Religion, Science, Mythology and Progress

What do you think of atheism?  Many people who turn away from religion preach this idea that we do not need a god.  If we understand the world and grasp our power of intelligence and reasoning we can establish fair societies and a moral code for everyone on this earth.  Traditions and religions will just define our ancestry and our past.  Basically there could be a Jewish atheist or a Muslim atheist.  I find this idea is worth exploring.

In my wondering thoughts about religion and science I found the book "God is not Great. How Religion Poisons Everything." by Christopher Hitchens. 

He was a journalist that spent most of his time talking to people in war zones trying to explore the possibilities to negotiate peace.  In this book he preaches atheism by bringing much evidence that all scripture is based on mythology.  Hitchens explores all different religions and stresses the element of mythology in all of them.  Not only in the monotheistic religions, but also in Eastern religions and various cult worships.  He goes so far as tracing customs like circumcision Virgin births and sacrificing children to gods to old mythologies of early men.

 He believes in the power of the telescope and the microscope and he uses scientific findings of the past 500 years to show that we can strive to life without wars. But people would have to be able to think freely and critically.

 

          If you think mythologies belong to the past just check the excitement in the reception for the new Star Wars movie trailer.  Some internet websites crashed!  I heard from many young people that this creation of George Lucas is a modern day mythology.  My son had to enlighten me that this story was absolutely meant to be told as a mythology.  The heroes, their struggles and triumphs, the super natural effects and most importantly the sequels!  There is immense anticipation to the fate of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia and the others…

What is the importance of myths in human life?  I do not have an answer. 

I do not believe that religions are all bad.  I can see that the rituals and traditions of religion are essential for many people.  If we want to strive to a new world without wars, I think it is essential to have an interfaith dialogue.  I have already spoken of the church purchased by Muslims and turned into a community center.  Young people need places to meet socially and engage with others.  These meeting places should have clubs with activities such as chess, literature, poetry, dancing, science, astronomy, hiking or fishing.  There are so many common areas of interest for youth.  This is the best way to bring people together and use their collective intelligence.

In the conclusion to his book Hitchens talks about the need for a new Enlightenment.  I agree with his vision:

This new Enlightenment will not need to depend, like its predecessors, on the heroic breakthroughs of a few gifted and exceptionally courageous people.  It is within the compass of the average person. The pursuit of unfettered scientific inquiry, and the availability of new findings to masses of people by easy electronic means, will revolutionize our concepts of research and development.  Much of this new research, for the first time in our history, is within the reach if not the grasp of everyone.

However, only the most naïve utopian can believe that this new humane civilization will develop, like some dream of “progress,” in a straight line.  There are bound to be struggles and setbacks along the way. 

I know this from my various biological studies.  It is a daily search for the truth.  The scientist starts with ten ideas but after five years of work only one of them will be correct.

I believe this progress will be more linear if more and more children around the world will be educated and trained to think freely and pursue knowledge.

The Death of Leonard Nemoy

Balance of cerebral vs imaginative

Star trek’s Mr. Spock, a human/Vulcan hybrid, featured in the imagination of every American since the sixties.  The death of the star Leonard Nemoy was all over the news: Radio, TV and internet.  This was all clear to me after living in LA for over forty years. 

This morning I listened to my favorite Israeli radio program: “World Sabbath” a weekly review of the world’s newspapers and magazines.  Dr. Yitzhak Noy is knowledgeable and informative.  I always like the analysis in his reporting.  He mentioned that Leonard Nemoy’s death was in the headlines of every European newspaper.  He didn't get it.  Why is it so important?  He had nothing to say.

I have heard many people who consider themselves intellectuals claim that TV is a waste land.  I am often referred to as “too cerebral.”  But in my ongoing search for a balance in life I try to understand what made the Star Trek story so popular for all these decades.  Seventy nine episodes just in the original series all are still popular on Netflix!  Followed by books and movies and a whole culture.

I am amazed by the imagination of humans.  We can reach out into the stars and make up stories of creatures and languages and travels into distant stars.  We are surrounded by negative news all over, wars and killings in one part of the world, economic struggles, rich and poor, conservative and liberal.  It is so simple to just let your mind leave the real world and make up a world where you feel happy and safe.  Nobody can take that away from us.  Our creativity imagination resourcefulness will always be with us.

I have never been too imaginative, but a ten year old child Mona came into my life.  She is giving me a most valuable lesson about the power of imagination.  She loves animals and knows more about them than anyone I know.  She comes over to dinner with drawings of wings taped on her hands along with a beak and a tail.  She is a bird.  Or she is a dog jumping up and down on hands and feet for a whole evening. 

I was fortunate to have Mona’s company for 3 days, driving to Malibu and celebrating New Year with a group of friends, international folk dancers.  This yearly tradition is now including a group of grandkids who come from other states to spend the New Year party with their grandparents.  I knew that Mona would love to hang around with the other kids.  On the drive up P.C.H. we talked about Mona’s wish to fly like a bird.  It is an all-encompassing wish that never leaves her.  I suggested that maybe she could think about being a bird in her next life.  She was very surprised and incredulous: Is it possible?  I told her that many people believe you have a few lives, and your soul goes from one body to another.  No body really knows if this is possible.  But nothing can stop her from imagining it.  So we agreed to run with our imagination and think about what kind of bird she is going to be.  Mona thought a bit and decided she would like to be a rain forest parrot.  She knew these birds live the longest lives: 85 years!  They are smart and they can talk.  It was settled.  We arrived in camp and anyone who asked how was our drive we told them about Mona’s next life.

Mona had a wonderful time with the kids outside running up and down the hills and playing in the grass.  At the same time the grandparents were singing and dancing in the dining hall.  Suddenly the kids and Mona are coming in with a shoe box holding a dead bird.  Mona walked around with a sad face and showed the dead bird to everyone.  The kids announced that they are going to bury the bird later at sunset.  Sometime later one of the kids riding a bike comes across a dead monarch butterfly.  He calls up to Mona, they pick the butterfly and place it next to the bird.  The burial ceremony was very moving with a 15 y old reading a eulogy.

The next morning we stood under a tall tree watching the hundreds of butterflies hanging on around the leaves, slowly waking up and flying away on their yearly migration to Mexico.  It was an amazing sight.

On our drive home Mona asked me what would I like to be in my next life.  I told her I would like to be a Monarch butterfly because it is so beautiful.  She said but it leaves such a short life.  I said but that means I could be so many other things at the same time that she has just one life as a rain forest parrot.  She considered this and then asked: “Do you think we could be butterflies at the same time?”  This was such a stretch, but my immediate reaction was of course!  It seemed almost inevitable.  For all I know we could have known each other in many of our past lives.

The human imagination has no boundaries.  We can observe it in art and culture, movies books and music.  It is instrument of our inventiveness. Without imagination there would be no scientific discoveries or technological tools that make our lives different and easier than any time in the past.    

The bird and the butterfly