I find religion and God fascinating. Weird, incomprehensible, irrational, and at times unbelievably annoying but still, facinating. I don't understand it and I don't want it. Nobody has been able to give me a convincing reason for either religion or god. Religion as tradition, religion as support, religion as don't-as-questions-it-just-is, and religion as a-way-of-life - I don't get it. I also don't get why people don't recycle religions. Most religions that are around today have been around for hundreds and sometimes, thousands of years - how are they still relevant. This generally provokes the response that people are more moral (what ever that means) and socially conscious when they think that the crow is going to poke their eyes out if they lie, for instance. (Here is another thing I don't get. Why does the crow poke my eye out when I lie? I'm not lying with my eyes, am I?) Does this mean that aethists lie, steal, cheat and murder their way through life? Not making sense.
Richard Dawkins' latest book ' The God Delusion' sounds interesting.
In a conversation with a scientist who believed in God and who said, "Science can't disprove the existance of God", "There's an infinite number of things that we can't disprove," Dawkins said. "You might say that because science can explain just about everything but not quite, it's wrong to say therefore we don't need God. It is also, I suppose, wrong to say we don't need the Flying Spaghetti Monster, unicorns, Thor, Wotan, Jupiter, or fairies at the bottom of the garden. There's an infinite number of things that some people at one time or another have believed in, and an infinite number of things that nobody has believed in. If there's not the slightest reason to believe in any of those things, why bother? The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in God, Flying Spaghetti Monster, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it."
Do you believe in God? Why?
And the next question is, why do you, when you disbelieve in all Gods but your God, give respect to other Gods? Why is it not permissible to disrespect another chap's God when it is ok to make fun/disrespect just about everything else? Does that stem from a fear that maybe the other guy got it right and his is the real God after all and you don't want to piss off the chap who is going to let you in at the Pearly Gates or Paradise with 72 virgins? Or is it 76?
I don't have much to do today. I'm looking busy at the computer right now. So all's well in my world.
Unless one just doesn't think at all, I think everyone finds God and Religion fascinating and irrational. I've always had this thought that people believe in God and a "Supernatural" power (I really don't understand that word. supernatural. What is supernatural? Is there something that's supranatural?) because they want the reassurance that everything isn't randomised and there is a plan and that life is worth living because or inspite of that plan. I know the argument is a little specious, but which argument about religion isn't?
ReplyDeleteThis whole thing about people needing religion to have certain morals and live according to certain rules is just as irrational to me. That's like the argument that we're different from other mammals because we can think. I think it's unfounded (animals can't think?) and a little off. Morals evolved as a means of getting the members of the human race to live together without a daily exponential decrease in numbers due to murder from anger/jealousy. Morals are necessary for the sustenance of the human race, and not because God ordained it thus. People will remain "moral" without religion or the crow that's going to poke out their eye, because they have to survive. And the instinct for survival is not a conscious thought, it's natural for any animal, including humans.
To believe in the existence of something just because there are so many things in this universe that we cannot understand or explain isn't rational. The principle of Occam's razor is that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating or shaving off those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis. When multiple competing theories have equal predictive powers, the you select those that introduce the fewest assumptions and postulate the fewest hypothetical entities (wiki_source). The absence of explanation for certain phenomena leads people into believing in the existence of such a hypothetical entity. But what confuses me is that when discoveries are made, and when explanations for the shadowy phenomena are given, people still hold on to the hypothetical entity.
I love that last question of yours. Many people haven't been respecting the gods of other people. Except maybe in polytheistic religions like that of the Mayans or Aztecs, or monotheist religions like Baha'i, or non-theist religions like Buddhism, Taoism or Jainism. The Abrahamic religions have always told the rest of the world that their god was the true god, and those who worshipped the false gods would suffer in some way.
I find religion and God fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI'm sometimes fascinated by the fact that how can people find the idea of God and religion fascinating! What is there to these two to be fascinated about?
What I'm really fascinated about is the kinda of delusion that humans have been in and continue to be with respect to the concept of god.
Weird, incomprehensible, irrational, and at times unbelievably annoying.
I agree, though find it annoying most of the times.
:)
Bad Reasons to be Good
ReplyDeletehttp://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/30/opinion/edharris.php
I was surfing when I found this. It is an interesting read.
And Soph - Many people haven't been respecting the gods of other people
ReplyDeleteI meant the taboo about saying bad things about other people's religions - the current opinion seems to be that you can disagree with their interpretation of the Word but you can't say anything bad about the Word itself. And people who quote chapter and phrase something from "holy books" don't get many arguments. Not many people say, "Maybe it says that, but it is still a load of crap".
i obviously meant snit and not snitch. *tara, you're such an idiot*
ReplyDeleteCD- I don't know.... I have no problem calling a large part of most holy books crap.
ReplyDeletewhat??? you dont believe in God???
ReplyDeleteyou infidel! you heathen!!
Well what can i say? guess it's god's will that you are an atheist...
I,naturally,am spreadingt he word of God and trying to be a lamb so that the Shepherd could gather me...
But on a serious note(?) no body wants to listen to an atheist...somehow the evry idea of atheism makes people repugnant...
though 'agnosticism' (I believe it's more of a cowardly stance ) takes the cakeamong the people..
i mean God forbid if one claims to be an atheist..
just a personal rant...
anyway on a relevant note Dawkins rocks! :) Have read all his books expect this...
Religion is a tool. And if it can help you achieve your end, more power to you. If not, well, figure out a way to use it to achieve your end. =)
ReplyDelete/sarcasm
And note to The Man Who Wasnt There -- I did not notice her making a claim eitherway.
ReplyDeleteShe could just be agnostic, you know?
Personally, I find both sides of the fence to be quite idiotic.