Even as a child, raise to attend a main line Protestant church, I never bought into the Biblical stories. At a certain point I began to understand that the religions we are familiar with today are equivalent to the mythologies of the ancient world. Whether it's Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Norse, Hindu or whichever African, Asian, North American, Aztec, Peruvian, Polynesian, they each followed a mythology suited to their culture. In the 19th Century the rise of the Mormons and Jehovah's Witness movements sprung up, conjured out of thin air. The 20th Century brought Scientology and many others.
It's mythology, it's science fiction, it's fantasy, it's entertainment, but it's no more true than Star Wars or Harry Potter. In fact, I might predict a future culture which has deified Harry Potter himself. The mythology is already well documented.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I agree that religions are really nothing more than mythologies that impart the cultural norms and values of the time. They give humans a reason to find things larger than themselves to believe in when they can't simply believe in themselves and humanity. Some religions, like what you mentioned, Scientology and Mormonism, were created by hucksters to both immortalize themselves and to build wealth and power while they lived. I cannot believe sometimes how many people really buy into the religious right, Christianity, and yet disparage most all other religions, and these days, even Christianity has been perverted into a hate-mongering, divisive thing. The very last thing religion is supposed to be.
vjwood
Level 3
Dec 12, 2017
1
Interesting you should raise these points, especially mentioning Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer who wanted to create a religion that would endure when he was dead, which he did. His stories, though sometimes not bad, were never in a league with the best writers and would not have sustained his memory, but his religion does. It's a similar story with the Mormons, who were roped in by a charlatan and huckster who now lives on, in a sense, in the religion he created. Logic and veracity be damned, huh?
tioteo
Level 8
Dec 12, 2017
2
I loved all the books of Harry Potter and own them and all the movies.
Sarahroo29
Level 8
Dec 12, 2017
0
True but mythology isn’t just entertainment. In its legitimate forms it conveys behavioral values.
skado
Level 9
Dec 12, 2017
2
Entertainment takes many forms, from NFL and NASCAR to art and theatre, circus to Circ de Soliel. Some might find High Mass entertaining, others like Duck Dynasty on cable TV.
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