So, by that logic, the Torah is just a lawbook. The end.
IOW, the Torah absolutely the exact same as all other lawbooks and codes throughout all history, ancient, medieval, and modern; and all cultures, Eurasian, African, and American. All the same with nothing whatsoever unique about them...
Quite a simple story for such a long book.
And yet the single letter 道 is anything but simple. Just like the Dao De Jing. It's not a lawbook; it's more of a book of meditations and reflections (at least that's how I perceive it.)
In any case, the yin/yang dichotomy didn't originate in the Dao...
Yes, this is true.
However, when it comes to logical inquiry, the default assumption best taken in the absence of anything is 0 (false/off/innocent) unless demonstrated to be 1 (true/on/guilty).
Pretty sure Sun, Earth, Sea, and Moon exist. ;)
While I am a theist, I don't really deify the "Great Mystery". The Gods I honor aren't (usually) that mysterious anymore; we by and large know the physical processes that produce the deified phenomena.
If there's any inspiration I've taken from D&D with regards to my views on the Great Mystery...
In the Weonde Song, a spell that's meant to hallow a place for worship accompanied by certain actions, written by Swain Wodening, the text reads (in a rough Modern English translation)
Fire I carry 'round the frith-stead
And bid men the frith to keep
Light I carry for enclosing
And bid...
I never said anything about being "inspired by God." Just "inspired." The same way modern artists are inspired to create.
Of course, you're right. We ultimately can't know because the authors are anonymous. And we likewise cannot know if they were written with the express purpose of controlling...
I was also effected by my personal favorite TOS episode, Balance of Terror, in which both Kirk and the Romulan captain are engaged in a submarine-chess battle, and it ends with them both feeling deeply regretful that they had to meet on the battlefield as enemies, both expressing to the other...
I can.
You don't think that many, if not most, of the texts in the Bible were just people feeling inspired and wanting to create, just like any artist?