(December 28, 2016 at 9:57 pm)Brakeman Wrote: Min,
When the stars in the sky start falling to earth and you have to hide in your basement to not get hit in the head by one of them, then you'll know that the Xtians are right!
`I know you were joking. But most humans worldwide don't understand that motifs like beating evil, life after death, the explanations of why good and bad happen, why anything happen are not magic.
"Shooting star" or 'falling star" was a quite common falsehood worldwide in all religions and different languages. Humans didn't understand it was not a star but a meteor burning up on impact with our atmosphere. Humans worldwide independently came up with the same motif of constellations but with adapted the shapes of their icons and deities reflecting each society's beliefs.
Heaven was probably mistaken with breath rising or any form of vapor of smoke rising in a quiet night time sky, much like a baby will rise off the ground and learn to take advantage of the resources around them as taught by their parents. Calm and plenty were associated with reward.
Hell, or punishment was called many things in antiquity, underworld, probably associated with falling, when one dies and not getting back up. It was simply an ignorant way of explaining bad and punishment.
I have sampled the world's major religions, in passing, through reading but mostly debate in writing and verbal, over my 16 years on line, and when you compare enough of them over time, the ideas are always the same. Good vs evil, I am special, I am entitled, I am good, and my tribe comes first. Western liberals have learned to shelf the "my tribe comes first" in theism far better than the more closed societies and conservative sects of the world.
