Quote:
Originally posted by tecoyah
Religion, in my opinion, is the failure of humanity to understand what "God" really is. One would think that a true understanding of the meaning of God , which I do not have, would remove any need to require the support, or approval of others.
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I would disagree with this on the most fundamental level. While, it seems, we would agree on the "essence" of God, I think that God is found in the relationships between living things, and especially the meaningful relationships between human beings. Going by the belief that God - whatever it's taken to mean - is better than what we are now, I can't see how God can be seen as that which makes us not need others. That's like saying a single person who is in a state of contentment while being single is a superior person to someone who has a deep connection with another and is not as fundamentally happy without that other person. Moreover, it goes further to imply that the person who is happy while isolated is superior to the person who needs human contact.
Now, I'm not in the business of saying one thing is superior over another, but what I do know is that human relationships are, at very least, neutral, and IMO fundamentally a good thing.
If you look at science fiction, advanced races are frequently shown to be ones that seemingly have a unified consciousness and a deep concern for the well being of one another and the society as a whole. I'd venture to say this is an innate understanding within us, that the "higher level" of being we seek to attain is one which relies on our relationships with others and has deeper, more profound relationships to one another than anything we feel now.