What do you think makes perfectly intelligent and rational people believe in the mis-translated myths of a nomadic desert tribe?

Is it troll time already? I must get my watch checked…

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am bemused by all religious belief, but – mistranslated? No way, some fine scholars have worked for centuries on translation. It is accurate with regard to translation, but not with regard to content.

What makes people enjoy inciting arguements so much is a much better question.

@Elumas I am genuinely interested in what leads people to believe such things, that’s all.

Of course, I never heard of this. But thanks for assuming that I am so knowledgeable.

Maybe it is all the young girls. Have you ever heard of a teenage girl who doesn’t say or type “OMG!” forty times an hour?

It’s not about the myths for me, it’s about the way of life. Living in a way that contributes something to the world, appreciating life and having the opportunity to do good things, these are important. What does it matter if the framework that brings you to these conclusions are religious, philosophical or other?

What makes people so obsessed with what other people believe and why? I might add this obsession seems to come from both sides of the spectrum.

@drdoombot – Absolutely. And most Muslims, atheists, and others feel the same way. Everyone want to go through life having fun, learning, growing, being part of something, regardles of beliefs. That’s why it’s interesting that so many people need to associate themselves with a gigantic system of beliefs and stories just to live a simple life, while others don’t.

So as the question points out, the really interesting thing is why so many people, especially westerners, have taken a preference to what began as a tiny belief system of a small group of folks from the middle east many thousands of years ago, instead of some other system that would seem more likely for people on this side of the globe, like Native Indian tales or something.

I agree that it’s kind of a moot point how the Horus story turned into the Jesus story, and all the other little oddities in the details, but the question remains, why the stories from this part of the world still capture the attention of (western) people so much more than similar stories from a hundred different parts of the world? Any history profs on here?

@SecondGlance gets what I was getting at.

It is a mental virus. Once people start listening to that stuff, they start to read it all the time. Next, they are seeing the world only through that lens and they can’t stop. They are excluding much of the reality in front of them in favor of the mystical explanations revolving in their heads.

It is a self-propagating mental virus.

As cultures change the meanings of their stories change. Today Little Red Riding Hood is often presented as an empowerment story, where the young girl defeats the evil beast. In the beginning it was meant as a cautionary tale that warned adolescent girls (the red hood represented menstruation) to stay close to home or they could be ruined.

It helps if you were brain-washed by your parents. Otherwise, religion is often simply a way to feel somewhat in control of life, and to feel that things that go wrong aren’t your fault.

Tradition, primarily.

i don’t see this as a trolling question. at least, if it is, it’s a question with much room for actual provoked thought. it’s a question i’ve certainly wondered. not to say that all of biblical text is nonsense, but back in the day, catholocism managed to twist around the words and translated them to mean whatever they wanted them to mean. who’s to say it doesn’t still happen? even if it’s not purposely done. though i don’t think it’s completely mistranslated, it’s a possible idea.
also, if someone today said god spoke to them, and they wrote down a bunch of things, most of the world would have a wonderful time laughing it up at them. why do so many people take things some random folks in the past said? i don’t know if they’re right or not, but who’s to say they weren’t all just the perez hiltons of the time? or the stephenie meyers, writing things to give people ridiculous expectations…
i don’t know one way or another, but it is a very interesting topic.
would we all worship santa claus or the easter bunny, if only they had better publicists?

hmm, i thought it was a nice question…i’m still working on the answer but rationality doesn’t come into the picture, for me

Another point I would make, for Jews at least, is something in their belief of these myths is working out quite well for them. Of all the pagan civilizations that arose at the same time as the Jews, none but the Jews have survived into modern times. The only three peoples as ancient as the Jews are the Egyptians, the Chinese and the Hindu. But, to quote historian Max I. Dimont:

…these three civilizations had only <em>one</em> main cultural period, and their impact on succeeding civilizations has not been great. They contained neither the seeds for their own rebirth nor the seeds for the birth of other civilizations. Unlike the Jews, they were not driven out of their countries, nor did they face the problem of survival in alien lands. The Greeks and the Romans are the only other nations which have influenced the history of Western man as profoundly as the Jews. But the people who now dwell in Greece and Italy are not the same as those who dwelt in ancient Hellas and Rome.

Something about their belief in the events of the lives of their ancestors has made the Jews a unique people in history. They must be doing something right.

I think evangelism is a significant contributing factor. As far as I know, other streams of religion did not actively participate in “converting” the masses (maybe I’m mistaken). Might just be that Abrahamic Religions had a better marketing strategy without even knowing it!