. I can, without believing in the "mumbo jumbo", appreciate the beauty of the melody and the power of the words within that melody. I do not have to be a Christian to me moved by an African American spiritual or the "roof raising" power of a Gospel song. I can appreciate the ritual, while being mindful of the problems associated with making beliefs into concrete "realities". I can have real contempt for the commodification and materialist consumerism of the holiday season, while whistling "Jingle Bells" when taking the dog out on this postcard Christmas morning.

As Lance was saying....it need not be an either/or proposition. Duality is likely just an illusion of our sensory experiences. We have brains that can allow for an infinite amount of space between any two ways of thinking and it would be great if we could all keep that in mind as we move into another year here on this most unlikely of contingent worlds.

Happy Holidays to all....Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all life.
"He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher... or, as his wife would have it, an idiot." -Douglas Adams

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