I've been doing a lot of reading and listening to podcasts on the birth and death of civilizations. Of course a lot of that involves foreigners coming in and bringing their culture with them. Especially when it is an invasion from outside the borders.
Most of human history is one group trying to take over another group because the first group wants "more" of something.
No matter what the reason for the initial contact eventually the conquering force imposes their own culture/religion on the people they have won against.
Made me wonder if any of these people ever stopped and wondered why their all-powerful god had never gone to these other places and appeared to them too.
I suppose one answer would be that the other people were too "backwards" or "unevolved" to understand the god of the conquerors. But they had a religion in all places and it seems the idea that it might be the same god just presented differently isn't acceptable and the new peoples had to change completely or, in most places, be killed.
When I read of the amount of human history destroyed because of religion it saddens me. I was taught that religion is to be used for good but the majority of our history it is being used as a tool to control people and to justify the overtaken of other people who were "different" in an attempt to "save" them.
Note: Before the usual responses start this goes beyond white/European history obviously. This is a human problem not limited to certain races or countries.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
I would say none of them are correct, and while not being very knowledgeable of them, my guess is the Eastern religions such as Buddhism, are closest.
There are a few books out there which purport to be from Jesus written through another person, and if they are real, Jesus says we're all full of shit on what we are saying He said. The most famous one is probably A Course in Miracles, but that is a tough one to get through.
“History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure.”-Thurgood Marshall
(04-08-2021, 09:35 AM)michaelsean Wrote: I would say none of them are correct, and while not being very knowledgeable of them, my guess is the Eastern religions such as Buddhism, are closest.
There are a few books out there which purport to be from Jesus written through another person, and if they are real, Jesus says we're all full of shit on what we are saying He said. The most famous one is probably A Course in Miracles, but that is a tough one to get through.
I'd tend to agree with you on all of that.
When I was in school I tried to have the conversation with my religion teachers about could the sung god in Peru just be OUR god in a form that they understood...it went nowhere..lol.
It's still interesting to me (and sad) that every group created a religion and every group is sure theirs is right and many were/are willing to kill or be killed over it.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
The existence of so many religions lends me to believe that religion is simply a manifestation of the human desire for there to be a higher existence to explain things we don't understand. We find tribes in the Amazon that have never come into contact with humans, and in these tribes, we find the idea of gods and religion. These gods, or this religion, are usually used to explain many of the same things other societies struggled to explain early on and relied on religion to explain.
There is a reason most religions explain death, afterlife, reincarnation, etc. For many, the idea of a finite amount of time to exist is something too great to deal with. When you can "explain" what happens after it can allow people to function with that belief comforting them, essentially allowing them to live their life.
(04-08-2021, 09:54 AM)Au165 Wrote: The existence of so many religions lends me to believe that religion is simply a manifestation of the human desire for there to be a higher existence to explain things we don't understand. We find tribes in the Amazon that have never come into contact with humans, and in these tribes, we find the idea of gods and religion. These gods, or this religion, are usually used to explain many of the same things other societies struggled to explain early on and relied on religion to explain.
Agree here too.
Which is why we don't have a god of thunder, or why we don't sacrifice virgins to make it rain during droughts.
Yet religions persist.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
I think about these sorts of things, sometimes. I go to a Lutheran church, but I'm a bit of a heathen. I relate to animism in many ways and also have an affinity to the old Germanic tales. The way Christianity spread in the area during the medieval period is a very interesting subject, to say the least. The British Isles and the different groups of people that inhabited them, how the religions evolved, how the Viking Age changed things, etc. It's all very interesting stuff.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
(04-08-2021, 10:23 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I think about these sorts of things, sometimes. I go to a Lutheran church, but I'm a bit of a heathen. I relate to animism in many ways and also have an affinity to the old Germanic tales. The way Christianity spread in the area during the medieval period is a very interesting subject, to say the least. The British Isles and the different groups of people that inhabited them, how the religions evolved, how the Viking Age changed things, etc. It's all very interesting stuff.
I should recommend the one podcast that got me on this kick:
I have given a lot of thought and reading to religions. My thought is that religion was created as a way to explain the unknown. As people do, ideas diverged and therefore so did religion. In other words, as soon as opinions divided about those explanations of the unknown, people branched off with their own ideas, thus the plethora of different religions. Religions also quickly became a way of gaining power and controlling people...a corruption from what they were originally intended to be. I think all religions hold some pieces of truth, but no one religion has all the truth. As science has gained ground and provided concrete evidence for explaining the previously unknown, the need for religion has lessened. I can easily see religions slowly fading out over time, yet exploring the idea of something beyond us persisting until we figure it out.
