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[whetherwoman]

Having read my three chapters of homework from Why Religion Matters by Huston Smith, I'm in a bit of a spiritual crisis. Smith's thesis is that science cannot account for the psychological need for a Big Picture and therefore religion is necessary

Comments

Everyone worship SOT.

[bikko]

Yeah, the problem with science... but is that psychological need for Something Out There innate or just environmentally-cultivated?

Re: Everyone worship SOT.

[whetherwoman]

Well, religious artifacts are some of the oldest archeological discoveries of culture. There are no atheist traditional cultures. I think it's pretty safe to say that humans in general are a "why?"-asking species. Science answers the hows, but it doesn't really touch the whys.

[cknk]

That poem is interesting.

Strangely enough (coming from me) I think that there is something better than religion. To me history and the other social sciences provide something more meaningful, more exciting than religion. Though I plan on teaching religious stories to my son, it is the history behind those religious stories that fascinates me more, and that I hope to really convey to him.

So much of what poses as religion is unbelievable, and therefore can't fulfil my psychological need for a big picture... whereas history and science can, in that they provide other big-pictures.

[whetherwoman]

I totally agree about how history and science can provide a big picture. The main thing I've gotten from Judaism is a sense of history, and community stretching throughout history.

However, it seems to me that what religion religion provides is an answer to the "why" questions. Science, physical and social, is really good at the "how" questions, but almost by definition ignores "why".

I don't like most religious "why" answers, but some sort of answer seems to be necessary.