| :rolleyes:
Religion suffers from the same problem that alll human endevors suffer from, the involvement of humans. We are imperfect creatures. We make mistakes, we want what we want and are not usually satisfied with what we need. We can have the best intentions and still fall prey to the demands of our egos. Feeling potent is more important than being right. I am not a religious person from the standpoint of believing in the supernatural aspects of any belief system. I believe, as a very smart man once said, in accepting truth where you find it. There is truth in all the major world religions and in them there is also the failings of the humans who, even if they did not "invent" them, still had to report and interpret them. One of the biggest problems with discussing this issue is the ego factor. Most people (myself included) are convinced their worldview is the proper one. And though it is important to have the courage of your convictions, it is equally important to be open to the possibility that your views were shapped by incomplete information. That is where most religion fails. Holy writ is holy writ. It can not be "wrong". The arguement then moves to the "if you were truely in tune with [insert religious figure here], you would see how wrong you are" track. Objective evidence ceases to matter. The "truth" has been revealed and any evidence to the contrary is ignored or rationalized away to deal with the cognitive dissonance experienced by the believer. Now, I do not mean to imply that cetain members of the scientific community can not fall prey to the same type of slavish devotion to theory but, it is less likely to occur in the scientific community because of the difference in basic structure between religion and science.
Religion and science are probably equally "necessary" to mankind. The question is how to apply the "truth where you find it" idea rather than the "truth as I see it" idea. How do we open humans to the possibility that what they have held as sacred may be nothing more than misinterpreted evidence? My mind goes to the Monty Python movie "The Life of Brian"...
"Ignore the shoe! Follow the gourd!"
Who among us really knows? |