Jenyar,
No 'religion' or 'system' will ever get it right.
Why not? And, get what right?
Why? And I sincerely hope not. To be trapped in these fragile and short-lived bodies is a nightmare. If we consider ourselves as intelligent life then we can see that we have been evolving into this current state for millions of years, why would we suddenly stop and remain at this limited state?
Isn't it strange that in the whole of human history, at least two major religions came up with the same "pool of fire", when theoretically - if it were just a figment of someone's imagination - it could have been anything?
Unless of course some concepts are universal, i.e. a fear of being burnt alive, in which case it is not unusual for unconnected groups to evolve the same ideas.
And why didn't large numbers of people start believing in spotted purple flying squids, along with God or "gods"?
Perhaps because those things are obviously silly and fictional. And I think you missed the point concerning these fantasies. Without evidence both carry equal weight in terms of their fantasy value.
But not so long ago everyone on the planet believed the world was flat, now isn’t that a silly idea? The fact that large numbers of people believe something doesn’t make it true. I.e. truth is not determined by a democratic vote.
People only start believing if something has caused them to believe.
Yes I agree, and that can include cultural traditions, religious propaganda, and other forms of repeated indoctrination. None of which rely on objective critical thought, reason, or logic. The only way to believe a religious concept is true is to abandon reason.
Unlike popular opinion, not all religious people are one screw short of a twincam engine.
I agree but they are irrational.
It seems the earlier we go back in history, the more "convinced" or "serious" people were about religion.
I agree. This is because they lacked the knowledge that we posses today. Neither had they developed processes and thought systems that we use today, e.g. the scientific method.
It is easy to explain them today as "superstitious Neanderthals", but the fact is that we can't explain them away.
Yes we can, I have just done so.
We can't explain away any past mystery - not the pyramids or the Inca civilization and astronomy... or even something as recent as classical music,
We can provide rational speculations for all of these things.
except that these people weren't gullible, stupid and simple-minded.
I agree, they were primarily unaware of the objective techniques we use today.
To think this about our ancestors - on whom our modern lives were built - is to comfort ourselves that we know better.
But we do know better. We have a larger knowledge base than they had. It is not that they were stupid but just ignorant.
But a 'comforting' though is not always 'truth', is it?
But as we learn more about the universe then the more we realize how much more we need to discover. We now know that gods are not directly responsible for the winds and the weather and the planets.
But isn’t it religious beliefs that do result in a significant comfort factor? Doesn’t Christianity say that if you believe and accept Jesus then you will achieve eternal life in heaven? Isn’t that the biggest comfort factor imaginable?
But all evidence indicates that when we die we cease to exist. And it is that very powerful evidence that makes people very UNCOMFORTABLE and makes them very much want to COMFORT themselves in the quagmire of religious fantasy promises of immortality.
There is a God who we can't see.
Fortunately there is no longer any excuse for any intelligent person to make such a baseless assertion when they are capable of using such techniques as the scientific method, logic, reason, critical thinking, and the vast knowledge store that humanity has accumulated.
One who had to create a plan that would present all of mankind - from the earliest man to the last person on earth - with the same hope: of being with their Creator for all eternity.
That is just preaching a fantasy myth.
We have our lives. Suffering is a natural occurrence –
Yes, life can be very harsh. Death especially so. This is reality.
it is natural that we expect someone with the power to end suffering to exercise that power.
Only if you have been conditioned to believe such things. When the world is examined objectively there is every reason to believe that we are alone and that we have no reason to expect any help.
But we aren't honest with ourselves - complete my sentence: "God, we want you to remove suffering, once and for all, not just for myself, but for all mankind..."
The dream of men throughout the ages. Reality shows that such dreaming results in death. If you really want to solve the problems of the world then it will take a lot of hard work. Science has shown that many diseases can be prevented and cured; extending life into the 80’s and beyond is now a common outlook for modern people when only a century ago they would have expected to die before 50. The deadly disease of smallpox (the pox) that continuously devastated the world and was feared universally for thousands of years has now been effectively wiped out – due to science and the efforts of mankind.
All of modern progress has been the result of hard work of people and not prayer. Be honest with yourself and face reality.
And people stop believing in God because He does not exercise this power.
Or because they can see that if we do nothing and just pray then nothing happens. But when we make an effort we make things better. Hmm, sounds like clear causality to me.