(May 17, 2013 at 8:06 am)MysticKnight Wrote: But for someone who doesn't know about religions, why should he go research them, as oppose to gaining knowledge in economics, political structure, policies, how money is spent, organization, human rights, law, etc...things that can make him an informed voice on how society should be runned?
That depends on what he wants. The Bible can provide some moments of teary-eyed laughter, sleep-inducing boredom, and spine-chilling horror. It's like a lot of ancient books; full of mythological creatures and the adventures and misadventures of individuals or nations who are trying to navigate a cosmic pinball machine being played by a particularly nasty wizard.
If J. K. Rowling had lived in 600 BC, she'd have written the Bible. And probably been forced to give credit to a man in order to get it published, but them's the breaks.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
-Stephen Jay Gould
