Does God Exist?

[harvey19 541]

If non beleivers are so sure there is no God has anyone objected to taking holidays at Christmas and Easter ?

[Number Six 10]

If non beleivers are so sure there is no God has anyone objected to taking holidays at Christmas and Easter ?

 

What has having time off from work got to do with God?

[Cavegirl 10]

As i said earlier though - abstract thinking may have begun ...actually no - when we first used tools i supposed that would have been the first use of abstract thinking

 

But anyway, even if you think religion helped it start, it certainly didn't continue that way, with religion being something use to help control thought, to stop people getting ideas that "they shouldn't"

 

Yes I can see where you're coming from. Tool making is a creative process and you need to think into the future with regards to what the end result will be therefore it requires some abstract thought. I think belief in a spirit world is a much more advanced and complex version of this. The human creation of spirits has no basis in reality so I think it must be seen as pure abstract thinking.

 

I think what I was trying to get across is that religion has in itself evolved from ritualised shamanistic behaviour in the same way that society evolved from hunter gatherers to civilisation and states. As one grew in scope and complexity so the other also grew and developed.

 

If you accept that ritualised belief in a spirit world (and I'm not suggesting that you necessarily do) is a form of abstract thinking then you can't argue that religion doesn't also consist of abstract ideas because it's just a much more complex version of the former. In fact you'd have to say it contains more abstract content and as religion still plays a role in modern society (although much diminished relative to pre-Enlightenment history) then you'd have to say that this influence has continued.

 

Again however, I agree with what you say about the negative connotations associated with the inherent 'thought control' within religion. I've mentioned the issues of propaganda, power and control that stem from organised religion in an earlier post, but this isn't about open-mindedness or freedom to choose your beliefs it's about abstract ideas. Can you see why I separate the two concepts here? Abstraction has been inherent in religion from its earliest stages, power and control have developed around it over time.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Cavegirl

[sandie 11]

You don't think it's important to discuss ideas regarding why humans have developed abstract thinking processes?

 

Archaeology, I admit, is not an exact science in this regard but it doesn't mean that discussion or ideas around the subject are valueless.

 

 

 

There has to have been some purpose for the development of ritualised shamanistic behaviour in prehistoric peoples. We can't speak to them directly so we have to make informed judgements based upon the best knowledge we have available or we'd have to say we understand barely anything except what we ourselves have experienced directly.

 

It's not an exact science, it's qualititative rather than quantitative, but that doesn't mean it's valueless far from it. Based upon my knowledge and experience and with no means of proving it either way I can say I appreciate something if I feel like it. It means I understand the value of it rather than I believe it.

 

Try using plain English, putting aside the papers that are so called records of the accounts that happened from day 1 there is still no hard proof of the events that were reported to have happend. No wood from the Ark, stone from the 10 comandments, the cross on which Christ was crucified etc.

So if you want to accept a blind faith then go for it, but please do not try and justify your faith on paper only.

[USUK 10]

Try using plain English, putting aside the papers that are so called records of the accounts that happened from day 1 there is still no hard proof of the events that were reported to have happend. No wood from the Ark, stone from the 10 comandments, the cross on which Christ was crucified etc.

So if you want to accept a blind faith then go for it, but please do not try and justify your faith on paper only.

 

 

I think there's still some wine left

[MadnBad 10]

I get what you mean cavegirl and i have to say if i had considered the idea before you said it on here earlier it is the same logical conclusion i would have come to.

[MadnBad 10]

If non beleivers are so sure there is no God has anyone objected to taking holidays at Christmas and Easter ?

 

These are festivals hijacked by christianity not christian festivals.

[Cavegirl 10]

Try using plain English, putting aside the papers that are so called records of the accounts that happened from day 1 there is still no hard proof of the events that were reported to have happend. No wood from the Ark, stone from the 10 comandments, the cross on which Christ was crucified etc.

So if you want to accept a blind faith then go for it, but please do not try and justify your faith on paper only.

 

Sandie, I'm an archaeologist and an atheist.

 

I'm sorry if my sentences were too complicated for you to grasp this. I understand religion in relation to historical documents and archaeological evidence.

 

We're not talking about faith in God or whether he/it exists (that's a bit of a dead end subject) we're talking about the history of religion and the development of mankind in relation to this history.

[USUK 10]

~Dec 25th = Winter Solstice. ~Easter = Vernal equinox

[sandie 11]

If non beleivers are so sure there is no God has anyone objected to taking holidays at Christmas and Easter ?

 

Those holidays are part of your contract of employment inforced by the Church of England and passed by the goverment.

If holidays were only taken at those times by those who beleived in god 80% of us will be working.

 

While we are on with the subject it is your lot that dictates what we can do on a Sunday, from Ferry crossings to liscencing laws. Get a life

[USUK 10]

Holly = Temple decoration for the midwinter festival of Saturnalia (Roman)

 

 

Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival,

 

 

 

Mistletoe was gathered at mid-summer and winter solstices. The plant, when it grew on the venerated oak tree, was especially sacred to the Celts. On the sixth night of the full moon after Yule

[USUK 10]

Hello !!!!