God needn't be a man-made construct
As a species, when we were younger we anthropomorphised everything. In other words, we translated externalities through our own experience. Hence God in our image etc.
Anthropomorhising is the only way we can relate to something that is outside of our understanding: by dressing it up in a framework we do understand.
The tenets of science rejects anthropomorphising. Objective observations only. Not easy but we are trying.
My point is this: I think having a deity is important, a higher source to inspire, comfort and offset ego.
But why do we not use the one thing that LITERALLY makes us, houses us, feeds us, protects us and offers us so much wonder and inspiration? Earth.
Why is Earth not our principal god? There would be no atheists if it were. There would also be no elitism and I think that has to be the point. Obfuscation is the truth behind power.
Principal god: Earth (not even going to anthropomorphise it into her into Gaia)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ray R. on -
No. I don't need any made up gods , anthropomophised or not . A comforting delusion is still a delusion , and I for one , don't find that delusion particularly comforting . I've never really understood how some people find primitive , made up gods more fascinating than a universe that is 42 billion light years across . Tiny , unimaginative little minds , I guess .
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Permalink Reply by diggerbanks on -
That is why I am putting forward the Earth as the most appropriate object of worship.
It creates us, it shelters us, it feeds us, it is the only reason for our existence. And it's real.
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Permalink Reply by Ray R. on
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Why do you feel the need to worship something ? Speaking for myself , ( and probably many others here ) I certainly feel no such need .
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
Why not make Earth our deity? For the same reason we don't make any other rock our deity. It itself is dead. It may be crawling with life at the surface, but the planet itself is just a big dead rock. On what basis would YOU make a big rock your god? Gotta hear, 'cause it's bound to be silly.
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Permalink Reply by diggerbanks on
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Lol, is it? Well I said it already in the OP but oh well, in for a penny...
We are Earth matter
Earth LITERALLY makes us, houses us, feeds us, protects us and offers us so much wonder and inspiration
Earth lives,
I cannot believe that anyone with intelligence would describe Earth as a dead rock.
Where do you find wonder? Where do you see great power that is worthy of our awe?
You can't find joy in deconstructing all the time.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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Earth LITERALLY makes us, houses us, feeds us, protects us and offers us so much wonder and inspiration.
Oh, then there are lots of gods. Someone might view his parents, his wallet, his/her breadwinning wife/husband, or his job as his god, for example.
As I said, the Earth is a rock. It has life everywhere on its surface, but what evidence do you have that this rock is in any way AWARE of this life or even of ITSELF?
Removing the accretions of religious myth, like so many mental barnacles...what could possibly be MORE joyous...huh, huh, huh?
I don't need to believe a myth of a living rock to experience wonder. If you do, I find that rather sad.
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Permalink Reply by diggerbanks on
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All right, let's not bitch slap each other. Maybe I am allowing more romance into the equation than you are willing.
The Gaia Principle is science. James Lovelock.
Earth is our home. Every single one of us ever in our existence has lived on Earth and no where else. It is the only undeniable apart from death.
The thing about removing those mental barnacles is that in doing so you sometimes expose holes that need filling or you will sink (given that the barnacles are on a boat)
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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All right, let's not bitch slap each other. Maybe I am allowing more romance into the equation than you are willing.
Romance has no place in a scientific discussion. It's the enemy of skepticism. If you can't take some spirited debate, you're going to find being here in TA a very harrowing experience.
The Gaia Principle is science. James Lovelock.
Lovelock is a kind of attention whore, and that particular statement is obviously metaphorical or poetic and not intended as an empirical statement. Also, I wonder how many geologists are lining up behind that personification? Almost none, I'd wager.
Earth is our home. Every single one of us ever in our existence has lived on Earth and no where else. It is the only undeniable apart from death.
I live in a house. I don't think of my house as a deity.
The thing about removing those mental barnacles is that in doing so you sometimes expose holes that need filling or you will sink (given that the barnacles are on a boat)
Apparently you missed the point of my barnacle metaphor. Barnacles load a boat down and reduce it's hydrodynamics (the efficiency of its hull).
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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on -
We are Earth matter.
We are star stuff. The earth and we ourselves are quite literally made of elements created by thermonuclear fusion inside the hearts of stars. The stars exploded, the leftover debris and gas collected in another region of space, and then formed our star Sol and the planets. All life and energy on earth (with a very few exceptions) is because of Sol and stars that preceded it.
Where do you find wonder? Where do you see great power that is worthy of our awe? You can't find joy in deconstructing all the time.
That is more amazing and (above all) true than anything found in any bullshit religion ever fabricated on earth. But I'm not going to advocate worship of giant spheres of plasma because of it. Better to spread the simple and astounding truth: we are made of stars.
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Permalink Reply by Ed on -
Dead?
Spewing mountains of lava from deep within on a daily basis certainly warrants a characterization a little warmer than dead.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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From the position of your post (checking the indentations), you seem to be replying to the OP, and yet the gist of your post implies you are talking to someone else. Who might that be? Me?
Okay, let's say it's me. There's nothing self-contradictory about calling a planet with volcanoes dead. There are many volcanoes on dead bodies in our solar system. The main example is probably Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanic body in our solar system.
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Permalink Reply by Wesley on -
The Sun was once such an explanation. The sun gave us life and without it we could not survive. That's still true, but the sun will run its cycle with or without our worship
I certainly appreciate the sun and the earth but feel no need to call either god.
You may be looking for something more along the lines of Scientific Pantheism..
http://www.pantheism.net/paul/science.htm
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