10 years ago someone said to me, “These days you may not even know your next door neighbor, but you exchange emails with your buddy in South Africa twice a week.” I looked out the window at the house next to mine – barely knew the neighbors – and yes I was sitting there sending emails to someone in some far-off country.
Every week I get on conference calls and say hi to everyone and barely think twice about the fact that I’ve got 17 people from Texas, four from Perth, one from Amsterdam, one in Alaska, one in Lebanon.
Ever heard Thomas Friedman’s “McDonalds theory of world peace”? He observes that with only one exception, no two countries with a McDonalds have ever gone to war with each other.
Can you imagine, say, the US going to war with Australia? Think of all the emails the senators and congressmen would get: “Hey, stop trying to kill my customers! And by the way, here’s a list of 115 blogs from people who are trapped in the Siege of Sydney right now!”
The world is truly a strange and wonderful place. Just before I went on a trip, I loaded the first season of The Dukes of Hazzard on my video iPod so my 10 year old son would have something to watch while we trucked down Interstate 80.
That TV show ran in 1979 – the year that *I* was 10 years old. I said to Laura, “Who would’ve thought that 25 years later you’d be able to download an entire season of the Dukes of Hazzard onto a device that’s half the size of a pack of cigarettes, and our kids would watch it in the car with headphones and a 2″ screen?” We shake our heads in amazement.
OK, so what does all this have to do with spirituality?
Equality and technology… They have everything to do with spirituality.
Let’s start with equality.
The United States Declaration of Independence makes a world-shattering declaration that transformed the modern world:
“We hold these things to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
In his book “Democracy in America” (1835) Alexis de Tocqueville carefully traces this statement and its idea of equality backward through history and lands at Galatians 3:28, the words of St. Paul:
“In Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free. All are equal in Christ Jesus.”
Before Paul said this, no one had ever made such a bold and sweeping statement. No one. Not the Jews or Babylonians, not the Egyptians, not the Greeks, not the Chinese. The concept of equality came first from Paul.
This idea got planted in western civilization and began to grow and develop, little by little dismantling slave trade, sowing the seeds for democracy and spurring technological and political progress. Tocqueville says that from 1100 AD to the present, every major development led to more equality, not less. The Magna Carta. The invention of the horseshoe. The invention of the gun and the post office and the printing press and democracy.
If you live in a democracy and you’re thankful for the ability to vote, if you’re thankful that people generally consider you and themselves to be just as good as anybody else, then thank Paul. And his Rabbi, Jesus.
Because – despite what the Declaration says – equality really is NOT self evident. At least it wasn’t to any of the ancient world prior to 2000 years ago. On the surface, we’re all different. Some are stronger. Some are smarter. Some have more money. Some are politically connected. Some are more savvy.
And some people get the scraps.
You have no principle to guide you but winners and losers. Which, divorced from any overriding sense of equality or individual dignity, is a cruel master.
But when Paul said this, he was declaring that there is an underlying *spiritual* reality, that yours and my true identity doesn’t come from accomplishments or money or power but from our Heavenly Father. That once we know that true identity we’re no longer slaves to money and power and accomplishments and the ‘natural’ order of things.
If you’re thankful that Western Civilization today considers all people to be intrinsically equal, be thankful that a young couple in Bethlehem gave birth to a baby who was to become the most loved, most hated, most argued about, most written about, most influential person in the history of the world. One who taught that the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. One in whom there is no male or female, no Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free.
So then how about technology?
Science itself is, at its core, a presumption of discoverable underlying order. A belief, an assumption (which cannot be proven in advance, by the way) that when an apple falls from a tree it does so because of some law of nature that caused it to do so. That there was a string of cause and effect that can be traced back to explain why this happened.
The apple did not fall from the tree because, say, Zeus was having a snit with Apollo and that’s why there was the lightning storm which is why there was a wind that caused the apple to swing back and forth and fall from the tree…. no, it happened for rational discoverable reasons. That God made a world which could operate consistently on its own without Him constantly making corrections from the outside.
