Have we all been hoaxed?

Question

We could hardly describe the people that founded the ancient regions as being intellectually sophisticated. Were you to set them alongside modern man, they would hardly be out of nursery school, in terms of brain power. So why do people place such great store on their teachings? After all, nowadays it is commonplace for the science of only fifty years ago to be declared as utter bunk.

It’s quite understandable that these primitive and superstitious civilisations should develop an incongruous belief system, where unexplainable events such as lightening, rainbows, tides and rain had some mystical interpretation.

So the question is, how do you justify any religion conjured up by people thousands of years ago when we can disprove the thoughts of the finest minds of only half a century ago?

Answer 1

They were actually very clever, they had found a means of controlling the masses and satisfied the need of the masses to know where they came from what their purpose was on the earth.
Religion isnt all that bad, it was a great unifying force but now perhaps we should move on?

Answer 2

What if the hoax was that you didn't believe when you should have? Don't you think there is something pulling the wool over your eyes?
To say that the ancient people would know that religion would be a type of control over people in the future is giving them too much credit. Wouldn't they have predicted that people like you that don't believe would be a problem.
You also stated that we have disproven some of the finest minds of only a half a century, but what you fail to mention is those fine minds were never fine in the first place. They were fine minds in your opinion. And even if they were fine minds then why haven't the ancient people been disproven?
One year ago scientists were saying coffee was good for you at small amounts. Now they are saying it causes heart attacks. Why should we believe doctors and scientists who have no clue about the basic physical needs of people not to mention what is important to our mental and spiritual health. So you are going to listen to a group of people that might in all actuality have it wrong instead of belief system that has survived millinea, regardless of how often it's been attacked?
Remember Hitler and Mao Tse Tung? They have slaughtered millions because of non-belief. And that is just to name a few. True Christianity has been the only religion that has never killed in the name of their God. People have used that as an argument but they are wrong. Catholics and Puritans and all the other so called Christian religions are fake pure and simple. A true Christian offers himself to the lion for his saviour sake. And would never strike out of anger another and call it God's will.
Look at History and see who has been the most giving and loving people in this world and you'll find them in the Christian faith in the USA.
There are many quotes I could give you from the bible but I would rather you take the time and do your own research. You seem to be a very intelligent human being looking for some reason why. And all I have to say is that we all are. Everyone would like to live their life for themselves, that's what makes us human, but we owe our existance to the creator. Whether we want to admit it or not we don't have all the answers and we will answer for what we have done on this earth. That is why it is important to know that there is a God.

Answer 3

Well, there's no real basis for your assumption than going back more than a hundred years results in some simplistic view of the world. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks were incredibly sophisticated in mathematics. The idea of atoms was put forth way back then, even though no electron microscopes existed to
actually support their theories.

Look at Galileo's achievements in astronomy- Copernicus and Newton. They didn't have a Hubble telescope, or any means to get measuring devices into orbit.

Descartes meditations remain as intellectually complex as any modern philosopher. What's really changed is that we have better tools, so we're able to eliminate some of the grey area that earlier scientists and philosphers had to operate with.

You may be forgetting that the dark ages and the crusades resulted in the burning and destruction of many, many texts because- yep, conflict with religion. So plenty of knowledge from those eras was simply lost. Who knows how far ahead we'd be now, if we hadn't lost decades or centuries rediscovering some of that?

Now yes, if we're talking the dawn of time when people were concerned with avoiding being eaten by the cave bears, that's different. But the agenda of religions has always been to perpuate themselves, and early scientists had to tread lightly around this, to avoid the unpleasant political & social repercussions. But that isn't a knock on their contributions or intellect.

