"The major religions on the Earth contradict each other left and right. You can't all be correct. And what if all of you are wrong? It's a possibility, you know. You must care about the truth, right? Well, the way to winnow through all the differing contentions is to be skeptical. I'm not any more skeptical about your religious beliefs than I am about every new scientific idea I hear about. But in my line of work, they're called hypotheses, not inspiration and not revelation."
-Sagan
2006-09-26 09:25:56 · 26 answers · asked by Toronto 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Ah, I am a Sagan Pagan! He, more than Dagon or Reagon, was in the spirit of Bacon. A man of our hour. Power and proof. Poof! He was here and now belongs to the cosmos. Lovely man. Sorely missed.
2006-09-26 09:29:06 · answer #1 · answered by NeoArt 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Carl Sagan had it right. We should all treat religious theory as just that-theory, not concrete evidence. After all, it is a little presumptuious of us puny humans to pretend that we know the answer to the intelligent design/evolution question. How can we ever be completely sure that we have grasped onto the right answer? Those of strong religious belief will say that faith itself holds the key to the truth, but for those of us who prefer to have some solid, tangible proof of what is or isn't, faith alone cannot fill the gaps between science and religion. I personally do not want to subscribe to one particular belief system here in life if only to die and find out that I was wrong. Skepticism is not something to be looked down upon, but rather exalted as wisdom.
2006-09-26 16:36:28 · answer #2 · answered by BooBadly 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In studying different religions, I don't see that they contradict each other in their fundamental values. Truly, in each religion there is a flood, a 'saint' of sorts who was incarnated as a man, and the One Creator. Among other things, there are shared principles.
Man has ventured these religions off their rightful paths and turned organized religion into something those with curious minds against, because we are asked not to question anything.
Is this a Carl Sagan quote? I like him.
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2006-09-26 16:30:47 · answer #3 · answered by twowords 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I disagree with Mr. Carl Sagan. He doesn't even believe in God! God is the Supreme Being of this world, it is He and only He that we should revere and worship because of His greatness and power.
I sometimes wonder what such people plan to say when they die and meet God face to fact. Will they then still have the courage to say it's all a hypotheses?
2006-09-26 17:28:20 · answer #4 · answered by betty boop 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I agree. All hypotheses, religious and otherwise should be examined and questioned with the precision of a Socrates.
The wonderful thing about the skeptic? They are rarely surprised but when they are surprised, it has the impact of an intellectual meteor!
2006-09-26 16:34:07 · answer #5 · answered by gjstoryteller 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Carl Sagan once said "I do not want to believe, I want to KNOW." And I can understand his position. However, he missed one logical possibility. That one of the religions is right and his unbelief was wrong.
My faith is a rational faith. It is supported by reason and documentation that could be entered into evidence in a court of law. Can it remove all doubt? No, I do not think so. But it gives me what we accountants call "reasonable assurance".
2006-09-26 16:31:58 · answer #6 · answered by Tim 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Smart fellow,that Carl Sagan! I'm with him on this one.It's not even possibe that all religions can be right! But,I finally figured out,they sure as hell can all be WRONG! I sincerely believe that ALL religions were invented by mankind,himself,as a means to control people & extract their wealth!
2006-09-26 16:31:10 · answer #7 · answered by Putt 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You are correct all religion contradict each other but Christians believe Jesus was the Son of Man or God coming from God. The Jewish people believe their Messiah will come one day. While Islam looks to Mohamed as a profit a teacher of God who spoke and spread his word. Buddhists believe the same thing. But the one thing the all believe in is God. But Mohamed did not say worship me and who ever said it is offensive to depict anything involving Mohamed is the equivalent of God or those who spoke through God not to depict anything and believe it is of God.
2006-09-26 16:36:18 · answer #8 · answered by theamericanbombers 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Interesting!
2006-09-26 16:28:03 · answer #9 · answered by Pop D 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm not sure...
I know some people that lead an exceptional live and have accomplished great things because they have a strong belief in what is true for them.
It's easy to be a sceptical, but I don't want to be one anymore, because it doesn't help you in life.
2006-09-26 16:36:03 · answer #10 · answered by DrAnubis 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