Quote:
Originally posted by Troubleshooter
Reality is not subjective. How that reality is defined is what is subjective. Rain falls, lightning crashes, and babies are born regardles of whether we choose to experience it or not.
And what about truth?
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I think Jaguar actually covered this already, but the difference to me is that rain might be falling (truth), but if I'm unaware of it, it's not part of my reality.
Quote:
Originally posted by Troubleshooter
Religion is man's attempt to rationalize an unknown and apparently uncaring world into sometheing where he has some control or consolation.
Religion is also a social control tool that came about in the place of government or to replace, resist, assist government
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It's becoming pure semantics now, but religion requires the God component. Your first definition could also be the definition for "sports betting" or "beer".
Religion as social control is a byproduct of religious people believing they possess ultimate truth as revealed to them via their religion. It's a chicken/egg thing I guess.
Quote:
Originally posted by TS
There is no guarantee that any one of them is true.(snip)...If you think that what proof has been given is sufficient then more power to you, but if you dig a little deeper then you find that most of the myths of the bible are pulled from an earlier religion in the first place so wouldn't that then lend more credence to the earlier religions instead?
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I said 'if'. At any rate, the truth of something is not subject to any guarantee, warranty, or proof we assign to it. Without getting into some long epistemology discussion, it's a fairly recent arrogance on the part of science that restricts 'reality' or 'truth' to what is measurable by physicists or scientists.
As for older religions contributing to newer ones - of course they do. Our history wasn't erased when Jesus died, and the Christian religion was born. But Jesus was a historical figure, and the historical events surrounding his life and death did in fact fulfill Judaic prophesy. The fact that Zoroastrianism preceded either Christianity, Judaism, or Islam is irrelevant. Whether or not Eve ate a literal apple given to her by a literal snake is academic. What matters is that the consequences of that real or metaphoric event were answered, and the price paid, by the death of Christ.
This is the image of the day thread....I'll be over in philosophy if you want to continue (I sense rolled eyes from the people who came here to see nifty car wrecks and pet bison - I include myself in this group)