(04-10-2021, 10:17 AM)Beaker Wrote: I have given a lot of thought and reading to religions. My thought is that religion was created as a way to explain the unknown. As people do, ideas diverged and therefore so did religion. In other words, as soon as opinions divided about those explanations of the unknown, people branched off with their own ideas, thus the plethora of different religions. Religions also quickly became a way of gaining power and controlling people...a corruption from what they were originally intended to be. I think all religions hold some pieces of truth, but no one religion has all the truth. As science has gained ground and provided concrete evidence for explaining the previously unknown, the need for religion has lessened. I can easily see religions slowly fading out over time, yet exploring the idea of something beyond us persisting until we figure it out.
I agree with this, but go a little further.
Originally religion was created to explain external phenomena like the stars, and weather, and seasons, and natural disasters. But at some point it was turned to introspection to explain our own existence, and behavior, and death. It changed from explaining the unknown of "how" things were created to "why" they were created. I think this change happened when people became social creatures and learned the could survive better in groups than alone. At that point we had to understand our common feelings and how we related to the rest of the world instead of just considering our own feelings and survival.
(04-10-2021, 10:17 AM)Beaker Wrote: I have given a lot of thought and reading to religions. My thought is that religion was created as a way to explain the unknown. As people do, ideas diverged and therefore so did religion. In other words, as soon as opinions divided about those explanations of the unknown, people branched off with their own ideas, thus the plethora of different religions. Religions also quickly became a way of gaining power and controlling people...a corruption from what they were originally intended to be. I think all religions hold some pieces of truth, but no one religion has all the truth. As science has gained ground and provided concrete evidence for explaining the previously unknown, the need for religion has lessened. I can easily see religions slowly fading out over time, yet exploring the idea of something beyond us persisting until we figure it out.
To this day Monty Python's "The Life of Brian" is still one of the best religious movies I have ever seen in regards to how religions come to be and how they get quite silly.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
Personally the worship of Eilistraee seems the most legit to me. Dancing naked in the moonlight, hunting wild game naked with a sword, naked runs through the woods - the only downside is hitting a patch of poison ivy/oak.
(04-11-2021, 11:12 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: Personally the worship of Eilistraee seems the most legit to me. Dancing naked in the moonlight, hunting wild game naked with a sword, naked runs through the woods - the only downside is hitting a patch of poison ivy/oak.
Running naked with a sword and the only downside you can see is poison ivy?
(04-08-2021, 09:05 AM)GMDino Wrote: I know...yours is.
I've been doing a lot of reading and listening to podcasts on the birth and death of civilizations. Of course a lot of that involves foreigners coming in and bringing their culture with them. Especially when it is an invasion from outside the borders.
Most of human history is one group trying to take over another group because the first group wants "more" of something.
No matter what the reason for the initial contact eventually the conquering force imposes their own culture/religion on the people they have won against.
Made me wonder if any of these people ever stopped and wondered why their all-powerful god had never gone to these other places and appeared to them too.
I suppose one answer would be that the other people were too "backwards" or "unevolved" to understand the god of the conquerors. But they had a religion in all places and it seems the idea that it might be the same god just presented differently isn't acceptable and the new peoples had to change completely or, in most places, be killed.
When I read of the amount of human history destroyed because of religion it saddens me. I was taught that religion is to be used for good but the majority of our history it is being used as a tool to control people and to justify the overtaken of other people who were "different" in an attempt to "save" them.
Note: Before the usual responses start this goes beyond white/European history obviously. This is a human problem not limited to certain races or countries.
To me whatever religion fits an individual person is right if its right for them. The problem comes in when people use their religion to inflict force upon people. That has happened in about all religions through history but usually by people in positions of power or elites and not the regular guys and gals who believe in whatever religion they believe in. Freedom of religion is just what it is. People should respect peoples choices as long as they dont inflict harm on others. No brainer.
What amazes me is that you have people from all over the world, way before communication amongst far off countries were readily available, and almost all countries, tribes, etc have some form of a God. That is powerful and I think it is evidence that most people at least at one time believed in some form of intelligent design, or in other words creation by a God or higher being.
I respect all religions. I believe in God myself and consider myself a Christian. I majored in the sciences and believe there is more evidence for intelligent design than things like the big bang theory. All I ask in return is people to respect my beliefs and dont judge me by it, but rather judge me by how I treat others and the earth.
I learned what I know about two different religions, Scientology and Mormonism from episodes of South Park. Chances are if neither of those two are right. Then neither is any of the other made up shit.
I see religion as a precursor to organized society as we know it. A proto-government that helped groups of people survive. Religions that gave good guidelines on diets, social behavior, ect. allowed it's practicers to prosper and grow. Religions that did not do those things stagnated and fell into obscurity.
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