This is continued from another thread. I figured it'd be easier to break it down into two parts so people can discuss which bits they're interested in, because it is fairly long.
http://forums.infjs.com/showthread.php?p=462604#post462604
Continued!
In connecting science with belief, we begin to ask some uncomfortable questions. From a standpoint of religion, the idea that people should seek to decrease the time between having an idea and actually realizing that idea can seem very threatening if there is something in the status quo to be desired for the people in charge of said religion. It is often asked (in the context of this being an extremely bad thing) 'Should we seek to be gods?'...the answer I think is that short of creating our own universe, we will never be gods no matter how far we grow.
There will always be a period, however brief, between a concept and it's manifestation during which we have to make use of the things already within the universe. Cause and effect still applies, even if it applies in a circuitous and roundabout manner.
Another question that is asked is 'In all of this science and technology, where is room left for God?'
The question that is really being asked here is 'Is there room for religion?'. God will take care of himself/herself/itself. It is religion (not spirituality) which is under threat. To believe in the edicts of gods based on religion is to believe that people are infallible (not God). If religion is the yard stick by which God is measured, God will come up short. Severely short. A god would not be worth looking to as guidance if it were purely an icon of the religious principle.
The answer to the question of 'Is there room for religion in a scientifically focused society?' might be 'probably not in a form you recognize'. While we will likely maintain traditions these traditions may need to have purpose even if that purpose is only to make us feel better.
In general, gods have always helped us plug holes in our understanding and there are a few places where we can't really do without them. There is always the problem of 'what happens when we cease to exist'? Even as non-linear beings existing in the ephemera of space the question remains. To that end, as we explore what happens after existence we ought not discount the possibility of further experience and also of meeting beings to which we would ascribe god-hood.
Should we worship gods? This is a difficult question. Should we invest our energies in a paragon being which represents everything we would aspire to be and thereby make ourselves closer to that being?
That strikes me as a very noble pursuit. On the flip side, if it isn't the god we are worshiping but the routine/tradition/dogma for which the god is a figurehead then we can find ourselves in a very illogical loop of continuing to do things because that's 'just how things are done'.
This isn't a positive relationship with a god. That is a highly destructive relationship. If you are simply going through the routine that, at one time, made you feel better then that is addiction instead of worship.
(Before I continue, I want to get people's further input and maybe you'll give me some more ideas. )
http://forums.infjs.com/showthread.php?p=462604#post462604
Continued!
In connecting science with belief, we begin to ask some uncomfortable questions. From a standpoint of religion, the idea that people should seek to decrease the time between having an idea and actually realizing that idea can seem very threatening if there is something in the status quo to be desired for the people in charge of said religion. It is often asked (in the context of this being an extremely bad thing) 'Should we seek to be gods?'...the answer I think is that short of creating our own universe, we will never be gods no matter how far we grow.
There will always be a period, however brief, between a concept and it's manifestation during which we have to make use of the things already within the universe. Cause and effect still applies, even if it applies in a circuitous and roundabout manner.
Another question that is asked is 'In all of this science and technology, where is room left for God?'
The question that is really being asked here is 'Is there room for religion?'. God will take care of himself/herself/itself. It is religion (not spirituality) which is under threat. To believe in the edicts of gods based on religion is to believe that people are infallible (not God). If religion is the yard stick by which God is measured, God will come up short. Severely short. A god would not be worth looking to as guidance if it were purely an icon of the religious principle.
The answer to the question of 'Is there room for religion in a scientifically focused society?' might be 'probably not in a form you recognize'. While we will likely maintain traditions these traditions may need to have purpose even if that purpose is only to make us feel better.
In general, gods have always helped us plug holes in our understanding and there are a few places where we can't really do without them. There is always the problem of 'what happens when we cease to exist'? Even as non-linear beings existing in the ephemera of space the question remains. To that end, as we explore what happens after existence we ought not discount the possibility of further experience and also of meeting beings to which we would ascribe god-hood.
Should we worship gods? This is a difficult question. Should we invest our energies in a paragon being which represents everything we would aspire to be and thereby make ourselves closer to that being?
That strikes me as a very noble pursuit. On the flip side, if it isn't the god we are worshiping but the routine/tradition/dogma for which the god is a figurehead then we can find ourselves in a very illogical loop of continuing to do things because that's 'just how things are done'.
This isn't a positive relationship with a god. That is a highly destructive relationship. If you are simply going through the routine that, at one time, made you feel better then that is addiction instead of worship.
(Before I continue, I want to get people's further input and maybe you'll give me some more ideas. )