So far as I can tell, the inspiration for this belief first came from Wisdom of Solomon 11:21:
“Thou hast ordered all things in measure and number and weight.”
(The Protestants omitted that book, but our Catholic friends thankfully left it in.)
If a scientist does not presume that there is a rational reason for what he is about to investigate, there is nothing for him to investigate at all. Belief in rationality comes from belief in a rational God. A God who wants us to discover His universe. For whom such discovery is an act of worship.
If you read the history of science over the last 500 years, the only reason science succeeded in the West – after getting started but failing in Greece, Rome, China, Egypt and in the Arab world – is that Christian theology understood God to have created the universe to operate according to fixed discoverable laws. Theology made that prediction, then people had a philosophical basis for having a scientific method.
In his fascinating book “The Victory of Reason” historian Rodney Stark further explains that the forward march of technology began after the fall of the Roman Empire and has marched steadily forward ever since. Equality implied that slavery was wrong, so people had to develop technology in order to free their slaves and still get the work done.
So… part of the inspiration for inventions like water wheels was a belief in dignity and freedom and the rights of the individual.
Technology is supposed to empower people, not enslave them. Because, as Paul said, in Christ, all are equal.
If you trace these ideas back through history, equality and technology and even iPods and Democracy have everything to do with our very beliefs about the universe and about God. And yes, even Jesus.
Case in point: it’s politically incorrect to say “Merry Christmas” cuz it’s too religious. Instead you get a tepid, watered down “Happy Holidays.”
It’s because Christ is offensive. When a guy smashes his thumb with a hammer, he doesn’t say “Krishna” or “Buddha,” he says Jesus Christ. Because that’s the most loaded, most powerful word in the English language.
There’s no name you can invoke that’s more powerful than the Son of God.
~~~
Do you know what the most important invention in the history of the world was?
It wasn’t the computer. And it sure wasn’t the light bulb or the telephone. (Or even the electronic voting machine.)
It was the printing press.
In 1445, Johannes Gutenberg invented the world’s first movable type printing press. He didn’t know it, but he was unleashing a revolution that continues to this day. Even the mighty Internet in the 21st century is just an extension of Gutenberg’s original, revolutionary machine.
The first book he printed was the Bible. And that led to controversy, too, because Luther translated it into German, the people’s language, instead of Latin, the lingo of the religious elite.
Suddenly, ordinary folks could not only afford a copy, but they could read it for themselves instead of getting some guy’s slanted interpretation. Soon the cat was out of the bag–there were copies scattered all over Europe.
It’s no coincidence that the scientific enlightenment and industrial revolution began in earnest within 50 years of this. Not that it wasn’t already underway (it had already gathered considerable momentum) but now that ordinary folks had access to knowledge and the freedom to pursue it, the possibilities were limitless.
The printing press took the handcuffs off of knowledge and spirituality, and the world has never been the same. Equal access to knowledge empowered people everywhere, and it was only natural that the Renaissance, and in time, democracy too would follow.
Every year at Christmas we celebrate the person who inspired these revolutions. Jesus’ teachings were radical and scandalous. He claimed to be the Son of God. He said he would rise from the dead, and according to the historical accounts, he did. He stepped into the world and split time in half: BC and AD. And his words still resonate throughout the earth today.
Still rolls the stone from the grave.
In the spirit of what Jesus taught us, I hope that you’ll use our 21st century printing press, the Internet, to not enslave but empower individuals. To bring more equality, to make the world a better place for your fellow man.
Thanks for reading.
Perry Marshall
Hi,
In May of 2008 I received a notice from a life insurance exam telling me I was declined and I should see my physician regarding the possibility that I had cancer. This was deduced by several of the blood tests that are normally done when one applies for life insurance at my age which at the time was 68 years old.
