Born believers: How your brain creates God From New Scientist magazine 04 February 2009 by Michael Brooks Read our related editorial:The credit crunch could be a boon for irrational belief. WHILE many institutions collapsed during the Great Depression that began in 1929, one kind did rather well. During this leanest of times, the strictest, most authoritarian churches saw a surge in attendance. This anomaly was documented in the early 1970s, but only now is science beginning to tell us why. It turns out that human beings have a natural inclination for religious belief, especially during hard times. Religious ideas are common to all cultures: like language and music, they seem to be part of what it is to be human. The origin of religious belief is something of a mystery, but in recent years scientists have started to make suggestions. The religion-as-an-adaptation theory doesn't wash with everybody, however. So how does the brain conjure up gods? This separation happens very early in life. Mind and matter Default to god
Mythical Objects in Greek and Roman Mythology Aphrodite's This girdle was popular for its ability to arouse desire and create a great hunger for love. This girdle was so "potent" that whomever she desired would fall in love with her. It is even sometimes said that Hera once wore the girdle to win back Zeus's affection. Apollo was often depicted carrying a lyre, the Greek musical instrument with seven strings. Ares' The Ancile was a large Bronze Age "figure 8" shield. The caduceus of Asclepius with the coiled serpent is the traditional symbol of medicine. The Aegis was a snake-fringed shield/armor that had the head of a gorgon (Medusa) in the center. Hades helmet was a magical one given to him by the cyclopes , that would make the wearer invisible. The Thunderbolt was the mighty power Zeus weilded from Mount Olympus.
Kerygma and Myth return to religion-online Kerygma and Myth by Rudolf Bultmann and Five Critics Rudolf Bultmann is one of the great scholars in the field of New Testament study. He was born in Germany in 1884, studied at Tubingen, Berlin and Marburg. During the time of the Nazi domination, he took active part in the strong opposition which the churches built up. After World War II he spent much time lecturing in the United States. Forward by H. Translator’s Preface by Reginald H. Dasein has been rendered as "human life", "human Being", or even "Being." The Mythological Element in the Message of the New Testament and the Problem of its Re-interpretation Part IDoes the New Testament embody a truth which is quite independent of its mythical setting? The Mythological Element in the Message of the New Testament and the Problem of its Re-interpretation Part IIRedemption is not a miraculous supernatural event, but an historical event wrought out in time and space. A Reply to the Theses of J.
The World Without Forms – GODS & RADICALS I said to a friend, we see the darkness, and some go in. It is the Abyss. We have to find out what is there, to find out if there is meaning. And we see only the abyss. And some go mad. Terror often greets the far-off glances on the faces of those who return from the Abyss. Like the ones who ‘walk away from Omelas,’ they did not know to where they were going, only somewhere not-here, not the streets full of opulent wealth and the joyous cries of liberation made possible by a founding horror. It is their own fire, and it is a fire others are right to fear. I am what some might call an Egoist. It is generally easier to list what I reject (for those of you checking-off boxes on mental clipboards) than it is to begin the litany of what I embrace. I will tell you what I do not like. Here, though, I should remind you: “Fascism” means nothing at all. Max Stirner called these ideas ‘spooks.’ Perhaps we may sum up this general phenomenon as Ergriffenheit — a state of being seized or possessed.
Sacred Texts Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions index Sacred Texts Wicca & Neo-Paganism Irish Druids And Old Irish Religions by James Bonwick This scholarly, but very readable, book covers what was known about Druids and Irish Paganism at the end of the nineteenth century. Title PagePrefaceContents Part I. Who Were The Druids? Part II. IntroductionIrish SuperstitionsIrish Magic, and Tuatha De DanaansIrish GodsIdol-WorshipSerpent FaithSun-WorshipFire-WorshipStone-WorshipAnimal WorshipThe Shamrock, and Other Sacred PlantsWell-WorshipHoly BellsIrish CrossesThe Sacred Tara HillRound Tower CreedOssian the BardThe Culdees of Druidical DaysThe Future Life, or Land of the WestAncient Irish LiteratureThe Lia Fail, or the Stone of Destiny
Church of the SubGenius Jehovah 1, the primary deity of the Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is an American parody and UFO religion that targets established faiths. It teaches a complex belief system that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGenius leaders have developed detailed narratives about Dobbs, which are described by commentators as fictional, and his relationship to various gods and conspiracies. Ivan Stang, who co-founded the Church of the SubGenius in the 1970s, serves as its high profile leader and publicist. Origins[edit] The Church of the SubGenius was founded by Ivan Stang (born Douglas St Clair Smith) and Philo Drummond (born Steve Wilcox) as the SubGenius Foundation. Church leaders maintain that a man named J. Beliefs[edit] Deities[edit] The Church of the SubGenius' ostensible beliefs defy categorization or a simple narrative, often striking outside observers as bizarre and convoluted. Dobbs[edit] R.
50 Atheist Quotes - Born Again Pagan 50 Atheist Quotes George Carlin 1. Religion easily has the best bullshit story of all time. Think about it. Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man…living in the sky. 2. 3. Frankie Boyle Why are we asked to pray after a disaster? Friedrich Nietzsche 4. 5. 6. Albert Einstein 7. 8. 9. Gandhi 10. 11. Mark Twain 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Thomas Jefferson 17. 18. Benjamin Franklin 19. 20. Voltaire 21. 22. Stephen Hawking 23. 24. Jiddu Krishnamurti 25. 26. Christopher Hitchens 27. 28.If you gave Jerry Falwell an enema, he could be buried in a matchbox. Sigmund Freud 29. 29b. Karl Marx 30. MarxGeorge Bernard Shaw 31. Blaise Pascal 32. Richard Jeni 32. Steven Weinberg 34. Delos B. 35. Edward Gibbon 36. Robert Ingersoll 37. Huang Po 38. Benjamin Disraeli 39. Unknown 40. Dave Barry 41. Epicurus 42. Eric Hoffer 43. Bill Maher 44. 45. Baron D’Holbach 46. Bill Hicks 47. Isaac Asimov 48. José Bergamín 49. Arthur C. 50. Overtime quotes: Penn Gillette There is no god, and that’s the simple truth.
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