(June 19, 2009 at 8:55 pm)LEDO Wrote: I don't like Hitchens very much. He is too bitter. I do recommend his book, "The Portable Atheist" which has very little of Hitchens in it.
I do not see the Freud/Joseph Campbell aspect of religion as a product of our mind. I would contend religion started out as a pre-scientific way to explain the heavens. Man observed that the stars would be in the same place every year when it was time to plant, harvest etc. The thinking was that the stars (moon, sun etc.) controlled events on the earth. This incorrect hypothesis evolved into a complex astro-religion which combined with philosophy gave us today's beliefs. In fact we still use the stars to designate religious holidays which resemble our ancient (and even modern) view of the constellations. (I feel a plug for my book coming on.)
I'd always wondered where the whole astrology-life-control thing came from.
Thanks for the info.
