Are myths invented by the priests? Did they made us superstitious not that to fear God but to fear them?

Question

Is this not a destructive fanaticism?

Thank you philosophers for all the answers. Have a wonderful day!

Answer 1

Very little is actually "invented" still in that respect.
It was all made a long time ago, and the odd person has been adding to it consciously now and again.... but for the most part religion evolves much the way life does: By making mistakes, and the mistakes that work best persisting.
People will frequently get things wrong and not know it... then pass on that "wrongness" when they teach what they thought they knew.

While some priests use it the way you suggest... I doubt any of them actually came up with the idea... but merely learnt it from those before them and use it for their own agenda.

Destruction and Construction go hand in hand, I think you'll find. One always makes way for the other.

Answer 2

Not just priests, but all heads of religious sects, the ancients and idle worshipers and pagan too boot.

You must remember they were usually the most learned or had an opportunity to raise their education far above the masses, and so they could use the ideal of God to control the masses and the rulers.

Remember when Rome was beginning to fall, (it took a long time), same with Greece, and new gods began showing up on the steps of the temples, but especially when Christianity began to take hold...the poor temple guardians or priests were not being given the sacrifices and the money the temples needed for up keep, the priest where no longer being kept in the style they had become accustomed too. So yes, many many things were invented, borrowed from other religions and gods and idles, in the name of the new God, gods, and other pagan worshipers, idles etc.

One only needs to see what is happening in the world today to see the control that the priest, temple guardians, and others heads of religions have over the masses to fully understand this, its really sad. Power does not stop at the footsteps of the governing or rulers. But those to whom we go for direction and comfort about our beliefs use their powers in some of the same wicked ways and maybe even worse ways than that of governments or politicians.

Answer 3

You've already gotten some very excellent answers, & not much that I can add. Of course, there were myths long before Christianty, (if that's what you're referring to). One element in myth, fable, & religion is fear. Fear comes from lack of knowledge, the unknown, & the imagination creates all sorts of things that follow a distinct pattern. Bad & good, defeat & victory. That sort of thing?
Reality is--& the human condition--that there is nothing that can't be, or hasn't been abused to the benefit of others.
Kissa M expressed well, "people will believe what they want," & kickinupfunf made some very good points.

Answer 4

Aside from the fact that you didn't state which myths you were speaking of.

Some myths and superstitions predate the belief in God, look at artifacts showing many creature found in mythology. Some myths and superstitions are from civilizations that at the time didn't even know about God. Look some of this up....vampires (myth) were on urns from several civilizations and the belief that comets brought destruction was believed by many who both did and did not believe in God.

I know I'll get a few thumbs down, but it's true. People will believe what they want (good or bad), and they'll believe what they are told at both a young and old age.

Answer 5

Most myths, beliefs in mystical entities, the afterlife and other irrational belief systems first appeared among our ancestors around 60,000 years ago....coinciding with the first evidence of ceremonial burials. We can only postulate that the reason this distorted worldview came into existence was because our primitive relatives used CAVE MAN logic to explain the unknown universe. It was a survival mechanism...

In the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy,” a native in the Kalahari Desert encounters technology for the first time--in the shape of a Coke bottle. I found this to be very amusing, but I also began to see parallels between his thought process, and that of the modern day Theist. Both are using CAVEMAN LOGIC to explain their world. I fail to see the difference between “hmm, bottle fall from sky, must be gods” and “hmm, trees, butterflies, the complex organisms of the human eye prove the existence of god.”

In both of these cases, someone is simply replacing one unknown for another unknown, but proving nothing!

Not only can God not be proven, but I will also go so far as to say that God can be disproved. It is impossible for something to be all knowing and all good. If you are aware that something bad is going to happen, and you allow it to happen anyway, then you cannot be all good. If God created everything, then he also created evil. It is also impossible to be all-powerful; can God create a rock that even he himself cannot move?

I would have thought that as man became more knowledgeable and logical that he would have pushed aside his caveman beliefs, but it seems to be just the opposite.

Answer 6

No Church organization could collect donations for one more day if they actually repeated what they know to be true. The Father in the story of the Prodigal Son is NON-threatening. He is just a loving Father.

And for the rest of the Gospels, they are loaded with mysteries that no Chruch organization has figured out... so of course they simply turn to Paul for their Gospel of blood and Fear. It seems to work for them and their followers, so nothing will change until people start thinking for themseves as you are.

Thanks for the question.

Answer 7

It is a box of chocolates, they are all different. The mystique of dream state and the invisible causes for the perceptible are fertile ground for the imaginatively fearful and cautious. Nature, the Creation deems it better to error on the side of caution than die certainly. No truth before its time.

The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative.

Answer 8

i think you got it about right

all text was written by men and all text is interperted by men

so who is the real GOD here


all the best
Ian