Danes feel Obama is greater than Jesus

[--Pete]

Hi,

My interest is in the human experience, and the universal pursuit of truth and purity. I believe, for example, that focus on existence or non-existence of a deity is secondary to broader truths of how we interrelate with other people, other creatures, and the world. Unless a deity suddenly appears and solves world hunger, then I really think worrying about whether or not there is one is irrelevant. There is one, or there is not one. Atheist, or theist, Catholic, Islamic, Jewish, Protestant is irrelevant and a distraction from resolving real world issues.

I completely agree with you. The questions of the existence of god and the usefulness of religions are almost completely unrelated. The one place they come together is the source of the taboos and traditions. However, this is an important point, for if the strictures come from god, then they are immutable, but if they come from man, then man can change them at will. And if man is punished by the adherents to god for attempting to change what really came from man in the first place, then *that* is original sin and it is the fundamental sin of religion.

However, even the Bible, Torah, Koran, Tao Te Ching, the Vedas or etc. offer ideas, concepts, knowledge, and wisdom that a seeker of truth might sift through for just a glimmer of insight. Humans are just as smart, or stupid as they were 10,000 years ago although less ignorant about how some of the observable world works. But, we seem to be just as ignorant as we've always been on how to care for each other, or live together without violence, selfishness, meanness, and the rest of our worst traits.

Yes, there are pearls of wisdom in most religious writings. There are pearls of wisdom in secular writings, too. With the secular, you can accept the pearls without commitment and only lunatics will stone you. With the religious, you risk your life if don't buy it all. Perhaps religion is just "social clubs in drab disguise", but the assertion that god is on our side gives us license, indeed a mandate, to destroy the infidel. And there are pearls in the lyrics of Dylan's songs -- but he threatens no damnation if I do not heed them.

--Pete