17th March 2004, 6:12 PM
Religion doesn't make logical sense in the modern world. Science does not have all the answers but it has many and we know that given enough time science will explain much more. Saying 'we do not know so God did it' is utter idiocy, like the Big Bang.
So why belief? Tradition and human psyche, probably... over thousands of years it got burned in and while it's not quite like our base instincts (not just sex but basic social things like 'killing people in your group is wrong'...), it's clearly got a lot of momentum and that has a power all its own... belief leads to belief and people believe. Retreating in scope (God didn't create the world in 7 days or put the Earth in the center of the universe), but believed in in some amount anyway... at this point I don't think there is much of any true logical backing for God (unlike primitive man saying 'i do not have any way of understanding how this all came to be'), but we have believed in deities forever and it's far too late to turn back now.
Just like this...
A) You're on a trolley, at the controls at a split in the tracks. If it goes straight it'll hit and kill 5 people. If you hit the switch and turn it'll hit and kill one person. What do you do?
B) You're on a bridge over a straight track. A trolley is approaching. It will hit and kill 5 people. There is a fat man in front of you. If you sneak up behind him and push him off it'll be enough to slow down the train so the 5 will live. What do you do?
Our basic instincts say scenario B is wrong because it is murder but not so for A because there is a machine in between, something primitive man did not conceive... that one you can think of much more rationally.
Religion is a bit different but I can see some similarities between these...
Oh, and it's not ALL bad. Religion helps calm people from anxiety, make people happy or give them will to fight disease (and belief you will get better in many cases helps for some reason), and other things...
So why belief? Tradition and human psyche, probably... over thousands of years it got burned in and while it's not quite like our base instincts (not just sex but basic social things like 'killing people in your group is wrong'...), it's clearly got a lot of momentum and that has a power all its own... belief leads to belief and people believe. Retreating in scope (God didn't create the world in 7 days or put the Earth in the center of the universe), but believed in in some amount anyway... at this point I don't think there is much of any true logical backing for God (unlike primitive man saying 'i do not have any way of understanding how this all came to be'), but we have believed in deities forever and it's far too late to turn back now.
Just like this...
A) You're on a trolley, at the controls at a split in the tracks. If it goes straight it'll hit and kill 5 people. If you hit the switch and turn it'll hit and kill one person. What do you do?
B) You're on a bridge over a straight track. A trolley is approaching. It will hit and kill 5 people. There is a fat man in front of you. If you sneak up behind him and push him off it'll be enough to slow down the train so the 5 will live. What do you do?
Our basic instincts say scenario B is wrong because it is murder but not so for A because there is a machine in between, something primitive man did not conceive... that one you can think of much more rationally.
Religion is a bit different but I can see some similarities between these...
Oh, and it's not ALL bad. Religion helps calm people from anxiety, make people happy or give them will to fight disease (and belief you will get better in many cases helps for some reason), and other things...