At 05:38 AM 1/7/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>From: "Mittmann, Mike" <Mike_Mittmann_at_affymetrix.com>
>> Subject: Re: Are Gloranthans Human?
>> >>>What other conceivable explanation could there be for rain falling out
>> >>>of the sky? Every time it rains you have your
>> >>>cast-iron-couldn't-possibly-be-doubted proof that there's a rain god.
>> >>>Not believing in the rain god would be like not believing in gravity.
>
>As a counter argument, I have this quote form a first century Roman:
Nice quote.
> From the monument of Marcus Antonius Enculpus:
>So, maybe many people "knew" that gods existed, but at least
>one "knew" that they didn't.
The Neoplatonists (of Roman times) knew the gods existed, but not as the
giant people that are popularly presented to be the gods of ancient times.
A lot of people were very much able to distinguish between the literature
of the gods, being allegories and funny stories; and the archetypal and
impersonal Powers. Many people believed that gods existed, but that worship
of them had little effect. Sort of like the modern concept of Gravity being
a god, or Time being a god.
And, by the same token, a lot of people understand the gods to be very real
internal or mystical forces. The Rain God was not as important as, say, the
Power of Love.
And a lot of people, like Marcus there, just refused to believe anything
their senses did not tell them.
This is pretty hard for a lot of modern people to understand since we are
generally taught that only the scientific (materialistic, rational) method
of thought and recognition is "real."
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