If you look in any history book you will see that civilization is a hazy word. Everyone has their own take on it. Religion is the same way. Science is a religion to me because no one can give a definite definition of religion. I put mine out there just like the rest of us on this forum thread. I see it as each religion needs a certain number of people just as each civilization needs a certain number of people. I say civilization is a hazy word, because I don't know if the whole world is a part of one big civilization or if all these third world countries have/had their own civilization. The same applies for religion. The many sects of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all believe in the same God, but the different interpretaions have divided into sects. I don't know if all religions,or at least the founders of those religions worship the same God. Siddhartha Gautama, the "first" Buddha, didn't teach people to worship him, but they worship him now that he's dead. Besides he should have never been reborn if he reached nirvana the first time. Who's to say he didn't believe in the same God as the Jews, he just didn't recognize him in the same way. Maybe God didn't physically speak out of heaven to Him like he didn't boom out of heaven to me. A lot of what he said coincides with what Jesus did, and they were alive in completely distant time periods.
As far as religion being a fear factory....ha,ha,ha. Who isn't scared when death greets them in their face? The whole world is a "fear factory." I love that band by the way. And yes, I know they are anti-Jesus. If you want to call religion a fear factory, you might as well call the news a religion, lol. I get what people are saying about religion spreading fear, but every one is afraid when they think they are going to die. It's human nature. Just because someone is religious doesn't make them fearless robots. Religion is comfort, and it is comfortable to feel like you are fearless. If you have religion then you aren't afraid of where you go when you die. It's not death that I fear, it is how I die. I don't want to suffer as I die or after I die. No one does. That's how religion can be a good thing.
I see atheism as a religion. Maybe the dictionary needs to be updated. If a true belief has no doubts, then anything that someone truly believes is a part of or can be tied to their religion.
As far as Jupiter is concerned, I can honestly say that I look at paradoxes as an infinite loop of truth. Definition of Paradox I found online- 1. a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. The way I look at it Jupiter was there before we saw it, but the interpretation of it being a god wasn't there until we arrived. The tree was there before we saw it, but it wasn't worshiped until we came and worshiped it. God was there before we worshiped Him, but He wasn't worshiped by us until we arrived to worship Him. This is what I call common sense, but since people don't believe in God they will agree with everything except the part about God being there before we worshiped Him. I find that ironic.
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