So what do you think of his point? Please note the particular part I italicized below.
Old texts are a valued part of the history of humankind Saturday, June 06, 2009 By Donald F. Megnin, Contributing writer
While it is possible for persons to assume too much about what they believe because they think such a belief system will enable them to qualify for whatever comes after this earthly existence, I believe human existence is the same as for any other species.
We are born, grow, are taught, become self-sustaining individuals, have our own progeny and then die in the continuous cycle of life, growth, contribution, old age and death. Whatever we have been "taught" about religion and the next stage "following death" is pure projection of desire unsubstantiated by evidence.
Most of the world's population has been "taught" to believe in some first cause, deity, higher power or "God." The names are various depending upon which religious tradition a person has been born into.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, we have been taught to believe a series of stories contained in the Old and New Testaments about the earliest periods of the history of the Semitic peoples as if these times were sacred, inspired by deity and therefore, not to be questioned or considered as anything other than the "truth."From my perspective, however, these ancient stories were written by persons who believed themselves to have been "appointed" by deity to set forth the way people of that era were supposed to live, behave and continue to thrive in the face of the hostility, threats, wars and various natural disasters which have occurred throughout the history.
The early books of the Bible were written by men with a message which they wished to impart to their fellow tribal members about what is real, what they should do with their lives and how they should behave toward their neighbors and enemies. Hence, we need to keep in mind that these "authors" were talking to people who were not educated, had no knowledge of distinguishing fact from fiction, and had no access to any education which might cause them to question what their religious and political leaders were saying, writing or requiring them to do.
The tribal, political and religious leaders of those days sought to place themselves in positions of authority from which they could continue to gain merit and status through the accumulation of wealth and power. The manuscripts, books and religious claims were used as tools to keep the "authorities" in positions of power and while continuing their domination over benighted, illiterate followers.
We can, indeed, say that some of the old texts were and are highly valued as part of the collective history of humankind, which has helped to elevate and raise the standards of human behavior. However, the claims which exceed the test of confirmation through the study of proven evidence must be regarded as "truth claims" rather than as substantiated facts.
So, what do I believe? I believe the world is continuing to evolve. We have no idea what its ultimate fate will be, nor do we know our own. We should not be puzzling these questions if we cannot substantiate them through evidence. Conjecture is not certainty, and "truth claims" should not be accepted as fact.
We can only recognize patterns of desired behavior in the actual lives which have been and are being lived as demonstrations of how we should pattern our own lives and behavior. In the words which go beyond the claims of those ancient writers, we should "love mercy, do justice and live humbly," patterning our lives after the highest examples of human beings which history has laid before us.
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