I probably wouldn't typically bring this topic up on my own just because it's not something I generally think much about. I am solid in my views and quite frankly don't see the other side as a valid option. Recently Bill Nye (Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill Nye the Science Guy) and creationist Ken Ham had a debate, which I watched on youtube, about creationism versus evolution. Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_04S0fYU7FI
And (big surprise), I have some pretty strong feelings about it. I should probably preface this by telling you I don't believe in any religion. I don't want to attack anyone's beliefs, but I personally do not see any use to put my belief in something that cannot be proven just to make myself feel better about life's unanswered questions. I understand why people believe in religion. What it gives them. I'd just rather accept the life I have and find strength in myself. I've seen enough bad things happen to not believe anyone is watching over me.
Now most of what I know about the bible comes from Supernatural and a Sociology of Religion class I took in college. I'm no expert. But what I know of the bible, does not come across to me as realistic. From what we know of life, these things can't happen. You can't be resurrected from the dead. A virgin cannot become pregnant and birth a child. You can't build a woman out of a man's rib. I'm the first one to say things don't always have to make sense. But there is a difference between things not having answers and things having magical, superhuman explanations.
I don't understand science as much as I'd like to (I want to learn how to time-travel Quinn Mallory style, but physics is NOT my strong suit) But science offers so much more realistic explanations to me than taking the bible as truth. Having faith in your religion doesn't mean you have to be blind to the facts. You can't refute proof that is right in front of you, but I guess some people can.
As I mentioned in a post a couple days ago, science tells us the earth is 4.5 billion years. According to the bible (and Ken Ham), the earth is only 6,000 years old. Ancient trees, fossils, and ice layers also show the earth being older than 6,000 years. These are scientific examples! HOW is that a valid opinion when all the proof we have points to the fact the earth is much, MUCH older? I don't logically understand how somebody can believe that.
Ken Ham pretty much said, if you're a christian and believe in the science that the world is older than the bible states, you are not a good christian. And although I'm not religious, that seems mega harsh. But then he said the bible and science go hand in hand. When asked if the entire bible should be taken literally, he copped out by saying we need to DEFINE the term "literally". Why is it ok to take SOME things as truth and some, as Bill Nye said, as "poetry"? You can't have it both ways. There is just no basis to these creationist claims to me.
Now to me, this really didn't turn out to be an issue of if we evolved from primates or if we were created by God. It became an issue of: is the bible realistic enough to believe? And it isn't. As far as it comes to how we got here, I don't know anything for sure. Like I have said in other posts, maybe we're not even here at all. We can't be sure. But if we are, there is really no sure way to know how. Through science, we can make the most realistic guess. I'm not positive I believe we evolved from primates. But I 100% do not believe we were created by God. I would more likely believe we just happened. Like the universe is just there, maybe we just appeared. But in my opinion, an all powerful being did not create us.
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Steph Reviews: Zeitgeist
I typically do not want to give spoilers in my reviews, but this one is going to be full of spoilers because I am PASSIONATE about this movie and topic. So if you haven't seen it and want to, I will warn you when the spoilers begin. Today's review is on. "Zeitgeist: The Movie" (2007).
But first, an overview. So I'm a sociology major and I have heard many people mention this documentary. I found it on Netflix the other day and decided I had to watch it. I typically like documentaries, especially ones that make you think, so this was right up my alley. The summary on Netflix says, "Peter Joseph's documentary explores controversial links between organized religion, global financial markets, and the international power structure." How I would explain it is a movie that exposes what you thought you knew about religion, government, and money.
*SPOILER TIME*
The movie was set up in three sections. The first section was about religion, the second about 9/11 and the government, and the third about money and the government.
1) RELIGION
*Just a forewarning, I am agnostic and do not believe in or prescribe to any religion. I am very educated about different religions and think everybody can believe whatever they want.
The main premise of this section was the Judeo-Christian religion is most closely resembled after the ancient Egyptian religion. In fact, in most regards it's flat out copied exactly. Many religions share the same formula. Such as a leader born on December 25th from a virgin death, being one of 12 or having 12 siblings/disciples/etc, dying, and being resurrected 3 days later. To break this apart further, they examined the stars, which is the basis of all religions.
Jesus, the son, of God, is actually representative of the SUN. Around December 25th, the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, is in line with the three stars of Orion's belt (the three kings) and the sun. So that's where the three kings following the bright star to the "son" comes from. Also around this time, the sun is the lowest it gets in the sky and stays that way for 3 days (death) before being resurrected (rising again). This results in longer days and it celebrating around Easter when the spring equinox starts the beginning of the growing season. Basically, it has so much to do with the stars. The number 12 is representative of the astrological calendar. We are in the age of Pisces, the fish, which is represented by Jesus (an age is something like 2051 years) When people fear the end of the world, they're really fearing the end of an AGE. The next age is the age of Aquarius, which will happen in 2150 ish)
2) 9/11 & GOVERNMENT
*Another forewarning, I do not want to come across as a conspiracy theorist or suggest our nation is behind these terrorist attacks. I am just going to share what this documentary presented.
It showed engineers and other qualified people showing demolitions and the structure of the world trade center and the way it fell wasn't natural. The towers were made to withstand plane attacks. The way it fell, it was as if there were explosives planted INSIDE the building as well. And the remaining metal beams were cut at a slant, just as they would have been if they were being demolished on purpose.
