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Undertoad · 04-16-2004, 09:01 AM

There is a much better explanation for why belief via faith is a required component of this religion: because it would be the one thing that would really cause the religion to last over time.

Just look at which ideas disappear quickly and which continue to travel around.

There are many competing ideas about how the universe was created, because Man cannot STAND to "not know". The unanswerable questions are terrible for us human begins. Our curiosity is innate. So there have always been fairy tales and stories about how it all came to be. And some of the stories had to last.

An idea, a notion, whether it's true or false, requires things in order to remain in our collective consciousness over time. For example, it has to be utterly important. It has to have personal consequences for the [non-]believer. Christianity achieves this by making it the most critical decision you can possibly make: not only does it affect your life, but your afterlife as well. You can watch people on the Cellar offering up those odds plainly: the price of not believing might be very grave indeed. If I care about you I pass along this information. Thus the information is passed along, without regard for its truth. In the face of all kinds of opposing evidence, such as the fossil record and our discoveries about space, the only way for the idea to survive is to discuss it outside the realm of logic and facts. And voila, so it is.

A notion requires a complete narrative and drama. This kind of drama is why urban legends are passed along: they are compelling as stories. Without the right kind of drama, they are not passed along and don't survive. And voila, so there is narrative, drama, and characters in the religions that have lasted. The characters are humanized as much as possible even when their form is unknowable. This is necessary in order for the ideas to last.

The ideas also have to subtlely change over time in order to last, so a certain degree of flexibility is required. The way we think Christianity works today is entirely and totally different form how we thought it worked 1000 years ago. Can this possibly be true? No, but if it still worked how it worked then, it would not last. Voila biblical interpretation: the orders of religion change along with the society. When the people demand change, someone will bang up a new list of rules on a door and the rules people prefer will be the ones that last.

In fact there have been competing religions all along and by this point, only the ones that have these kinds of attributes have survived. That in turn tells you an awful lot about the religions.

04-16-2004, 09:01 AM	#71
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	There is a much better explanation for why belief via faith is a required component of this religion: because it would be the one thing that would really cause the religion to last over time. Just look at which ideas disappear quickly and which continue to travel around. There are many competing ideas about how the universe was created, because Man cannot STAND to "not know". The unanswerable questions are terrible for us human begins. Our curiosity is innate. So there have always been fairy tales and stories about how it all came to be. And some of the stories had to last. An idea, a notion, whether it's true or false, requires things in order to remain in our collective consciousness over time. For example, it has to be utterly important. It has to have personal consequences for the [non-]believer. Christianity achieves this by making it the most critical decision you can possibly make: not only does it affect your life, but your afterlife as well. You can watch people on the Cellar offering up those odds plainly: the price of not believing might be very grave indeed. If I care about you I pass along this information. Thus the information is passed along, without regard for its truth. In the face of all kinds of opposing evidence, such as the fossil record and our discoveries about space, the only way for the idea to survive is to discuss it outside the realm of logic and facts. And voila, so it is. A notion requires a complete narrative and drama. This kind of drama is why urban legends are passed along: they are compelling as stories. Without the right kind of drama, they are not passed along and don't survive. And voila, so there is narrative, drama, and characters in the religions that have lasted. The characters are humanized as much as possible even when their form is unknowable. This is necessary in order for the ideas to last. The ideas also have to subtlely change over time in order to last, so a certain degree of flexibility is required. The way we think Christianity works today is entirely and totally different form how we thought it worked 1000 years ago. Can this possibly be true? No, but if it still worked how it worked then, it would not last. Voila biblical interpretation: the orders of religion change along with the society. When the people demand change, someone will bang up a new list of rules on a door and the rules people prefer will be the ones that last. In fact there have been competing religions all along and by this point, only the ones that have these kinds of attributes have survived. That in turn tells you an awful lot about the religions.