My God's better than your god!
It's interesting.. How did all these weird religions start? Were they more voluntary? Or were they more top down forced upon populations?
Or maybe a combination? (Watch someone will probably chime in to tell me how it really happened as if they were really there in person themselves..)
But.. Like.. I wonder where it really started and where it went from perhaps genuine myths or stories or allegories into into full on literal cult like belief systems that large groups of people adopted..
In my high school in Italy, a history book claimed that men seeked g/God because they had to find a way to deal with all the fears a human being can have, and explain phenomenons that can appear paranormal!
You could also look up Ron Hubbard and how he created Scientology actually, it's a good modern example.
That makes a good amount of sense and I've heard that before as well.
Also, I have recently been looking into scientology in terms of looking at it as like a modern day model of some of these older groups and I think it is pretty fascinating! Thanks for the response and suggestion.
Great questions! Not speaking as an expert or anything but I think people search for God and religion for different reasons be it the search for meaning, order, fear, or peace of mind; and the history of religions shows a wide variety of understandings that probably reflects that. But the whole "my god is better than your god" aspect of it is absolutely nuts and dangerous which I alluded to in a post I just put up myself on the dangers of revelation.
I can understand the importance of religion in the past through a historical and cultural perespective, but today, as we approach a more universal understanding of the condition of man, I think it can be unfortunately limiting.
Thanks. I generally agree with what you said, at least in the first paragraph.. And I'll have to check out your page and see what your article says, but.. I would disagree a bit on the second part.
Religion pretty much just means what you believe about existence.. I think we all are religious and probably always will be as long as we are thinking creatures.. I don't see religion as bad, just when people corrupt it as they often do and have belief systems that are unjust or that harm others unfairly.
I think we are in agreement then as in that last paragraph I was referring specifically to the more dogmatic, traditional religions. It was a bit of a blanket statement and as such, flawed in its own right.
I think it's inevitable for us to talk about God because of our nature. I believe the search for and worship of God to be a good thing, but as you pointed out, once it becomes corrupted and used to divide instead of unite, it's a very dangerous thing.
I hear you. Funny how in tuned the universe is. I just started a spiritual series about my personal journey which is far from over. Ironically, I received some catholic backlash and I haven't even started. Ths will be interesting. https://steemit.com/spirituality/@xtrodinarypilot/experiencing-god-a-spiritual-journey-with-xtrodinarypilot-part-1