Will humanity EVER outgrow God? (page 2)

DHL

Nicolaou and Terry, I agree with both of you!

God is imho an illusion that is used as a safety net as you beautifully explained it, Terry. To me it is a question of personal growth to become aware of what's laying underneath. To discover - and accept - the unspoken makes us grow. No doubt that road needs courage. And it also needs an open heart to be able to adopt a new concept. But a lot of people don't want to explore in that direction. Some are scared to hell of the subject depending on their belief system, others are just skin deep.

Anyway I really can't ever see the majority of mankind to be on a certain spiritual stage at some time as each of us is learning in his own pace.

ballistic

I think religion has played an important role in the evolution of society, but has outlived it's usefullness in some "developed" countries. And you can see this trend occurring even in the Witnesses - growing in developing countries and dying off in Japan and Europe, stagnating in the US. While religion has been blamed for wars through the centuries, I think it enabled control of masses of people, and gave people a morality and sense of purpose which in Western countries now - people can find in secular and other areas of life.

Abaddon

God is like the Forth Road Bridge.

Everytime the painters get to one end, they go back to the other side and start again.

God changes. God used to be anamistic in conception. Still is to some, but it is rare now.

Huge polytheistic pantheons rose and fell. Only one is still going really, and Hinduism isn't really polytheistic as all gods are part of God and we are part of God and are made of god too, if you look into it.

Dozens of monotheistic beliefs have come and gone. There's maybe three left that qualify for the term 'world religion'.

And idtheistic beliefs, where the indivdual is seen as the heart of the divine experience, well, there's one big one.

Men merely remake god in a suitable form for their needs. Ug made up the lightning god. Mohammed made up Allah. The OT YHWH was probably cooked up after the return from exile. Joe Smith made up the Mormon god. Ron Hubbard made up Scientology. Russel lmade up Jehovah.

Those gods that are left today are not immutable. Just as Christianity was shorn of its ore offensive characteristics and doctrines over time, so shall Islam. How many Hindus REALLY believe the world is on the back of an elephant?

This means religion will survive an awful long time, as religion is just as subject to the laws of "natural selection" as giraffes. Giraffes that are easy to 'catch' or religions that are easy to 'disprove', don't have many 'descendants'.

I would say that more religions will become fluffy, meangingless but satisfying life accessories, based on an ancient tradition but shorn of all impact in the daily life of those who claim they are members beyond the 'feel good' factor. They will do this because this will be the only form of religion that can survive the modern world.

slimboyfat

Has God outgrown humanity?

JW83

I don't like it when the 'safety blanket' starts smothering normal human interaction ...

In answer to the question: I hope so. Let us find magical mystery in each other.

jula71

There will always be people that have a need to worship, anything. I know many dub's like that. They can't fuction with-out that structure.

Narkissos

Great thread, great posts...

Perhaps the question is, rather: what will the next generation of gods be like?

nicolaou

I think it's interesting that not many believers have responded to this topic. When I believed in God the only time I put myself in a position where I needed to defend him against say an evolutionist or an atheist was on the 'door to door' work and of course that was 99% magazine presentation.

Perhaps the believing mind simply 'sidesteps' the issue of having to prove it's beliefs when it knows it cannot really do so. I submit that there is no conclusive evidence for the existence of god.

Gods of the future? Aliens!

Nic'

itsallgoodnow

Some days I think people will never let go it, just pass it down to successive generations. But maybe they will if it's really true that eventually the truth (and I don't mean "the Truth") wins out and eventually gets found out and accepted.

Hopefully soon, but probably not in my lifetime.

Markfromcali

Beyond that, will humanity outgrow itself? Take an individual human for example, we talk about getting over the granddaddy idea of God - fine, that's one idea. Granted it is very .. pervasive and certainly relevant especially here, but frankly you can be on the 'someone outgrowing something' trip just fine without the idea of God. So to state it directly, on an individual level, the question is will you outgrow yourself?

Will humanity EVER outgrow God?

Share this