purely sociological
Yesterday, I sat on my porch, listened to the birds, and felt the warm sun on my skin. It was holy. I don't appreciate nature often enough, and I know this because the experience felt refreshing and new.
It makes me wonder, from a purely sociological standpoint...
If man "created" religion and gods to explain things like thunderstorms and why the sun moves and why things grow in the spring, and if science has solved these mysteries, and we spend more time in buildings and air-conditioning than we do walking in the raw forest... then would man have "created" gods if we were brought into the world with the understanding of these things beforehand? Say, for instance, the world has always existed as it is now, with buildings and science books, and we were brought into consciousness, would we instinctively create gods and rituals? Why would we, if we did?
Thoughts? Comments?
It makes me wonder, from a purely sociological standpoint...
If man "created" religion and gods to explain things like thunderstorms and why the sun moves and why things grow in the spring, and if science has solved these mysteries, and we spend more time in buildings and air-conditioning than we do walking in the raw forest... then would man have "created" gods if we were brought into the world with the understanding of these things beforehand? Say, for instance, the world has always existed as it is now, with buildings and science books, and we were brought into consciousness, would we instinctively create gods and rituals? Why would we, if we did?
Thoughts? Comments?
posted by Stargirl at 3:18 PM
9 Comments:
Stargirl asked:
...then would man have "created" gods if we were brought into the world with the understanding of these things beforehand? Say, for instance, the world has always existed as it is now, with buildings and science books, and we were brought into consciousness, would we instinctively create gods and rituals? Why would we, if we did?
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Yes, because:
1) there will always be unanswered questions that some people will need an answer for, even if it means resorting to the supernatural, and
2) science does not (and cannot) address the "why" of existence (assuming there is a "why"). that will always rightfully remain the domain of philosophy and religion.
Ah, good points. Do you think the nature of the "god" we created would be different?
stargirl said:
Do you think the nature of the "god" we created would be different?
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If a culture were theoretically "dropped" into a world that already had discovered the scientific facts we know today (a body of knowledge that's by no means complete, but still staggeringly more so than humans of 6 - 10,000 yrs. ago, say), then yes, the characteristics of their god would reflect the knowledge (and gaps in knowledge) of the times.
For instance, their creation story might offer explanation of "before time" or "before" the known beginning of the universe (big bang), but would probably not incorporate facts known to be false or improbable (world being a turtle shell, for instance). It would certainly try to account for the known size and scope of the known universe (current estimate of a radius of 10-14 billion light years), instead of pretending that the Earth is the be-all, end-all of creation (and us being the center of it).
Of course, aside from a civilation of intellegent beings rising up alongside a preexisting advanced culture (for instance, dolphins becoming sentient while humans still rule the world), a culture has to start out with nothing. After all, it took humans from 100,000 BC to the 17th century AD to even start to discovery parsimonious, naturalistic explanations of world. In that time, it's no wonder that religion was a valuable (and only) tool to ease people's fear of the unknown.
It's a big, scary universe, after all...
I think existence would be even more baffling in this scenario than it is currently. How could the world have come to exist as it does without the human race being conscious? Where would all these buildings and theories have come from? Currently we can trace the evolution of these marvels through the the evolution of man's mind. We could say they are the proof that man's consciousness can create, the result of our labors. If the explanation for their existence is taken away because knowledge predates our consciousness, then we would have to look for another source. I think that we would look for a power larger than us to explain the deep pool of existing knowledge.
Sociology says yes, religion and a concept of God would be different depending on the time and society that you are talking about. Our concept of God is very different from a Jewish person's in 1910, or a Saxon serf in 1231. We have a concept of God that fits into our world view and perspective. Kind of like American Gods... our concept of God is one of an all-benevolent Father figure who wants to help us... Whereas a Norseman would "need" very different things from his god or gods to help cope with his surroundings. Perhaps it might be easier to explain some of the world today if I believed in Loki as much as I do some other things!
Ah, some very good points. It's interesting hearing other people's takes. Kristin has an excellent point - how would we explain where all these things came from? That poses another question... would we consider buildings and books sacred, as we do nature?
I think we already do hold books and buildings sacred. Would we in this hypothetical world? My feeling is probably.
Oh, good point, Kristin. Thank you!
No. Thank you.
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