I saw the physician and found that I needed a biopsy and when that was done in early july I found that I, indeed, had edenocarcinoma a variety of cancer that can be fatal. The results came back to me late on a friday after the 4th of July and so I spent the entire weekend looking at all the the different ways to treat cancer. I went with my wife to see the physician who did the biopsy and he told me the only thing to do was surgery. The cancer was in my prostate gland which had increased in size from almond size to the size of a professional hard ball. I then went to two oncologists, one radiation and one chemo. All the protocols have some serious side effects that I was hoping not to deal with. I looked at cryotherapy and IMRT and all sorts of things.
I had not been to church 50 years except to visit cathedrals and holy places during vacations to Europe a few times and a few times to see Joel Osteen Jimmy Swaggart and Oral Roberts mostly out of curiosity although Joel is definitely quite a guy. I had been to Lourdes three times as it seem to draw us back and I felt comfortable being there and experiencing the vibe I guess you could call it. I even carried a gallon of Lourdes holy water for 34 days through Europe and brought it home with me. I still had some tucked away in the fridge.
So here is what I did. I crossed myself every morning and night and recited prayers of healing (There is even a miracle prayer that is said to have cured a man of blindness so I threw that one in too) I started going back to church. I used the internet to put a prayer up with the folks that publish Daily Word and they told me that as many as 100,000 people are in the circle. I sent petitions online to the Sanctuary at Lourdes each week as well.
Two weeks after beginning this intense process I went back to Scripps Clinic for a recheck of blood tests and was told that my numbers were drastically improved. I decided to put of any medical treatment after conferring with the oncologist who I trusted the most who told me that a few months would probably not make much difference in my condition but he could not guarantee it. I took some hot peppers and garlic and people told me I was crazy and a few scientists said that it was hocus pocus so I stopped them. I changed health plans in January of 2009 to an HMO and went in to see a specialist who did blood tests that again showed huge improvement but he said that he must biopsy it to be sure. March 5, 2009 I was 100% cancer free. The medical profession calls it “total remission” there were no live or dead cancer cells in almost a dozen needle sticks to the area where there had been cancer. This past March 5, 2010 is my one year anniversary so I went in for blood tests and the numbers are totally normal including a SED Rate test that shows any cancer of inflamatory disease if it is present.
God forgives us our sins. Not one time but all the time. We are all mortal. There is not one of us who has no sin. Even Mother Theresa, were she alive today would tell us that she sinned. As long as there is sin there will be suffering. I am certainly a sinner but I did have a miracle. I believe that anyone can. Keep up the good work. Studying and researching is a good thing but just being and opening your heart to God is quite surprising if you can calm yourself enough to actually do it often.
Charles – I’m very pleased things have turned out OK for you, but I’m sure similar stories abound around the globe.
Your quote – God forgives us our sins. Not one time but all the time. We are all mortal. There is not one of us who has no sin. Even Mother Theresa, were she alive today, would tell us that she sinned. – end quote.
Re above quote – I can’t help but mention sgain, that section of my web-pages relating to it.
With almost limitless mutations possible, the evolutionary process can be expected to produce individuals with characteristics of an exceedingly complex gradation, in a myriad of aspects – eg – Brilliant to Thick – Jovial to Morose – Benign to Sadistic – Hetero to Homo – ad inf.
But – Having a God close to hand provides a very accessible dump for the perceived guilt generated by the various indiscretions to which ALL humans MUST, in some respect, be victim. Life just CANNOT be fault-free; we learn as we live. Forgivness from on high is a concept that is quite evidently, ludicrous in the extreme. No one is immaculate!
Charles – Having got that off my chest, I sincerely hope that your recovery is permanent. All the best.
Hi Bill,
I think what you say is true. If God exists the only time we will know for sure is when we die. But it’s a fascinating subject for the enquiring mind.
