snatchbalance

A dieing man nailed to cross.
A serene man in a lotus position.
A six armed god dancing on the corpse of ignorance.
A powerful grey bearded man hurling lighting from Olympus.

Doesn't much of the power that religion has over humanity come from the symbolism that it utilises?

Whole stories, whole belief systems, can be bound up in any of these images. They are powerful, and they stick.

Can, or should, atheism, I guess in the form of secular humanism, attempt to establish such symbols?

Could the image of say, Socrates drinking hemlock, become a ralleying sign for raitional thought?

My own thoughts are something like:

In general, people don't want to think; they want escape, consolation, revenge, ect. Any symbol designed to remind the general population of its intellectual potential, will be rejected out of hand. I am a cynic.

SB

[ May 14, 2002: Message edited by: snatchbalance ]</p>

vagrant

You mean things like:

A man rolling his eyes at a dieing man nailed to cross.
A man sneaking up to throw a spider on a serene man in a lotus position.
A disinterested man doing a jig on a six armed god dancing on the corpse of ignorance.
A man sadly shaking his head while walking away from a powerful grey bearded man hurling lighting from Olympus?

DarkBronzePlant

It's funny you bring this up; I'd heard symbolism discussed in a similar manner but with regards to a different forum, that of the Bush administration. Part of the appeal of Bush to the common-everyfolk is his use of symbolism. Not to turn this into a political or Bush-bashing discussion, I add this merely as evidence to show why I agree with your assessment.

At the same time, it would be tough for Secular Humanism to adopt symbols, I think. Because in a way, it tends to reject simplistic representations of complex things. Also, a symbol would be needed that speaks to the everyperson (the Socrates image you suggest really wouldn't work in that respect.) Religion definitely has a huge leg up over atheism/Secular Humanism because it has no qualms about lying in order to speak to people's interests, fears & desires.

SteveD

Well snatchbalance,
Since you mentioned being a cynic, how about a picture of Diogenes carrying his lamp around looking for an honest man.


Steve

Edited because I can't figure out how to post a picture

[ May 14, 2002: Message edited by: SteveD ]</p>