'It's too crazy not to be true!'

[Jayhawker Soule]

saying that there was a "big bang" is like saying that a print factory exploded and gave us a dictionary.

No, it's more like saying that there was a "big bang", but thanks for sharing ...

 

[newcastle]

Why is it that religions (most of them at least) are so... weird? If religions are a creation of humans, designed to enable us to better understand the world, then why aren't they more coherent?

Now I imagine people will answer with something like 'They're trying to explain the unexplainable' but the creation/formation of the universe (at least after the 'Big Bang') as science understands it so far, is relatively simple to convey in a bog-standard, easy to comprehend way.

If the writter of Genesis was trying to conceptualise and explain the creation of the universe, from his own limited understanding, then surely it would be a lot less cryptic and be a lot more simple? I suppose the creation of Earth is easily put in Genesis... but the fall of humanity could be more easily explained, surely?

I have to say... I didn't understand any of what you said...

 

[Darkness]

If the writter of Genesis was trying to conceptualise and explain the creation of the universe, from his own limited understanding, then surely it would be a lot less cryptic and be a lot more simple? I suppose the creation of Earth is easily put in Genesis... but the fall of humanity could be more easily explained, surely?

Your argument falls apart when you come to realize that virtually all creation myths are as insane as the creation in Genesis. For an example, I believe in the Egyptian creation myth, there is the original god who gives birth to the Universe by masturbating.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

saying that there was a "big bang" is like saying that a print factory exploded and gave us a dictionary. Truth is often not quite what we want to hear.

In elementary school, my teacher showed us a classic science demonstration. He put oil and water inside a container and shook the mixture vigorously until it was mixed really well. We waited to see what happened and guess what? The two separated; oil collected at the top and water collected at the bottom.

See where I'm going with this?

 

[Prometheus]

Why is it that religions (most of them at least) are so... weird? If religions are a creation of humans, designed to enable us to better understand the world, then why aren't they more coherent?

Because humans, especially a few thousand years ago, are not very coherent themselves.

 

[crystalonyx]

Religions are, as doppleganger said so well, art. '

And many are quite poor art.

 

[Willamena]

And many are quite poor art.

Each of them are brilliant art.

Have you ever seen a Picaso?

 

[Phasmid]

Your argument falls apart when you come to realize that virtually all creation myths are as insane as the creation in Genesis. For an example, I believe in the Egyptian creation myth, there is the original god who gives birth to the Universe by masturbating.

It's more of an observation than an argument. The thread title is just a cliché I used to generalise it's subject matter.

 

[Phasmid]

I have to say... I didn't understand any of what you said...

I'm sorry... but what you wrote in that other thread really didn't click for me... in fact, nothing from the Bible really does. I didn't meant to cause offense.

 

[doppelganger]

And many are quite poor art.

We'll find in a work of art what we bring to it.

 

[Alex_G]

Why is it that religions (most of them at least) are so... weird? If religions are a creation of humans, designed to enable us to better understand the world, then why aren't they more coherent?

Now I imagine people will answer with something like 'They're trying to explain the unexplainable' but the creation/formation of the universe (at least after the 'Big Bang') as science understands it so far, is relatively simple to convey in a bog-standard, easy to comprehend way.

If the writter of Genesis was trying to conceptualise and explain the creation of the universe, from his own limited understanding, then surely it would be a lot less cryptic and be a lot more simple? I suppose the creation of Earth is easily put in Genesis... but the fall of humanity could be more easily explained, surely?

I would say that theistic ideas arn't half as weird as the strangeness that science unlocks about the world. A watchfull creator sharing a suspicious number of attributes with humans like love, seems pretty mundane and predictive to me. Nothing odd about anthropomorphic behaviour.
The reality is, weird aspects of quantum physics, singularities and the various dimentions of space and time, are all leagues ahead of any theistic idea thought up by even the most weird of new age gurus.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Greetings!

Why is it that religions (most of them at least) are so... weird? If religions are a creation of humans, designed to enable us to better understand the world, then why aren't they more coherent?

We don't see true religion as a human creation!

But that said, eminently coherent religion does indeed exist!

Perhaps you just haven't investigated enough to encounter it, yet.

Peace,

Bruce

 

[painted wolf]

when one considers the cultures that came up with the creation stories then they don't seem so incoherent. Creation stories tell you a lot about the culture that created them, how they view the world and their place in it. (Honestly the 'facts' about how it happened aren't as important as the lesson behind it, religiously speaking.)

wa:do

 

[3.14]

Why is it that religions (most of them at least) are so... weird? If religions are a creation of humans, designed to enable us to better understand the world, then why aren't they more coherent?

if you make it harder to understand you can make it apply on more situations
and`have an exuse if the info doesn't match (just say they misunderstood it)

 

[Magic Man]

We'll find in a work of art what we bring to it.

So, when I look at a Picasso, I have both eyes on the right side of my face?

 

[doppelganger]

So, when I look at a Picasso, I have both eyes on the right side of my face?

Perhaps you do, if all you see is a painting of a person with both eyes on the same side of her face.

 

[Magic Man]

Perhaps you do, if all you see is a painting of a person with both eyes on the same side of her face.

Wait...Are you implying that I'm a woman?

 

[doppelganger]

Wait...Are you implying that I'm a woman?

Only if you're inferring that I'm implying you're a woman.

 

[Magic Man]

Only if you're inferring that I'm implying you're a woman.

Now, you're implying that I'm inferring that...oh, never mind.

Would you say that art can teach us anything new, even though it's a reflection of what we bring to it?

 

[doppelganger]

Would you say that art can teach us anything new, even though it's a reflection of what we bring to it?

Can a mirror help you put on your makeup?