02-22-2008, 12:00 AM
"Creator as opposed to His creations is not hierarchy"
Hiya Bob
What I'm seeing is a justified hierarchy between the creator and his creation. It is not as though you are suggesting that the two ideas have equal prominence.
In some circles, the prominence of the abstract has been noted as a consistent theme in post agricultural societies.
For instance, in the Vedic paradigm, reality is seen as a contimuum of energies descending from the pure abstract down to the levels of sub matter.
In the Biblical way of thinking, God existed before creation, and God must be considered to be outside of, and detached from, his creation.
That may be a key phrase for understanding God, and gods in general. "detached from his creation".
Consider for a moment that God may be (but not "is")a creation of mankind. If that were the case, we could reasonably expect God to reflect the conditions of mankind.
For instance, God would be warlike, should he be created by a warlike society.
Here, you see an accusation that God (as we know him today) is a product of a post agricutural society.
A agricultural society is at least one step removed from "The intent of creation" as rows of irrigated wheat are not natural.
The society that produces that wheat would be expected to have gods which have power over agriculture.
In a post industrial society where manufactured items are produced from manufactured items that produce manufactured items, we would expect a god (in this case "God") to be detached from his creation, reflecting the condition of his follower/creators.
Our expectations are realized.
All this, to say that religious behavior in human beings can easily predate "God".
Prayer may be "just talking" if it is directed towards abstractions. It may be that the act of prayer has applications to solid objects that are not explored by post modern societies.
Perhaps there is a distinct part of the brain involved in prayer, as there is in music or mathematics.
Should prayer have evolved in humanity as a survival mechanism we would expect it to be hosted uniquely within the brain. We would see the MRI scanned brain light up its "prayer center" as prayer was made.
Bob, on this forum in another thread, I took another tack in talking about the religion I find myself practicing. I spoke about house cats, and their infantile dependence on their food source.
In this thread, I imply that societies may be classified acording to their food source, and that their gods reflect how they eat.
I talk about my association with a cult of hippies who have experimented with episodic living from the intent of creation.
My involvement with this sort of activity has rendered me incapable (for better or worse) of appreciating the philosophical integrity of any gods, to include the specific deity "God".
Perhaps my stubborness in this regard could be understood in that context. Have you scanned that thread?
Hiya Bob
What I'm seeing is a justified hierarchy between the creator and his creation. It is not as though you are suggesting that the two ideas have equal prominence.
In some circles, the prominence of the abstract has been noted as a consistent theme in post agricultural societies.
For instance, in the Vedic paradigm, reality is seen as a contimuum of energies descending from the pure abstract down to the levels of sub matter.
In the Biblical way of thinking, God existed before creation, and God must be considered to be outside of, and detached from, his creation.
That may be a key phrase for understanding God, and gods in general. "detached from his creation".
Consider for a moment that God may be (but not "is")a creation of mankind. If that were the case, we could reasonably expect God to reflect the conditions of mankind.
For instance, God would be warlike, should he be created by a warlike society.
Here, you see an accusation that God (as we know him today) is a product of a post agricutural society.
A agricultural society is at least one step removed from "The intent of creation" as rows of irrigated wheat are not natural.
The society that produces that wheat would be expected to have gods which have power over agriculture.
In a post industrial society where manufactured items are produced from manufactured items that produce manufactured items, we would expect a god (in this case "God") to be detached from his creation, reflecting the condition of his follower/creators.
Our expectations are realized.
All this, to say that religious behavior in human beings can easily predate "God".
Prayer may be "just talking" if it is directed towards abstractions. It may be that the act of prayer has applications to solid objects that are not explored by post modern societies.
Perhaps there is a distinct part of the brain involved in prayer, as there is in music or mathematics.
Should prayer have evolved in humanity as a survival mechanism we would expect it to be hosted uniquely within the brain. We would see the MRI scanned brain light up its "prayer center" as prayer was made.
Bob, on this forum in another thread, I took another tack in talking about the religion I find myself practicing. I spoke about house cats, and their infantile dependence on their food source.
In this thread, I imply that societies may be classified acording to their food source, and that their gods reflect how they eat.
I talk about my association with a cult of hippies who have experimented with episodic living from the intent of creation.
My involvement with this sort of activity has rendered me incapable (for better or worse) of appreciating the philosophical integrity of any gods, to include the specific deity "God".
Perhaps my stubborness in this regard could be understood in that context. Have you scanned that thread?