Paganism vs. Modern Theism
Despite early religion being viewed as primitive and quaint, in a lot of ways it makes more sense than some of the religions we have today. Well, maybe not a lot of ways but at least in a few. Everytime I get outside of the city and far enough into the wilderness, I am still in awe of the array of stars that are out there. Just a few hundred years ago this was the same night that greeted mankind everyday. These are the sort of spectacles that early man wrote creation stories about an no being is more prominent than the sun.
That sun worship, in retrospect, makes more sense today than does the notion of a "supreme being" of any kind. The sun IS the thing that gives life to the planet, it is the daily presence that keeps us alive and helps things grow. Likewise the moon has its own effects on the Earth through gravity, moonlight, tides, etc. Stars too play their part, for even in what seems a miniscule effect they are still projecting and casting light onto the Earth. While it seems like it probably has little effect, over millions of years and through procession of clouds and clear skies that light is still cast onto the Earth.
Sure Paganism had its own ritualism and had practices like animal and human sacrifices. So too were there fanciful stories of how the world was created, but these served to fill in the blanks that mankind had no conception of. We dismiss these views today as primitive, but they were created in the gap that science now occupies. Science has gone through its own way to explain and model the world around us and has done a seemingly bang-up job. It's fascinating to think that our minds are so advanced that we can model the world around us, measure stars on the other side of the galaxy, and predict movements accurately across several light years.
And yet, coming full circle, science has revealed that the Sun (and water) are principally responsible for our being here. Paganism was on the right track and science filled in the blanks where stories were created. Somehow religion defiantly persists, and not just as a means for a moral guidance but still as a creation story and still with its own ritualism. The supreme being, who occupies the space that science still can't explain to us -the "afterlife"- still trumps the sun as being our creator and provider.
This current set of beliefs is no longer trying to explain our place on earth, but our place in the universe. If science can break that piece of the puzzle, what will remain then? Religion is tearing humanity to pieces in ways that defy explanation. The very real set of human problems the whole globe is facing are still being exacerbated because of our inability to either coexist peacefully because of our differences in beliefs, because of our marriage to petty human behavior, or because of our disregard for human life in the context of our belief system: a belief system that tries to explain and in many ways celebrate the creation of that life.
What a sham.
That sun worship, in retrospect, makes more sense today than does the notion of a "supreme being" of any kind. The sun IS the thing that gives life to the planet, it is the daily presence that keeps us alive and helps things grow. Likewise the moon has its own effects on the Earth through gravity, moonlight, tides, etc. Stars too play their part, for even in what seems a miniscule effect they are still projecting and casting light onto the Earth. While it seems like it probably has little effect, over millions of years and through procession of clouds and clear skies that light is still cast onto the Earth.
Sure Paganism had its own ritualism and had practices like animal and human sacrifices. So too were there fanciful stories of how the world was created, but these served to fill in the blanks that mankind had no conception of. We dismiss these views today as primitive, but they were created in the gap that science now occupies. Science has gone through its own way to explain and model the world around us and has done a seemingly bang-up job. It's fascinating to think that our minds are so advanced that we can model the world around us, measure stars on the other side of the galaxy, and predict movements accurately across several light years.
And yet, coming full circle, science has revealed that the Sun (and water) are principally responsible for our being here. Paganism was on the right track and science filled in the blanks where stories were created. Somehow religion defiantly persists, and not just as a means for a moral guidance but still as a creation story and still with its own ritualism. The supreme being, who occupies the space that science still can't explain to us -the "afterlife"- still trumps the sun as being our creator and provider.
This current set of beliefs is no longer trying to explain our place on earth, but our place in the universe. If science can break that piece of the puzzle, what will remain then? Religion is tearing humanity to pieces in ways that defy explanation. The very real set of human problems the whole globe is facing are still being exacerbated because of our inability to either coexist peacefully because of our differences in beliefs, because of our marriage to petty human behavior, or because of our disregard for human life in the context of our belief system: a belief system that tries to explain and in many ways celebrate the creation of that life.
What a sham.