Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Yesterday's religion = today's mythology; today's religion = tomorrow's mythology?

As I was driving home from work yesterday evening I was looking at the various churches I passed along the way home. I then started thinking about the many, many ancient temples of mythologies and religions in various parts of the world that have existed, and those that still exist. I imagined how life must have been in ancient Greece and how the citizens of that civilization believed in their gods and goddesses and worshipped them in the great temples as people nowdays worship whatever god or gods they choose in their modern-day temples. People have this need to believe...FOR ONE REASON. They want to live forever. They don't want to die. Things make us kind of crazy when we can't control them. Things like illness, death, natural disasters. Religions provide sort of a crutch throught it all. Atheists have managed to accept these things as facts of life that we can do nothing about and it puzzles the superstitious believers as to how we can cope while believing in only ourselves and humans helping one another.

5 comments:

Steve said...

It's a progressive thing. Just as we recognize Zeus and Thor for what they are, today, people will recognize the gods of today for what they are in the future. Unfortunately, it's an extremely slow process.

jhbowden said...

Here's something unrelated, but maybe of interest to the atheist community. Borders and Waldenbooks aren't stocking the April-May edition of Free Inquiry, a magazine published by The Council for Secular Humanism. Why? They published the Mohammed (pigs be upon him) cartoons.

The left is all about multiculturalism and diversity and doesn't like to talk about events like this unless it gives ground to bash Ned Flanders. In contrast, the conservatives over at Little Green Footballs are pretty upset about it.

Stardust said...

Borders and Waldenbooks aren't stocking the April-May edition of Free Inquiry

What a bunch of crap!

Stardust said...

The left is all about multiculturalism and diversity and doesn't like to talk about events like this

But mainstream media is controlled by right-wing supporting corporations.

JDHURF said...

I don’t like Borders anyway I’d rather go to Barnes and Noble but either way I have a subscription to Free Inquiry so I already have the new issue, cartoons and all, sitting safely on my coffee table; on a side note I loved Christopher Hitchens article on C.S. Lewis, Hitch always nails it!

By the way stardust really good post!