Also the pilot who flew into the pentagon was supposedly a horrible pilot according to students in his pilot class and the way the plane went in was very specific. Also the metal building was melted, yet the humans inside the plane were not damaged to the point of destroying their DNA evidence.
Overall, there appears to be more behind these attacks than we were told. Especially the fact that there were many warnings beforehand that weren't taken seriously.
3) MONEY & GOVERNMENT
This section was pretty mind boggling. The government doesn't control money. A private organization loans money to the government. So they control how much money we have and can totally mess with the economy. Money isn't backed by gold anymore, so they completely decide the value of it. Federal Income Tax was also created by these organizations. Meaning 3 months of yearly salaries for U.S. workers go to this tax, which is spent before it can be used to benefit the citizens. Furthermore, there isn't even a specific law requiring this tax. Americans just do it because they think they have to.
Wars produce tons of money, which is how the original millionaires and billionaires got so rich. America wanted to be involved in all wars, but wanted to make it seem like they didn't, so they had to make other countries make the first move so they could retaliate. Also they said the U.S. government doesn't want us to be educated so we don't question those in charge. U.S. student test scores are so below other countries, it's ridiculous. They use the media to bombard us and distract us from real problems.
*SPOILERS OVER*
So if you haven't watched it, definitely check it out. It's super interesting and definitely makes you think! I am not the best at describing these types of movies, so definitely judge it for yourself. There is a lot of information and you don't have to accept it as truth, but at least challenge your thoughts. We are taught these things and don't question them, but seeing a completely other side almost makes you feel like your life is a lie. And I would definitely like to see both sides and decide for myself instead of believing whatever I'm told.
But first, an overview. So I'm a sociology major and I have heard many people mention this documentary. I found it on Netflix the other day and decided I had to watch it. I typically like documentaries, especially ones that make you think, so this was right up my alley. The summary on Netflix says, "Peter Joseph's documentary explores controversial links between organized religion, global financial markets, and the international power structure." How I would explain it is a movie that exposes what you thought you knew about religion, government, and money.
*SPOILER TIME*
The movie was set up in three sections. The first section was about religion, the second about 9/11 and the government, and the third about money and the government.
1) RELIGION
*Just a forewarning, I am agnostic and do not believe in or prescribe to any religion. I am very educated about different religions and think everybody can believe whatever they want.
The main premise of this section was the Judeo-Christian religion is most closely resembled after the ancient Egyptian religion. In fact, in most regards it's flat out copied exactly. Many religions share the same formula. Such as a leader born on December 25th from a virgin death, being one of 12 or having 12 siblings/disciples/etc, dying, and being resurrected 3 days later. To break this apart further, they examined the stars, which is the basis of all religions.
Jesus, the son, of God, is actually representative of the SUN. Around December 25th, the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, is in line with the three stars of Orion's belt (the three kings) and the sun. So that's where the three kings following the bright star to the "son" comes from. Also around this time, the sun is the lowest it gets in the sky and stays that way for 3 days (death) before being resurrected (rising again). This results in longer days and it celebrating around Easter when the spring equinox starts the beginning of the growing season. Basically, it has so much to do with the stars. The number 12 is representative of the astrological calendar. We are in the age of Pisces, the fish, which is represented by Jesus (an age is something like 2051 years) When people fear the end of the world, they're really fearing the end of an AGE. The next age is the age of Aquarius, which will happen in 2150 ish)
2) 9/11 & GOVERNMENT
*Another forewarning, I do not want to come across as a conspiracy theorist or suggest our nation is behind these terrorist attacks. I am just going to share what this documentary presented.
It showed engineers and other qualified people showing demolitions and the structure of the world trade center and the way it fell wasn't natural. The towers were made to withstand plane attacks. The way it fell, it was as if there were explosives planted INSIDE the building as well. And the remaining metal beams were cut at a slant, just as they would have been if they were being demolished on purpose.
Also the pilot who flew into the pentagon was supposedly a horrible pilot according to students in his pilot class and the way the plane went in was very specific. Also the metal building was melted, yet the humans inside the plane were not damaged to the point of destroying their DNA evidence.
Overall, there appears to be more behind these attacks than we were told. Especially the fact that there were many warnings beforehand that weren't taken seriously.
3) MONEY & GOVERNMENT
This section was pretty mind boggling. The government doesn't control money. A private organization loans money to the government. So they control how much money we have and can totally mess with the economy. Money isn't backed by gold anymore, so they completely decide the value of it. Federal Income Tax was also created by these organizations. Meaning 3 months of yearly salaries for U.S. workers go to this tax, which is spent before it can be used to benefit the citizens. Furthermore, there isn't even a specific law requiring this tax. Americans just do it because they think they have to.
Wars produce tons of money, which is how the original millionaires and billionaires got so rich. America wanted to be involved in all wars, but wanted to make it seem like they didn't, so they had to make other countries make the first move so they could retaliate. Also they said the U.S. government doesn't want us to be educated so we don't question those in charge. U.S. student test scores are so below other countries, it's ridiculous. They use the media to bombard us and distract us from real problems.
*SPOILERS OVER*
So if you haven't watched it, definitely check it out. It's super interesting and definitely makes you think! I am not the best at describing these types of movies, so definitely judge it for yourself. There is a lot of information and you don't have to accept it as truth, but at least challenge your thoughts. We are taught these things and don't question them, but seeing a completely other side almost makes you feel like your life is a lie. And I would definitely like to see both sides and decide for myself instead of believing whatever I'm told.
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