Subject: re: Choice of religion
From: Robbie (shok@netcom.com)
Date: Thu Jan 20 2000 - 01:19:02 EST
Lucy-Ruth said:
<< Just because people generally choose the belief system which is
closest to home, doesn't mean that god is just a social construction.
Isn't it possible that there is a powerful creating force which an be
called god but which cannot be wholly comprehended by any human being.
Thus, each culture has developed its own way of looking at the same
thing. Many individuals have developed their own way of looking at the
same thing. If everyopne tried to describe the same sunset, you would
get many different descriptions, with some common ideas (ie yellow and
orange). This phenomenon can be seen with religion. My jury is still out
on whether or not there is a god. But the varying religions don't negate
the thing itself. >>
Well for one thing, almost every religion includes among its rules,
expressed or implied, that it is the only correct one (thereby negating
all the rest). And as no one has more or less proof of its validity
than the next, selection of religion must be either geographic or
arbitrary.
But moving beyond that point, sure. I can sympathize with much of what
you say. I would argue that religion is so pervasive for the very fact
that we cannot help but be humbled in the shadow of the power and beauty
of Nature; the Universe is a remarkable thing. I love the ocean. There
is precious little that I love more. I've never lived very far from it
and I can't imagine ever living very far from it. Watching the sun set
over the Pacific Ocean from a rocky cliff in San Francisco as eight-foot
waves - immense walls of water - loudly crash down not far from where I
stand with infathomable force is the most awe-inspiring thing I've ever
experienced. I make a point of experiencing it often and I never get
used to it. I am no less amazed by the ocean today, now that I've seen
it probably many thousands of times, then I was when I was four. I plan
on driving 3000 miles this summer for no reason other than to be awed by
the power and beauty of Niagra Falls.
I look around me every day and I am amazed by the simple complexity of
Everything, from clouds to flowers to insects to the bodies of people
around me and of my own. I am humbled and awed by the Universe even
though my mind - which came into existence through our evolution and is
only capable of that which at some point or another, helped us survive -
is incapable of wholly comprehending much of it.
I think these feelings are inherent to human consciousness and everyone
feels them to some degree or another, whether or not they have the
capacity to express them. Throughout the ages, many people have felt
these feelings, this humility, this awe, and they have called it God.
They gave this creation charateristics, a personality, and a collection
of stories comprising a complete mythology. These gods and their
accompanying mythologies are numerous and varied; as are the people and
cultures that have invented them. Many of these mythologies include the
belief that we can communicate directly with God(s) and that he/it/they
answer(s) our prayers and that we can continue living in some form after
we die.
None of this seems very reasonable to me and I have yet to find any
compelling reason to believe any of it. I am not compelled to
contribute the feelings I have and that we all have to a deity. I do
not believe that a belief in a deity is necessary to provide a simple
definition for my feelings, nor do I believe that it is necessary to
lend them validity. I am perfectly comfortable and happy with them as
they are. I do not believe in any god or religion and I feel no worse
for it.
-robbie
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