2006-10-08 17:30:49 · 16 answers · asked by Midge 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Not Pete's Dragon.
2006-10-08 17:39:05 · answer #1 · answered by BP 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, they're no better or worse than any other myth. Dragons have been either good, evil, or neutral throughout different cultural mythos. And why would you ask that in the religion & spirituality category? That's more a mythology and folklore thing to ask.
It is believed by anthropologists and folklorists that the myths of dragons began when humans would dig into a hill, find dinosaur bones and try to make a guess as to what the heck that thing actually was. It was a fiction based in the knowledge that there was once some HUGE thing that walked/flew on the earth that had perhaps serpentine qualities (I'd think the neck of a brontosaurus or bronchiasaurus would give them that idea), which might have been able to fly (the wing bones of teradactyls), and which may have been intelligent based on the HUGE size of the head (perhaps a misconception, considering the size of the elephant brain, but I wonder what modern analysis of the imprint of the brain on the skulls would show...). Any behaviors that they attributed to this fictional creature would have been simply what the most powerful in that group of people wanted them to think, either something that was evil--in order to intimidate--or something that was good whose spirit might be helpful to humans--such as the Chinese dragon, which was revered and seen as lucky.
2006-10-09 00:34:48 · answer #2 · answered by Ally 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Um...I don't think so. If you're talking about them as being a symbol of the devil, alot of great books have evil dragons in them, so the imagery is correct. but if the dragons are good in the books, it's a personal thing- as long as you don't get 'dragged' into the occult and you take the story at face value it's fine. If you don't feel comfortable with that then just don't read them. ;)
2006-10-09 00:38:59 · answer #3 · answered by Terial 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What do you mean by bad? Are they all immoral or evil? I should think not. What's so bad about dragons? Or are you asking whether all books containing dragons are written poorly? Well, if you've ever read something like The Hobbit, you'd know that this certainly isn't the case.
2006-10-09 00:39:54 · answer #4 · answered by Walty 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I’ve enjoyed fantasy books pretty much my entire life, and I can’t recall any that lead me into sinful acts or thoughts.
However, if you are involved in any book series or computer games that begins to dominate your life and thinking, that’s a serious sign of trouble.
Anything can be bad for you if you let it take over your life and mind. So if you find any book, movie, gave, Internet activity causing you to have dark thoughts, or causing you to withdraw from school of family activities, take it as a sign that this is not something you want in your life. Remove it form your life completely.
2006-10-09 00:47:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Firstly they are fantasies not fictional ! Fictions are based on
reality (things that actually can happen) Fantasies are not !
So technically most monotheistic books are fantasy as well!No spiritual guidance has the right to condemn any one for reading a fantasy !just don't confuse it with fiction!
2006-10-09 00:45:17 · answer #6 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What freaktoid religious fanatic planted that ridiculous idea in your head? What the hell is wrong with people?
No, books with dragons on them are not bad.
Narrow-minded religious extremists, on the other hand, are VERY VERY BAD!!!
If you don't believe me, just ask yourself which of the above two things have caused wars?
2006-10-09 00:44:03 · answer #7 · answered by lillith6662000 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, just the bible.
Deuteronomy
32:33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
Jobe
30:29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
Psalm
74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
148:7 Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Isaiah
13:21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
13:22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
34:13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
43:20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
10:22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
Jeremiah
14:6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
49:33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
Malachi
1:3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Revelation
12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
2006-10-09 00:51:12 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I take it you don't think dragons existed.
Why don't you like the thought of dragons? Does it conflict with your version of the bible or some other constricting religious text?
2006-10-09 00:35:01 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know do you consider the bible fiction? it has dragons in it. as prose goes it's pretty bad.
Anne McCafrey's Pern books are fabulous pieces about dragons, and they are easy to read.
2006-10-09 00:35:15 · answer #10 · answered by corvuequis 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