What individuals
subjectively identify as 'phenomena' can intrigue, excite, perplex, distract
and often drastically change the way an individual thinks and sees the world
around them.
The type of
phenomena we are talking about would be considered anything that is well beyond
the norm. This could involve anything that we consider to be magic, a miracle,
alien life forms, spirits or any other mysterious force. In other words it
involves entities or occurrences that are either rarely believed, or are at the
very least hard to prove.
The issue is
that, although many individuals today are interested in rationality and a need
to prove new or contentious ideas with rigorous investigation and testing, many
people can be convinced by things that merely sway them emotionally.
The idea that
something that isn't real or at least in need of further rigorous study, can
drastically change the beliefs and behavior of individuals may seem to be less
common in our modern age. We may at first believe that it is relegated to the
few - those isolated individuals unable to cope with reality. The truth is many
individuals will have particular internal 'issues' of one kind or another that
leaves them susceptible to being swayed by certain types of phenomena.
With
increased knowledge and easier access to this knowledge it may be surprising
that we are still susceptible to phenomena over logic. It is easier for us
modern and supposedly more sophisticated humans to believe that people from the
ancient world would be far more susceptible to all sorts of phenomena. They had
less knowledge and experience, and therefore so much of their world was
mysterious, if not frightening in many regards.
If we take
the 'popularization' of Christianity (currently Catholicism), due to the
conversion of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD, we can see the power
that phenomena can have over 'uneducated' minds. Emperor Constantine witnessed
a blazing light in the sky, which some modern academics have attributed to a
crashing meteorite, which encouraged his conversion to Christianity.
To us a
crashing meteorite may be somewhat exciting and an interesting phenomena to say
the least. Most of us though would not attribute it to the work of magic or the
mysterious, unless we were ignorant of its actual origins. This is of course the
problem faced by Emperor Constantine, who ultimately saw it as a sign from God,
rather than understanding its physical origins.
The
undiscerning belief in phenomena was a common way for European pagans to
convert to Christianity in the first millennia. The idea of Christian miracles,
such as physical resurrection and the power of healing, amongst others, were
impressive sounding enough to convert thousands without evidence. This is a
slight simplification but the phenomena behind Christianity rather than the actual
teachings and philosophies were a large part of the reason for these
conversions. There is a lot a historical and academic literature that goes into
far more detail about this, if you are not familiar with this idea.
The conversion
of people to any religion with stories of phenomena - often in the guise of a
miracle performing prophet - will be based upon emotion. You may say that it
would be logical to follow a religion where the representing prophet could
perform the most profound miracles. This would surely mean that 'their God' is
the most powerful, if not only God. If these miracles were actually true and
were witnessed and completely understood as miracles, rather than trickery,
then this may make sense.
The problem
is that these miracles are believed on mere hearsay with no logical or rigorous
contemplation. They are believed upon an emotional reaction, which is not only
based upon the size and sensational nature of these apparent miracles, but also
due to a desire for these miracles to be true.
In our age
many individuals know the apparent scientific or rational explanation for why
something occurs, but their need for it to be something more than that can make
them see certain occurrences as extraordinary phenomena.
A falling meteorite,
even though we may know the rational explanation for its occurrence, can become
something more whether it is or not. Inevitably these 'signs', interpreted
emotionally, will mean whatever the individual wants them to mean.
This will
either come from the individual's desire or their fear. A crashing meteorite
could mean something positive or negative depending on how the individual
chooses to interpret it. A 'God-fearing' person may believe that God is unhappy
with how they are carrying on with their life and a dramatic change is needed.
A spiritual person with no religious affiliation my chose to see it as a sign that
they will come into good fortune, as the meteorite has not hit them.
Either way,
emotion rather than deep contemplation or investigation, are likely to have
lead to these ways of thinking. Where natural phenomena become signs or
miracles that conveniently satisfy the individual's emotional needs.
Why is it
important for these supposed signs or miracles to be true you may ask? They are
an obvious sign of something greater than ourselves. This could be the desire
for a personal God or guardian angels to protect and look after us. It could be
the desire for an advanced group of aliens to take us away - to rescue us from
this planet full of pain and disappointment (from the subjective eyes of those
wanting to be rescued).
If we can't
empower ourselves sufficiently, or feel vulnerable and alone in this world,
then it would only be natural to desire something that can take care of us when
we feel this way.
As we are
rather emotional beings this inevitably takes the form of a being or beings
that are not only superior and more powerful than us. They are also able to give
us emotional satisfaction, while often also having an emotional or sentimental
attachment to us - much like a parental figure. It may be no coincidence that
individuals imagine God as an older man, strong and protecting of his children
(true believers), and why so many often refer to 'Him' as Father.
To many this
idea would be (emotionally) preferable to the idea of being governed by a set of
naturalistic laws that are in no way sentimental towards us or anything else. If
you were to tell a large portion of the population that existence worked in a
similar way to gravity - which is completely unsentimental, unwavering in the
face of pleading or prayer, and where your failure to pay heed to its basic
principles will always have
appropriate consequences - they would likely be horrified.
The last idea,
failing to pay heed to the basic principles of gravity, would be familiar to
those that believed in a religious 'hell', as it is similar to ignoring or
being ignorant of 'God's laws'. There is of course a slight difference. Gravity
is not an emotional or personal being that will let you ignore many of its own
fundamental and governing laws if you
merely 'believed in its exalted nature and accepted it into your heart'.
The problem
with sensational phenomena is that it often (although not necessarily always)
unravels when logic is rigorously applied. This can be seen in various
religious ideas, which is why it is necessary for many to employ faith rather
than reason, as it is far more emotionally satisfying that way.
Davis McLeod
No comments:
Post a Comment