Quote:
|
You could rename God Illuvatar, but then what? All the principles of Christianity, and more specifically Catholicism, are found in his books. So it would not really be a new religion now would it? Love your neighbour as yourself, honour your mother and father, do not kill, feed the hungry, blablabla, it's all there.
|
You could rename God Illuvatar, but could you rename the Apostles the Valar or rename Jesus as Manwe? I agree that the general message and concept of the religion would be the same, but you would be in a sense cheapening Catholicism or Christianity in general by restructuring it after a work of complete fiction, and it would not really make any sense to do so.
Quote:
|
I don't think such a belief excludes others but is merely a name put to a universal concept.
|
I agree. An ambiguous and undeveloped concept such as "the Force," which is to my understanding the fabric of the universe and the unsubstantial, "spiritual" (for want of a better word) power derived from everything therein, can be unexclusive and at the same time considered "religious". It is when you delve into the specifics of such a concept (who created the Force, what are the laws of the force, what is the ultimate purpose of the Force, what do we as individuals do within the confines of the laws of the Force) that it becomes exclusive. Humans, it seems, have a need to worship or at least acknowledge a higher power outside the realm of science and physical understanding. What makes worshipping the deities in
The Lord of the Rings and
The Silmarillion a dumb idea is that, though the general concept, morality and ideology of the religion may be inexclusive and spiritually or existentially fulfilling, the structure of the religion would be based on deities who do not exist.
<font size=1 color=339966>[ 11:37 AM January 04, 2004: Message edited by: Lord of Angmar ]