I often ponder the thought that we know infinitely more now than humanity has known before and yet the debate is still a philosophical debate. How much more do we need to know when that debate becomes fact? Maybe never. But analytical minds see such incredible complexity in nature as ‘impossible’ in their view and thus become believers. I would have thought that with our amazing knowledge today we would have been able to differentiate whether something could have occurred naturalistically or had to be designed by some intelligence. Apparently not since the debate continues.
I have posted a link on Cosmic Fingerprints (Perry’s other web) showing a pictorial representation of DNA replication in cell division. Complexity? It will blow your mind.
Thank you for your exchanges.
I thought readers would like to see this pictorial representation of DNA replication in cell division. It drives home the staggering complexity of this biochemical process. The next process to consider is the coding for protein synthesis. Designed or just happened according to physical/chemical laws???
http://www.wiley.com/college/pratt/0471393878/student/animations/dna_replication/index.html
Awesome video!
Martin – Had a peep at web-site you quote. As always, I’m deeply impressed with matters relating to research in any field, but not more so in this case. Some of the items that crop up in Scientific American on a regular basis always gives me a feeling of awe, & not least, in the authors. Must be great to possess a real brain.
The web-site I’ve put together recognizes the preceding facts in it’s title – “What a Wonderful World”
I must disagree with you when you state that the only time we will know whether or not God exists is when we die. In my experience, on the one occasion when I passed out without any obvious cause, there was absolutely NO recollection of what happened during that period of unconsciousness, probably seconds rather than minutes. That piece of reality was for me & still remains, a complete blank.
That seems to support my assertion that when the motivation driving any unique combinatiom of elements forming a brain fails, there is just NOTHING. I suppose one could say that the length of time I was out was not enough to allow me to knock on HIS door, gain entry & ask a few questions re the Heavenly sphere, but you know Martin, why shouldn’t this transcendental tripe cover every creature on this planet; everything living has a motivation of sorts, from elephants to the humblest insect or even smaller.
It’s only the possession of a large brain that allows us to indulge in ‘fantasial’ meditation; the true origin of religious twaddle.
Another thought I’ve often pondered over – Observing others, when a person has undergone a long period of sheer trauma & torture & prays for the termination of his/her life on Earth, the mind of that person is never going to appreciate any satisfaction when finality comes to pass. How damned frustrating !!!!! Enough to make one request a re-entry & DEMAND satisfaction.
Nice to be able to exchange thoughts on a subject I cannot help but regard as mildly amusing.
I cannot believe an 89 year man will talking about existence of God in such flippant manner. If I take the argument of Bill Davison about reality at face value, I will then have to conclude that Bill does not exist because I cant see him. Are you in reality a human being or are you just a ‘fantasial twaddle’, the true origin of such a mind that is closed and have no access to reality. Davison with due respect, what you think you have is not reality, but illusion. You have trained on mind on shadows, without adverting to origin of the shadows, and ascribing reality to it. By you own logic I do not exist because you cant see me, and even my note here is fantasial meditation to you. What a terrible chance to take in life What a waste! May God in His infinite mercy show you His grace. Hi Perry Marshall, May God continue to guide and protect you in Jesus name, Amen.
Bill, of course what you had regarding your blackout was a brain stroke, this is not at all uncommon, particularly for a man of 89 years. This also happened to a friend of mine about 15 years ago when I was visiting at his office. My friend is 90 now and like yourself he remembered nothing of what happend. You are correct when stating that this condition is similar to dying, it could have gone one way or the other, but in your case, the broken blood vessel constricted and cut off the blood flow to the affected area and life went on.
I believe this discussion centers around the possible afterlife and going to Heaven or not. In your case you actually were at the first stage of death if not actually in the middle or near the very end of it. You do not remember any after life situations throughout the experience, this adds some credence to the notion that once we are gone we are really gone. However I was reading today that some tests were done at a particle accelerator facility in Europe and further tests may provide evidence of different dimensions than we now know of. The evidence of black matter and how it works is in it’s infancy right now but will yield some interesting facts in the future because of particle acceleration testing.
