(November 23, 2015 at 3:47 am)Nestor Wrote:(November 23, 2015 at 12:26 am)bennyboy Wrote: And this is the problem which Christianity, as well as with Pascal's wager. With a global world full of so many ideas, it's not a matter of evidence for God or not-- it's a matter of the weight of evidence of dozens of major religions, thousands of minor sects, major philosophical positions etc.-- all of whom have members providing "testimony."Although I think there's a case to be made that when you set aside the particulars of mass religion, and look at how the notion of deity has been rationalized or mystically apprehended, there's a universal idea or feeling that extends beyond time and place and of which all of them can be said to more or less agree upon.
Maybe, but the thing is that most of the members of those institutions probably wouldn't see it that way. I definitely think there are certain core experiences which are called (and are felt to be) "spiritual," qualitatively if not in substance. I'd also say that the mystical traditions of most religions are similar (and bordering on scientific in a strange way)-- because they are capable of categorizing and repeating those experiences through certain ways of thinking, eating, etc.
I have valued religion as a way to have deep experiences. However, when you flip it around and use your deep experiences as evidence for a particular mythology, it's an instant fail.
