Raised weak Protestant, converted to committed Orthodoxy, then after studying and praying I realised that this god not only cannot respond but is a work of fiction, the compilation of centuries of mythology. Did you know YHWH wasn't even a Canaanite deity? The Israelites borrowed him from outside and attributed qualities to him from their own gods, even giving him a name of one, "El".
The story of the flood is Mesopotamian and appears in various ancient cuneiform texts, including the quite brilliant Epic of Gilgamesh. The background story of Moses, being hidden in a basket in reeds, was stolen (without credit) from Sargon of Akkad, 1,000 years before the events of Moses even supposedly happened (which there is no archaeological evidence for). There is no way the Israelites got lost in the desert for forty years. You can walk from Egypt to Israel in three days. The number forty is actually symbolic of change in Judaic numerology. If the already nomadic Israelites did any soul searching, it was not nearly that long. Certainly not a story to take at face value.
No, I base my beliefs on my own experiences. I am a sceptical animist. I believe in animism but I don't say it is 100% truth I accept it may not be the case but it best reflects my own experiences, it certainly is better than theism handed down and distant, wrapped in stories.
I have nothing against mythology, it's a fascinating subject I love to read about. But let's not pretend these stories are anything but an attempt to explain or justify the unexplainable and unjustifiable.
What religion are you?
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Raised weak Protestant, converted to committed Orthodoxy, then after studying and praying I realised that this god not only cannot respond but is a work of fiction, the compilation of centuries of mythology. Did you know YHWH wasn't even a Canaanite deity? The Israelites borrowed him from outside and attributed qualities to him from their own gods, even giving him a name of one, "El".
The story of the flood is Mesopotamian and appears in various ancient cuneiform texts, including the quite brilliant Epic of Gilgamesh. The background story of Moses, being hidden in a basket in reeds, was stolen (without credit) from Sargon of Akkad, 1,000 years before the events of Moses even supposedly happened (which there is no archaeological evidence for). There is no way the Israelites got lost in the desert for forty years. You can walk from Egypt to Israel in three days. The number forty is actually symbolic of change in Judaic numerology. If the already nomadic Israelites did any soul searching, it was not nearly that long. Certainly not a story to take at face value.
No, I base my beliefs on my own experiences. I am a sceptical animist. I believe in animism but I don't say it is 100% truth I accept it may not be the case but it best reflects my own experiences, it certainly is better than theism handed down and distant, wrapped in stories.
I have nothing against mythology, it's a fascinating subject I love to read about. But let's not pretend these stories are anything but an attempt to explain or justify the unexplainable and unjustifiable.