But, I think that the notion of “God” being Jesus Christ’s “Daddy” is not very persuasive. The idea of Jesus being the Son of God was a metaphor that sort of made sense in those early times, but certainly not in today’s world. Tomorrow’s world will make even greater differences in thinking because of even newer scientific facts. Moore’s Law marches on with no signs of becoming obsolete any time soon.
Best Regards, Canada North
Anthony – I did of course realise later that that black-out must have been as you describe it; there was no indication that it was going to happen, indeed, absolutely nothing at all. After coming out of it. no feeling of unwellness either.
I try to keep up to date regarding science subjects & the discussion re dark matter is as you say, intriguing.
As I keep saying, we’ve still a hell of a lot to learn. I’m pretty sure the Human race will expire still searching for the ultimate answers.
Dear Mr Marshall,
you are right that Christianity introduced the idea of spiritual equality to the Roman world. It was revolutionary. And you are surely correct that Christianity inspired democracy.
But spiritual equality was a product of the ancient Indian culture, as Buddhism, about 600bc. OGT
If you can cite an ancient Buddhist scripture that states equality as strongly as Paul, I’d like to hear it.
The earliest Greek democracy was at least implicitly committed to equality , but only for those who were free men . The early Roman Republic may have been similar for free men, not slaves. Clearly, though, this tells us that equality for these peoples, was not an innate right. The Romans made extensive use of waterwheels, by the way. For at least some Native American communities there seems to have been essential equality. There was no born aristocracy. Capturing women was a practice, whatever that means for equality! Women worldwide, or most places, seem to have occupied an inherently inferior status. Look to biology and physique for your answers here. In our society, what of convicted felons? Their innate equality is permanently taken from them by law after they have served their time. This, then, violates our national belief in the innate equality of all human beings.
Many comments understandably reveal a sense of awe at the immensity of the universe. But quantum physics works, so it’s reality not hypothesis, and quantum physics tells us that the entire cosmos is instantaneously synchronous; the farthest galaxy, most distant in time and space, is instantaneously synchronous with every other location in the cosmos. Newton doesn’t apply. My point is, macro, micro, nano, right down to the substrate of pure potential where particles wink in and out of existence continuously, the universe is all beyond our power to visualize. In the macro we feel insignificant; in the micro, we feel too big; in the nano we are simply beyond Brobdingnag! As for the substrate that underlies all, what could we think of that could help us to imagine it? The point is that size has nothing to do with it. Everything is continuously interrelated and synchronous. A single coordinated system functions. Does a code reveal the design? A Creator? Therefore, find and identify the code.
Perry,
re Buddhism being the first source of spiritual equality; I can’t quote you any ‘sutra’, but that is surely not necessary. It is uncontroversial that Buddhism was an egalitarian, reform movement from Hinduism.
Before, Hinduism was wedded to the caste system. At the top, the Brahmins were/are believed to born as superior souls. Buddha challenged all that with his claim that anyone can attain enlightenment.
Possibly relevant, some believe Christ got his revolutionary theology from this eastern Buddhist source. The Bible is strangely silent about Christ between birth & age 30. One view is, he escaped to the Far East & lived & studied as a monk. See video –
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-hidden-story-of-jesus/
Others believe that the Three Wise Men were emissaries from Tibet, searching for a reborn Dali Llama.
On history, the Greeks ‘failed’ to develop science becos they had no means of distributing research results & ideas. The Moslem world revered & extended their work. In contrast, Christian fanatics destroyed the great library of Alexandria, & one of its last scholars, becos she was a woman (non-equal), & a pagan. OGT
Perry,
sorry, forgot to add that I agree with you completely that human history is the long march towards democracy – very important point you make. Democracy is about equality of opportunity, not imposition of uniformity (Talents parable, etc.).
And further congrats on your impressive demolition of the materialist fantasy that DNA is dumb matter! OGT
perry thanks for your messages.i really think that what all you told about existence of god is true.i noticed it in my daily life.thanks a lot..
