I'm sorry, but I don't buy into that 'wisdom of the ancients' stuff. The ancients didn't know what the fuck they were talking about a lot of the time and believed all kinds of hilarious and brutally disgusting things. An idea should not be afforded validation simply because it's old. And religion doesn't have the answers, full stop. It has some of the answers that people want it to have, hence the diversity of religions providing every answer under the sun. People give religion meaning; it has none on its own, and we're simply conditioned as a society to say that it does.
Hello Fading,
I agree with you to an extent. I am not trying to suggest that the ancients were beings incapable of committing, speaking and acting evil, but I do believe that there are elements of their belief systems (for me, the abrahamic traditions) which suggest that their knowledge and understanding of the metaphysical may very well be greater than ours. The Islamic belief, for instance, claims that Allah created the world and then created Man. It would serve to reason, therefore, that those closest to the first generations of man would be closer to truth surrounding our origins of life.
Well no, not really. Start off with human sacrifice, work your way through the hundreds of wars fought over gods, and end up with some airplanes crashing into skyscrapers. Then keep on going until the end of time - that's how well it's working for people.
I think people of too often mistake conflict as being religiously motivated where more often than not, religion isn't the driving force. Current "religious wars" being fought accross the world are more land, pride and nationalism orientated. Yes, a religious guise is taken by the protaganists - but I defy anyone who says the conflicts in Palestine and Iraq are fuelled by religion and not by land and pride respectivley.
I would say that religion worked a lot better for people when they didn't know how the solar system worked, or what bacteria were, or anything else about the natural world. The more we learn, the less use people seem to have for religion. And even if it did 'work well' as a tool for societal order used by chiefs and kings since the dawn of time - that still doesn't mean that it serves any purpose beyond each individual's desire to believe in a skyman or woman.
Religion worked well not in its societal or political function, but in its spiritual one.
Also, I don't get into the 'vast majority' answer either. I know you said your questions were genuine and I believe you, but you're going word-for-word through the 'Missionary / Dawahganda' instruction manual on talking to heathens and doubters here.
I am yet to read a dawah instruction manual. Honest.
Topic: The Fitrah.