"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone." Charles Darwin, The Origin Of Species, 1869I agree with Darwin. There aren't any good reasons. Spirituality is a wonderful thing.
Like many wonderful things, such as Key Lime pie, people manage to muck up perfectly simple concepts. (It's not green, people. And the right topping is whipped cream, not meringue! Find some other use for those egg whites.)
There is considerable science behind the idea that we have parts of our brains designed for spiritual experience.
"Are we 'hardwired' for god?":The term 'hardwired' suggests that we were purposefully designed that way. Neuroscience can't answer that question. However what it can say is that the brain does seem to predisposed towards a belief in spiritual and religious matters. The big mystery is how and why this came about.
The beauty of it all is the great range of experience which can trip our spirituality switches. Buddhists get it from their rituals, Catholics get it from theirs, and anyone can get it from a sunset. We get it from art, nature, and even intellectual insight; anything that brightens and and links different parts of our brain as we contemplate things divine in shape or concept.
It's what makes us human. Whether we call it God, or a Higher Power, or my personal favorite, the Life Force, it must be celebrated, and enjoyed, in every sense.
Don't take my word for it. Listen to the words of a Great Teacher:
Matthew, 22:36-40 (KJV)
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"
Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
This is the first and great commandment.
A second likewise is this,'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
Love IS the whole of the law. And the rest, as they say, is commentary.
sometimes, it is the commentary that we are interested in. it is there that the details are explained. why did it take 4000 years before messiah could come, and why did we need one? why has it been 2000 more years and no second coming? what is the knowledge of good and evil? no chruch talk, give me simplified answers.
ReplyDeleteJesus never promised a second coming. He promised a return - and it started with Mary Magdalene.
ReplyDeletePaul preached a second coming before Paul's death would take place. He died. You get that one wrong, you probably got lots of stuff wrong.
Jesus said just before his death, "In my Father's mansion there are many rooms. I now go and prepare one for you (Christians)." If the are doors on these rooms (metaphorically), it sounds like one big party. And we Christians just might be in the minority since we are only going to need one room in a mansion with lots of rooms.
You better believe I am a Christian radical!