Just like that (may be right or wrong)
I believe in GOD – GOD is within me – I am the GOD. GOD is present in all the living things. Searching GOD (self) is the way of Hindu spiritualism. Only one GOD exists everywhere in different form that is polytheism. All monotheists’ beliefs are false and against harmonized human existence. There is room for polytheist, atheist and no room for dangerous monotheist (ASS/U/ME). Belief is OK as long as it will not disturb others privacy. If GOD is scientifically or spiritually provable there is no need of GOD. Rishis only realized GOD but not seen like wind can only be sensed and can not be seen. Sensing itself gives tremendous powers. Faith in GOD/ALL, without faith no freedom, without freedom no humanity – “FAITH FREEDOM CLAM”
Well, I must say, although I’m certainly NOT looking for something to argue with, I cannot overlook a couple of glaring bits of misinformation. Sorry, but I must. First, when you said, “the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself…” surely, you must KNOW that is NOT the case. Not only is it not the case, but it is a reputiation of the very case which Jesus actually, deliberately, carefully, articulated to the contrary–that to LOVE GOD with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength was THE FIRST commandment, apart from which the SECOND commandment would be both meaningless, and unlikely of conception in the first place. Before men can love each other, they MUST first see God for who He is, and love Him for who He is. Then and only then will they ever be inclined to love each other as they should. Why would you try to short-circuit this spiritual reality? I truly cannot fathom it.
Secondly, you said, “Protestants omitted [the Wisdom of Solomon], but our Catholic friends thankfully left it in.” I feel a certain moral outrage at the absurd and pointless notion, that quoting a non-canonical book of the OT –according to Protestant understanding, according to Jewish understanding, and according to Jesus’ own declaration to this effect– somehow advances a ‘biblical’ perspective, for which to be thankful. Your eagerness to praise Rome comes at the expense of discrediting our Lord Jesus! For He certainly endorsed the ancient Hebrew reckoning of the OT to be Law, Prophets, and Writings (Luke 24:44ff!) With NO Apocryphal section! Or do you think, in this matter, the end (ecumenicity) justifies the means, despite being thrice warned explicitly in Scripture about the danger of ADDING to the word of God (Deut, Prov, & Rev). You present yourself as cutting edge science, and then revert to this sloppy-agape nonsense which is no help to the Truth of the Gospel!
I know you are trying to reach a wide audience, with many words and ideas, and I know there must be a lot of people who resist you for all they’re worth. Please don’t count me among them! I DO appreciate what you are doing, and encourage you to continue in your great apologetics effort with its insight into the validity of a Christian view of science. But I just cannot abide the approach of conceding Bible, or Gospel TRUTH to anyone for any reason. I subscribe to the notion that God would not do one wrong thing to save anyone, or the world for that matter. This God saved me by intercepting me from the erroneous religious traditions of Roman Catholicism, which subverted a gospel I had never even heard of as a Roman Catholic. I don’t, I can’t, take these things lightly.
I love you as my fellow-laborer(s) in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you can receive this as from a true brother.
In Faith, Hope, and Charity,
Doug
Romans 8:28-32
Hi Perry,
Thanks for “The Dance of Equality, Technology and Spirituality.
Progress thus far made in areas of liberty, freedom from slavery and technological advancement are evidences of application of the Truth of God to everyday living.
Sadly not the same can be said of International Politics/Economics- look at regional distribution of weath (the spread of poverty)and international fiscal polices.
Is this a mark of spitual decline? Should we double the effort of our faith on Science and Technology or strive for some balance if life is to be more meaningful?
Bakau
Hi,
From the point of view of God, does it matter whether we believe in Him or not? I’m sure there are good and kind atheist and there are also people who would kill in the name of God. I wonder who will go to heaven.
One of Confucius students ask him “Master how do we serve God?” Confucius said “You don’t even know how to serve other human being!”. The student is quite persistent and ask again “Master what do you think about death?” Confucius said “You don’t even know about live!”
