This topic has been rolling around in my head for some time. I don't expect that I'll write it perfectly as it needs to be articulated in different ways for different people...but I will do my best. And worst of all, I am not expecting any kind of response that will satisfy me. Please, someone surprise me.... Anyone. Just so I can know there are other human beings out there that think at least a little like I do. Ok here goes... And I'll make sure to avoid ANY swearing just so it won't seem as offensive...but please bear in mind this is a pick at humanity, not at anyone personally. So please, don't be insulted.
I'll try to break this down into a series of questions, each followed by a more detailed description of what I'm meaning:
1) Why do people need to believe in mystical stuff? For instance, no matter how much proof you think you have, no matter how much you believe what you've picked as correct or what you want to be true, there is no way you can know how the universe came to be, what humanity's united purpose is (if any, doubtful), where we are going, or what we are all doing here right now and why. The mundane details of life are right in front of us - live day-by-day, eat, sleep, find a way to pay for shelter and food and the comforts of life, socialize, grow older, grow experienced (I won't say wiser), and so on. Things we can see for ourselves... The details of life we know are true. But THEN, we take enormously huge questions that span a great expanse of information we couldn't possibly know, and every picks and chooses beliefs that custom fit them like they're picking out shoes from a store. If you can't bloody know, why delude yourself into knowing? I'm not looking for a 'some people just need to' answer here, because it's not just some people, it's almost everybody. It drives me crazy wonder why people spend time on these things, discussing which Angel is similar to what biblicar figure, when they are both characters in a book and if there was another holy book everyone believed in that was written a few millennia ago that said Bozo the Clown was a holy figure, then everyone would be arguing or questioning his similarity to other figures in history and his meanings of what he said etc too. What's the deal? Do people ever grow out of being children and just leave the belief in fairy tales behind or what? It seems not. Someone educate me on why people think spirituality is a tangible, necessary part of life, because I have none and see absolutely no need for it whatsoever. My best guess is it is a hobby some people enjoy, and spiritually-related things are one of the easiest most broad ideas to pick up to bring you into a community of other like-minded want-to-know-something-they-can't kind of people.
*cracks knuckles* Ok. #1 done.
2) Why do we think we're somehow special? Why do people consider themselves better than common beasts. Yes, it's true, we ARE at the top of the food chain. Why? Because we benefit from the products of an extremely small percentage of our races' ingenuity with technology. But it doesn't just span that kind of superiority. Angels are seen as men with wings. Yes, humanoid bodies with feathered wings. Come on. When a human dies it means something, but when we crush an ant it means nothing. I can see why this is, humans are more important to us because they're of our species, we can interact with them, they are our friends and enemies, our family, our lovers and associates......when a human dies the people that knew them positively weep at the loss of their companionship. But then mythology once again springs, we have souls and spirits and reincarnation and resurrection, all just because people can't accept that when someone dies they are a bloated corpse that becomes dust and bones like that ant I stepped on the other day without noticing or those microscopic lifeforms I kill every time I move my body. Then we get into the JW belief in blood being sacred. Come on! Water with red blood cells in it? What part is sacred, the mitochondria? I guess saying things like 'come on' begs common sense, which seems to be in short supply in some people when it comes to just NOT believing in something crazy and ridiculous. Blah, just thinking about this topic turns me off of it. I hope I got enough across to maybe pry some kind of answer from someone that doesn't just parallel the things that I said here that burn me when I think of them...
3) Why not just accept that life is an unsolvable mystery and move on? Ever stare at those clouds rolling by without trying to explain them? Or that sunset? Science or no, the fact is the layman doesn't need explanation for the majority of things out there except for curiosity's sake. Why not just accept humanity's violent, messed up nature and just try to avoid bad situations, and deal with the ones that are unavoidable? Unclouded, mindless appreciation of what's around you - I am not seeing a whole lot of that. Someone please tell me they can walk through a beautiful forest without saying 'GAWD MADE DAT!' or thinking of forest elves or something prancing around. The light on the trees, the songs of birds.... It doesn't have to be a forest, it could be anything! Just letting the sensory experience be its own reward... not wishing to be somewhere else with someone else or in another time.... just happy and appreciating what isn't going wrong for you.... ahhh. C'mon does anybody do this?
well I think 3 is enough for this rambling post... I'm sure I didn't explain it as well as I could have but hey it's 4 am and I don't know why I'm up. Off to bed for me.....