Week 4

Reading about Islam and Christianity (religion in all) sometimes really baffles me. The vast network of Islam greatly benefited the inhabited countries of India, Arabia, Africa, Spain, etc. who used their faith to exchange goods, technologies, education and ideas. They were able to produce laws to regulate governing bodies, social law, and proper human conduct. High culture such as astronomy, medicine, education, and arts were both byproducts of the combined religious efforts of Christians, Muslim, and Jewish people. What baffles me, is where is the division between God, Allah, Yahweh and human  conciousness? Many profits have the same vision, they go into isolation and have an epiphany. Many people who have come across my life who have mental health issues such as Bipolar Disorder or Schizophrenia also have visions and and moments of clarity. I'm not saying that Muhammad, Abraham, or Jesus were mentally ill, just that it doesn't seem that uncommon for people to have such vision. What is interesting is how these particular people were able to convince vast numbers of people to believe and spread such a vision. Religious leaders sometimes remind me of political figure heads. They see a problem and then try to fix it through petitions, legislation policies, and sometimes war. Humm any similarities? Why is it that these people believe in the first place? Why do they need to believe in a supreme being...can't they just say, "Hey, I'm Jesus and I think we should all be good people and this is why."

An article in American Psychologist, vol 46(2), Feb 1991, 107-119 named "How mental systems believe," struck a cord with me. The author, Daniel Gilbert poses the question, "is there a difference between believing and merely understanding an idea?' He relates that mental and physical representations of objects are similar. "People believe in the ideas they comprehend, as quickly and automatically as they believe in the objects they see." Maybe this answers my question. In order to believe their vision, they must link it to a object. Even if that object is invisible or real. It transcends power. Yet, I'll never know exactly why "Man" interferes with these visions that start out mostly positive and turns them in to Holy Wars against their own people.

I guess I'm just a hippy in disguise :-)