It is said that earth is like a dust particle on a grain of sand on the ever expanding beach. Human being can’t even exceed the 10% capacity of utilizing their brain but trying to comprehend God? It is time we let go the word religion, theist and atheist. Learn the teaching of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, Confucius, Lao Tze and live in harmony.
But Sanjay, the problem is some these great souls said something like this – ‘The way to God lies only through me’.
From that day on their followers are turning this earth into a hell for others.
Nobody told them – ‘Live and let live’.
Now again and again and again – just see how much this guy is spending money and time on this site alone, or is there a whole team behind this set of sites! – they are proving that only their Religion is true, only their God is true, only the Jesus is true (though you cannot count the millions who have been massacred just in his name!).
What a pity!
This has to be the most hot air I have felt in a day. 2 examples.
Christianity’s so called equality after condemning non believers to hell and not accepting other faiths as equals, takes some cojones to write.
Most important discovery? Printing press. Surely, you are joking. Whatchabouta Beer, Fire, numeral system, tool making, agriculture etc. Without these, one would still be roaming around the jungles with added burden of a printing press on their shoulders as a trophy.
Peace
Bible is full of verses supporting slavery and the Christian god telling slaves to be faithful to their masters. On top of that, pagans are offered second-class citizenship at best and burnt at stake at worst after being tortured, unless they accept Christ. Even the Christian heaven is closed forever to pagans. What kind of equality is this? Anything that divides humanity between saved and doom, clean and unclean, believers and non-believers is a load of crap.
I actually ran across this site looking for a ‘theory’ I don’t seem to remember….something along the lines of living a moral life or a hedonistic life even if you do not believe in God, heaven or hell….just in case……and don’t have time to read very much on here at the moment just enough to quickly peruse your site. I suspect this to be more of a comment rather than any type of question but I really would like to know what the deal is with Christianity. Sure I was raised as one but being a free-thinking type of human, I started to do just that….and I will state it’s not merely Christians but every organized religion….don’t they ALL firmly believe (or in their own minds KNOW) they’re right? And why is it the Christians are so damned sure? Jesus was Jewish for God’s sake! Oops….should I have said that?
In short isn’t ‘organized’ religion a cult? They brain wash everyone who attends or believes what they are told. So who’s right? Aside from all of them because if you ask every single different religion they all are so I’m not asking them. Btw, the bible is not intended for people to live their lives by so don’t quote me any of it. Quote the Koran or something else instead if you insist upon telling me something from some book or another. The bible is basically a diary written by various individual’s who were alive about the same time as Jesus and who decided which of these diaries would be put into another book and called a bible? Geez, it’s not like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John were the only disciples. Why isn’t Philip’s diary included? So why again do these people and I’m sorry but the bloody Christians are the most prevalent these days of course, so why do they really think they’re right? The religion didn’t even exist until Jesus was dead a while. Or do we call all religions Christian today? I think I’m the prophet and everyone needs to worship and believe every thing I say! How many perverts and psycho’s have already convinced far too many people they are? Jim Jones…..and the people who followed him truly believed. Yet how right could he have been? Certainly to me what happened isn’t right at all yet he was a Christian. So just blindly believe they’re right. No thanks. I can’t. Not me.
Sorry I do know I ramble and did so in this comment. I may type 120 wpm but for some reason my thoughts come faster and I try to organize what I’m trying to say yet never seem to manage. Too many of them and most people don’t hear anything after the first couple of words. But that’s on most subjects. Except them of course!
Hopefully I’ll one day be able to organize this into actual questions and/or comments that are structured into only a paragraph or two. Perhaps you can help me with it by filling in area’s that are indeed fact for me with my thoughts. Such as what’s up with Christian’s thinking they’re absolutely correct about everything although the religion it’self didn’t even exist until Jesus was dead for quite a while. Or did it? Was he? I honestly would like to know instead of wondering if I’m correct at least in this matter. Who decided which “diary” would be published into a larger book they decided to call a bible? Why do people think this book is a literal guide to live their lives so they take different versus from it daily then go out and do everything that verse says. Or in their minds TELLS them.