Answer 4

We have not been hoaxed at all. Whatever we have invented now is obsolete in another 50 years or so as new things will take over. Then people who live after 50 years are going to say the same things as being told by you now. We think we are intelligent because there were already intelligent people on earth who invented the mysteries of the universe and took off from there. Imagine if Copernicus and Galileo's have not found out anything about the universe you will still be groping in the dark and whatever you invent will be the most intelligent inventions in the world. It is sad but true we have still not understood the full potent ital of this mother earth and we do a great deal of mis-use
digging our own grave. You invented the motor car to run on fossil fuel and it is one of the worst invention as we have now created a green house effect and the effect of weather in Spain
is there all to see. Same thing happened with Steam Engines. Lightening, thunder, rainbows, rain and tides are fully understood and we are able to predict well in advance.

Answer 5

Euch, even as an atheist I gotta level some defence on this point, sorry buddy.

Firstly there is no evidence that people were less intelligent at any point in history. All the bones and such we have of ancient people, whether buried, mummified or whatever points to an identical brain size as our own. Even cave-people in neolithic times were as intelligent as us. And if you don't beleive that try being dropped naked in the woods and learn how to survive. Flint weapons, hunting, building shelter etc. requires a great deal of intelligence. So firstly raw intelligence hasn't changed in at least 10,000 years.

As for the other one you're talking of education. Now as we've progressed we have learnt a great deal aobut the world, but not everything. Now as an atheist I hold with you on the point that eventually everything could be explained by science. So here's where I swing back round to help you out. Religious teachings do seem intended to answer questions they had no answers for, but that I don't mind. What bothers me are the rules that people think came from a higher power but were made by men to impose their rule over others. Check out Leviticus. This is politically motivated! By dividing people and placing one group above another you legitimate that group ruling the others, and excluding their rights to prevent any change. This is the way of men, I do not think any god that showed up to give only 10 commandments showed up later and whispered in some guys ear that while they're abiding by those they shouldn't wear shirts of two cloths or eat shrimp or have crops next to each other.

So I completely disagree that people were stupid or less than in earlier centuries. But the teachigns handed down to religions today were made for specific reasons back then and some were politically motivated and should be treated as of that time and not necessarily to apply today.

Answer 6

No we haven't been hoaxed. And the people back then, were not intellectually inferior. It just so happens that in our day and time, we've complicated our lives so completely. It doesn't mean that our lifestyles are all that much better. Look at how utterly dependent we are on a resource that's going to dry up in the next 50 to 100 years or so. Then what? What's going to run all this machinery. And if we're so much more intelligent, how come we haven't found a cheap replacement yet? Back then, people accumulated less but they could do things we couldn't do. Maybe we could say our lives are more comfortable than theirs were. Maybe we could say that.

Answer 7

Basic truth will always be just that basic truth. Some of the greatest thinkers of the past are still taught in the universities today.

You give too much credit to modern man and not enough credit to the Plato's and such of the past.

No matter how cleaver you put it the 10 commandments remain the same now as It did then We have only added words to adapt to our culture.

Answer 8

When there were no answers to the questions of why and how things worked and the meaning of life people created the answers that suited them and seemed to answer them well.Most of these answers have died as their cultures died.But they existed for many hundreds if not thousands of years.In that time newer answers were sought and while those answers gave into monotheism, the basis of many of the stories remain the same.Such as the story of Hercules.Today Hercules is Jesus.But they share many common aspects because the story tellers draw on the same ideas.And even in the age of knowledge and science those stories persevere in people because to give them up would force them to face the ultimate truth.That they don't have the answers.

Answer 9

Our beliefs aren't just based on a few books, but on 1000s
of years of human experiences.
Seeing spirits, out-of-body experiences. These things are nothing
new. If one choses not to "believe" in such things. That's his privilege. But it doesn't change the fact humans have witnessed
these types of things for as long as we can remember.
In fact, we all have had some type of paranormal experience.
And we really need to stop being so full of ourselves, and afraid
of being made fun of. And share our experiences.

Answer 10

Ok on your question there are several things people justify religion with faith and belief they want to believe in a higher being. However it has been said and is believed by many that religion was created by kings and queens of old as a way of controlling the masses.