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David Hayward 1 year, 6 months ago.
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Sometimes when I’m dialoging with theists I start to feel like the guy who points out all the scientific flaws in the Star Wars movies. The conversation can go like this…
“The space ship wouldn’t make any sound in space because sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum.”
“Well the microphone is inside the ship and you would hear the engine.”
“You need air to hear sound and the pilot has an oxygen helmet so there’s no air in the ship”
“There’s air in his helmet and the sound would come through the helmet because the oxygen tank is connected to the frame of the ship”
“But the camera is showing the view from space. Why would they put a microphone in the ship? You would have to have thousands of microphones during the big battles.”
And on and on from there. LOL These conversations tend to miss out on the whole point of going to the movie. You go to the movie for the ride and having fun. Otherwise you would have Star Wars in the style of 2001 Space Odyssey with long periods of silence and breathing.
I think if religion was about exploring different ways of seeing the world and people treated religion more like being a fan of a particular story it would be harmless and provide a lot of creative fun. Or if it was simply a method of providing individual inspiration and individuals could simply let go of the idea that we can know these things for sure. Unfortunately religion is treated like a concrete reality by many people and historically been the source of a lot of violence to nations and to individuals.
I have what many people call spiritual experiences, but I know they aren’t real because they are incomplete. They are symbols of things that are important to my inner self and they provide me with a lot of joy and inspiration. They are also not permanent. I know by now that I’ll be thinking different things in a few years because I’ll have new information and new ideas. I have realized that this process will continue on for the rest of my life. And I’ve come to really like it.
Richard I really like this post…especially this –
“Unfortunately religion is treated like a concrete reality by many people and historically been the source of a lot of violence to nations and to individuals.”
I was just talking about this with someone today @richard. we were having lunch and he asked me what he should do with his spiritual experiences since his beliefs have changed. i said don’t do anything with them. i hold them loosely. they are a part of a process. i said our experiences, like our ideas, are all provisional.
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