Enough. Sorry!!
Beccy
Sanjay,
the history of Christianity is full of appalling crimes in the name of God. Alas, what religion is exempt? Hindu empires murdered Jains. Moslem regimes crushed Buddhists, Hindus & Sikhs, etc. Even ‘Buddhist’ nations make wars.
In response perhaps to Islamic militancy, Hindu nationalism is raising its head in India, as a twisted form of ‘fundamental’ Christianity grows strong in the USA.
If our religious beliefs do not make us better human beings, they are a waste of time, just another excuse to attack our neighbors. “By their deeds shall ye know them”. OGT
Old Git Tom. There really is no argument or mystery here. Religion is vindicated because all the cruelty and inhumanity we see now and in the past is not caused by religion but by the most reprehensible species on earth, homo sapiens.
Martin – Repeat – With the barbarous & brutal acts of differing religious factions, the multiplicity of silly ‘Beliefs’ have always been a handicap that Humanity could well have done without.
All of these silly Man-made creations have caused untold misery over the centuries. There are still far too many people following these ancient images of Man’s past ignorance, still causing bother, both trivial & serious.
The credence given to these stupidities by Archbishops, Ayatollahs etc are only there because these Impostors could never allow themselves to be seen as such.
I can’t see them admitting to the silliness & futility of how their early preachings began, leading to a Godly grind that has nested in the receptive minds of ‘simple’ people ever since.
May the wisdom now amongst us – Rid us of this cloying fungus
Let’s all rejoice in LOGIC’S role – & bury the BUNKUM down a hole
Have you religious lot ever considered what you do to get thro life. You MUST use common sense as day succeeds day. We always have done & will continue. Shovel away the debris of the past – I could use a more appropriate word but I really don’t like to be c-rude.
Leave this early Man-made religious rubbish behind & get on with it. We’re gaining more & more knowledge as time goes by. Of necessity, we must put it to good use. For Christ’s sake, vacate the past.
Ethics & morality are, as is everything, a matter of evolving change.
I repeat, there is no need to consult the silly fairy tales of the Bible, Koran, etc in order to pursue a decent & considerate existence.
Get to grips with what we know & discard the pure tedious HUMBUG of all ‘Faiths’ that are blessed with existence only by Impostors & their largely naive followers.
Mr. Davison,am convinced that our civilization would not have lasted to this moment without the Bible. And am equally convinced that if we remove the Bible and its influence on society, this civilization would not last another 24hours. Without God’s moral laws, it would be survival of the fittest, and the elderly like you would able to survive a second. The Bible is the template and sustainer of human existence. It never fails to give light, strength and hope. Try its light Mr. Davison, you will be delightfully surprise.
Isaac – This is my 3rd attempt at a very respectful, clear, thoughtful & on-topic response to the rather silly remarks of your post dated July 15 / 2010
I’m getting the strong impression that dear old Perry does not allow any common sense views to usurp the ingrained system of ancient belief in purely Man-made religiosity.
I state yet again – From Witch-Doctors & Sorcerers to Archbishops & Ayatollahs, Mankind has been profoundly caught in devious realms of religious thought.
I challenge you Perry to refute my statement that –
“All Gods are invisible, silent entities, dreamt up & blessed with existence by Charlatans who have long preyed on the naivety of the credulous”
If you delete this post without good & fair reason, I’ll take it that you are one of the above naive & credulous fraternity. Does your God perform in like fashion? Silence all those who’s only purpose is to try & establish some sense in all of this pure nonsense.
Biblical & Koranic ramifications are of a past age. Such a horrendous waste of time & thought.
At the ripe old age of 90 years, I’m facing Oblivion, where we will all end up. Heaven & Hell are of the mind only!