What do you guys think. Is any religion true or did they all come about to try to explain the world before we knew much about science?
2006-09-06 05:04:21 · 26 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Gods and goddesses are fictional characters created by the human imagination. People have invented thousands of different deities throughout history - It's a common flaw in human nature, rather like the way we see optical illusions.
Science has shown us that all biological life - including the human species - is the product of unthinking, undirected natural processes. As part of our evolutionary 'toolkit' of survival strategies, we have a highly developed awareness of other entities in our environment - We often notice human faces in carpet patterns, rabbit-shaped clouds and so on. There is more survival value in seeing what really *is* there, and also seeing some things that *aren't* really there, than in missing things that really are there and going hungry, or worse, ending up as someone else's lunch.
The consequence of this undeniably true aspect of human nature is that we have a natural tendency to imagine entities behind natural phenomena and events in our own lives that aren't really there - i.e. gods and goddesses, demons, angels, spirits - a whole menagerie of supernatural characters. Society and culture binds up these characters with our wishes and fears, our desires for dominance and submission and shared identity, and we end up with religious belief and ritual and dogma, in thousands of different flavours, with the vast majority of people broadly following the religion of their upbringing.
Religion is a biological phenomenon, not a supernatural one.
2006-09-06 05:08:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Belief in gods came about as an attempt to understand the world, or more accurately, make life in the world easier by placating the gods. Religion is a formalized version of that concept.
2006-09-06 05:09:07 · answer #2 · answered by bonzo the tap dancing chimp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mythology and Religion "evolved" (you could say) to explain the world (not particularly to "understand" it) before Science provided such answers.
The bible "explains" how the world came to be, but not how GOD came to be, which I find funny because "Christians" always say that "something had to put the forces in motion even if you believe in the Big Bang Theory" But we are supposed to believe that "god" was just there...huh.
Open minded religious people can believe in Science as well as Religion, but many people find it difficult to admit they may have misinterpreted the bible to begin with.
Personally I truly believe that "religion/mythology" are the same thing and that they did come about to explain the world and life in general.
2006-09-06 05:15:50 · answer #3 · answered by jeshzisd 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. Science came about as an attempt to understand the world around them.
2006-09-06 05:09:09 · answer #4 · answered by TK421 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religion is not necessarily "true" but it does come from a deep desire to understand the universe. There is a saying that 'man is God trying understand himself' God may have created man but we do know man definitely created God. As for those who would proclaim truth within their religion, it is a belief in the supernatural state of existence. I have often wondered why a person who is Christian, Jewish or Muslim declares their belief yet shuns Wiccans or Pagans because "they believe in the supernatural". God is by definition supernatural. Just a thought.
2006-09-06 05:14:53 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You may be correct. Man and religion walk hand in hand. There was no distinction between the lives of the ancient Jews and their religion; religion was their way of living; it's the same with the Muslim. However, Jesus said that there should be a distinction between religion and politics..'render to Caesar'... Most christians do just that.
2006-09-06 05:12:50 · answer #6 · answered by Roxton P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religion came about as an attempt to understand the world?
No. Not really.
2006-09-06 05:06:26 · answer #7 · answered by whynotaskdon 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
i think of that faith became fairly a fashion of explaining issues that we had a annoying time expertise, inclusive of death. Plus, in an prolonged time in history, the folk in potential found out that faith became an miraculous gadget to regulate human beings. even with the reality that advocates of religion will say that faith helps them stay stable virtuous lives. no count in case you paint your self blue and worship timber or bypass to church each and every Sunday the main considerable element of religion is providing you with a ethical compass on the thank you to stay your existence. i understand a good number of atheists who do not run around wantonly killing human beings or bonking their cousins. maximum atheists i understand have a extraordinarily inner stable ethical compasses and in simple terms use good judgment whilst it contains no count if some thing is physically powerful or incorrect or not. even with the reality that I do think of a few human beings could probably in simple terms take an attack rifle and point a room if it weren't for worry of hell. of their situations, I say faith is a great element! As for determining the folly of his strategies...i don't think of which will ensue until we've a nuclear holocaust or some thing. Einstein observed the path we've been heading. it rather is why he became a proponent of demilitarization and nuclear disbandment. Ironic, through fact it became his discovery that led to this progression of atomic weapons. one among my well-liked Einstein expenses is: "If I had my existence to stay yet returned, i could be a plumber." that would desire to tell you the way strongly he became against conflict and atomic weapons (that he helped create). besides, i don't think of maximum folk will comprehend the folly of their strategies. Human variety will bypass extinct in the previous that happens.
2016-11-25 00:33:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I don't think that's why religion "came about".
Try reading Rappaport's Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity.
2006-09-06 05:06:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is quite clear to anyone that views the subject objectively, that that is exactly how religion came about. There's really no discussion to be had about it.
People either rationally accept this fact, or they irrationally cling to the religion itself, and deny the truth.
2006-09-06 05:11:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