If every Bible on the face of the earth disappeared today and we could erase everyone's memory of it (my "clean slate" analogy), would you live your life any differently? If so, why? If not, why should anyone care about the contents of the Bible?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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More and more, I'm beginning to wonder if the answer some religious people would give would be "yes." Some have said, seriously it would seem, that the ONLY thing keeping them from raping and murdering and stealing is the "knowledge" that it'll piss off God.
ReplyDeletePersonally, NO. I would like to pose this question: if your son goes through life not reading a single passage from the Holy Book, is he less of a person than his friend who reads scriptures nightly (everything else being equal)?
ReplyDeletePersonally, NO. I would like to pose this question: if your son goes through life not reading a single passage from Harry Potter, is he less of a person than his friend who reads it nightly (everything else being equal)?
ReplyDeleteThe Bible does not inform me on any thing moral or ethical. However, I do think it's an important book *only* because it tells us what various groups of people were saying and or believing during certain times.
ReplyDeleteThis is something I've thought about before: if we destroy all copies of the bible and erase all memories of it, it will never reappear*.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you destroy all accumulated knowledge of evolution, age of the earth/universe, plate tectonics, geology, etc., etc., we'd just go and figure it out again.
*in fact, if it does, that would kinda be a way of proving it... ooh! But then we'd need to know we forgot it before, but that would... erk, brain escaped. Reset. Reboot.
If every bible disappeared and all memory of it, I would also like to put in the implication that all historical references which include the bible or Christianity or Judaism or Islam. This is a world, that would not be very pleasant to live in. At least in our current standards in which we live. For if you erased all these things from memory and record, you would also have to erase most art, music, and literature from western civilization, as well as ideas of hospitals and science.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I bet I could argue that without the Bible there would be no Darwin going to the Gallapagos either. You might disagree with all the metaphysical implications the Bible portrays, which is valid, but erasing all memory of it would be historically detrimental. Yes, there have been many brutal and horrible things done in defense and because of certain things in the Bible, but the historically good things that have come from it, far outweigh the bad. I think we sometimes fail to realize the beatiful tapestry that history is. And, to borrow the analogy from Captain Picard, if we pull on one thread the whole thing comes unravelled.
Get rid of the Bible and civilization falls apart? It's *because* we've disregarded the Bible and superstition that we even *have* a modern society. The good outweighs the bad? I hardly think so. There isn't one thing, not one thing, that believers have done that unbelievers aren't capable of. We do not need the Bible to maintain society nor, I would argue, was it the best source we had at our disposal for such "historical good things".
ReplyDeleteHad we thrown off the shackles of religion long ago who knows what wonders of art, literature and science we might have. Instead we had to endure things like The Dark Ages which were ruled by the "light" of Biblical knowledge and religion.
Well... I don't remember saying that. But to deny the Bible's influence on society and culture in a positive and progressive nature, I think is faulty. I am afraid we can never know what would have been if it had been different, but personally, I enjoy Dickens and Milton, DaVinci and Bach. Theology is a science which originated in Christianity. It's logic might seem archaic given the exterme ignorance at the time, but Christianity, in itself, still lent itself to free thought. Modes of scientific inquiry and expermental methods were formulated by clerics. We would not have half the knowledge we have now without Islam.
ReplyDeleteAugustine warns his students not to let their current theology get in the way of observations of nature. To Augustine, "science" is another form of revelation. Yes, dogmatism is the greatest enemy of science. Yes, it is foolish to think that the Bible can shed light on natural phenomena. But portraying Christianity, and not individuals calling themselves christians, as the enemy of science holds no historical water.
"Theology is a science which originated in Christianity."
ReplyDeleteYeah, cuz no one else worshiped gods and had "theology" before 2000 years ago.
"But portraying Christianity, and not individuals calling themselves Christians.."
News Flash, Christianity is made up of Christians so yes, I blame the religion that inspires these people.
Sure, decent things have come out of religion. Great medicine came out of Nazi Germany. Doesn't make it a good thing. After all, we don't talk about Christian biology or Islamic physics. If science came out of these things it's because it's science and has nothing to do with the religious beliefs of the people.
thomasbombay, the point of this post was not meant to deny that the Bible may have inspired great works of art and literature. However, I believe most would agree that religion has done more to stifle scientific inquiry than to promote it.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand your suggestion: If every bible disappeared and all memory of it, I would also like to put in the implication that all historical references which include the bible or Christianity or Judaism or Islam. The point of this thought experiment was simply to impress that the existence of the Bible does not presuppose morality. Anyone who tells you that they would live an amoral life if the Bible did not exist is a sick puppy.
I disagree. I recommend the book by Dinesh D'Souza, "What's so great about Christianity" It talks about the ideas which science takes for granted that where nourished in the early days of theological thinkers and scientists who were religously motivated. I think historically, the idea that christianity stifles science cannot be backed up by any evidence. There are situations, of course, but on the whole it was in Christian Europe and done by christian men and women who drove science forward.
ReplyDeleteGranamyr:
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Nazis. If I were to blame Darwin and "Origin" for Eugenics and the Holocust, I would be a fool. You cannot blame a philosophy for people who misinterpret and abuse positions of power under that philosphy.
It has been argued by many historians that a Christian world-view was essential in n ourishing the early days of science and it is essential based on many of the assumptions which science takes: The Universe is ordered. The Universe is finite. The Universe operates under Laws. The mind can understand the Universe. Time is a factor of the Universe. These were theological ideas well before there were experimental methods.
Science owes its existence to thinkers who based their thoughts souly on precepts of the Bible.