- Dec 22, 2017
- 137
- 12
- 70
- Country
- Germany
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Divorced
I invite you to discuss the main theses of an interview with an outstanding American journalist and writer Dan Brown. No emotions, only the arguments "for" or "against", please.
DAN BROWN:
"Look at the story: no god has survived the development of science. In ancient times we had a whole pantheon of gods needed to explain everything we did not understand, from tides to sunrise. Over time, science intervened, and it became clear that the tides had nothing to do with Poseidon, and lightning had nothing to do with Thor. And these gods began to disappear. My novel raises the question of whether we truly believe that today's gods will survive and retain their power over people in a hundred years, five hundred years, a thousand years".
"I believe that in a couple of decades we will be closely connected with each other at that mental and spiritual level, which is not yet possible for us, and our personal experience will expand not through spiritual practices, but through these deep internal connections with each other.
This is my personal conviction, due to conversations with serious scientists and the study of theological works. Over the next decades, our biological species will receive a kind of global consciousness, which will become our divine. I think that our need for the external God who sits in the heavens and judges us, to whom we ask questions, which we ask for help, - the need for this God will decrease and eventually disappear".
"... terrorism has nothing to do with religion. I am convinced of this. The feelings of believers are always covered by incitement to political violence. I think that the sources of terrorism must be sought in political injustice, inequality.
Religious beliefs in this case are simply used as an excuse, because genuine faith only inspires people. Today we associate international terrorism exclusively with Muslims and Islam, but if we look at the situation more closely, it can be seen that many different religions and philosophical ideas are put there. In my own country, strange things are happening all the time, forcing to recall the trials of witches and the holy Inquisition. Religion has always been used to incite violence, which, it seems to me, is always politically motivated."
"... Of the nine billion people on the planet, there are about a billion atheists who, by the way, feel great. And that's what I think: religion serves its purpose, and it does a lot of good. But the world has changed, so that faith has ceased to be a necessary condition for a harmonious existence.
Of course, God gives people moral guidelines, and this is an effective support system. It is very difficult for people to accept the idea of randomness of chaos, it is hard for them to experience undeserved setbacks, tragedies. When something bad happens, it is easier to accept this with the words "this is His will," "this is God's plan." It gives us strength, even if it's not true.
But it seems to me personally that in the life of accidents it is always a little more than it seems. And if a tree fell on your car - this is not God's business, it's just an accident. I do not know if I answered the question.
Let me dwell on the fact that atheists and believers should get along. And for this two things must happen. Atheists must recognize that in the world there is a huge amount of good that is committed by people from religious beliefs. And believers have to admit that they have no exclusive right to morality and that people who do not believe in God can also be good people who can be kind people, able to compassion and help others...