MaximusDementis

Dear Mom.

Of course, you and I come from the Christian Tradition. Thus we have always eyed Judaism, Islam, Buddhism et al with suspicion. I have read some about each of those religions and a few others. I have read speculations on early man's religion. I even immersed myself in the Presbyterian branch of Protestantism for several years. I have read speculation on why religion is such a part of human existence.

What I come away with is basically what I felt when I was 18. Each religion has positive and negative features to it. Things I find ridiculous and things I find intriguing. Things I find disgusting and things I find comforting. I basically feel that religion was the early science of humankind. It sprang forth to explain all those unexplainable things going on around humans. If gave us something to do to deal with the capriciousness of natural phenomena and the randomness of death. It gives us purpose when we can find none otherwise.

Well, now science has explained everything from earthquakes to DNA. From physics to the formation of the universe. We have found that the religious explanation of these phenomena is not only wrong, but often laughable, like children's stories. And that has made many of us doubt everything about all of the religions. We know that the earth revolves around the sun, and that the earth is in constant motion, etc., making the biblical story about the sun standing still pretty stupid, obviously based on the erroneous belief that the sun moved about the earth. We have looked for evidence of all the major biblical stories, and have found some buried in the Palestinian deserts and elsewhere. But this evidence is archeological. We have found no evidence for world wide catastrophic flooding such as suggested by Noah's story. However, certain portions of the earth have suffered major flooding, just not the whole thing.

With DNA we have discovered that we can use properties of that chemical and use it to trace back our ancestry to its origins. It turns out we originated in Africa (not Persia) and that we have walked everywhere else. To the question how the heck did humans make it to Australia? Well, they did it during a time when the North was in ice age, lots of the earth's surface was exposed. So it was pretty much a walk along the coast and a small canoe ride from Indonesian Peninsula to northern Australia.

That's another thing we have learned, the earth's surface is constantly changing. All the continents used to be one huge land mass, which over millions of years split up. The bible missed all this stuff. So did Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc., etc., etc. None of the religions of the world were able to explain anything scientific and get it right. This could be why 53% of Americans now accept Evolution. This by the way is the first time a majority of Americans have done so since Darwin first proposed the theory in the 19th Century.

I think we humans do need to think there is something out there greater than us. Some of us like to believe it is a god who cares about us, others of us don't. I think there is good and evil, but I also know that no human is all one thing or the other. We all have good in us and we all have bad in us, for some of us the good outweighs the bad and vice versa. Perhaps we simply get to old to be bad anymore (*wink). We are a product of genetics and environment in such a tight minuet that it is all but impossible to discern which influences which for any particular trait. I think both are important. Anyway, enough of my ramblings for now.

oriecat

Very nice letter.

Bree

I'm going to move this to SL&S so you can get some feedback.

MaximusDementis

Thanks to both of you.

beth

How devout is your mother?

MaximusDementis

She is not at all. She is a student of history and philosophy. She was raised a Luthern (in Germany), she took us to church as small children, but by the time we were in grade school, we went only sporadically. She views religious people with great suspicion. She has not gone to church or read a bible for over 30 years.

My dad is silent on these issues. I don't think he worries about them. Of course he was raised in upstate NY. I think the only times I ever saw him in church were for our weddings. I don't think he owns a bible. But he says nothing for or against this stuff, it simply does not interest him.

My mom and I were exchanging emails on the pagan foundations of Christianity and how pretty much all Christian ideas were stolen from or based upon prior pagan practices and myths. Everything from virgin birth to Noah's flood.

My only chastisement to her is that she tends to be overly western-centric, she ignored some of the oriental and asian influences on Christianity.

I think I am the way I am because of genetics, or is it environment? Heck, I don't know!

Frest

Did mom have a response for you?

MaximusDementis

Yes, she was impressed with my writing and supportive.