I am currently reading "The God Delusion" written by Richard Dawkins (he also wrote The Selfish Gene) and must admit that I am quite enjoying it. One of the many things that I have been enlightened about is the existence of Cargo Cults. Rather than trying to explain them myself I will simply refer you to the Wikipedia description of Cargo Cults as well as a classic example of one in the John Frum movement.I guess these bazaar beliefs dont seem that far fetched when you consider that even today some educated (and I use that term very loosely) people believe in similar religions such as Scientology , Mormonism and others that have been around for even longer.
2 comments:
Dawkin's book declares god a delusion. Cargo cultist actually witnessed seemingly supernatural happenings (cargo appearing on airplanes and by parachute) and attempted to make sense of it. In what way is their cult then irrational or delusional? Making the analogy between christianity and a cargo cult, far from beign evidence of delustion actually adds veracity to the christian myth.
Firstly lets define delusion - A delusion is commonly defined as a fixed false belief and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false, fanciful or derived from deception (Got to love Wikipedia). So by that definition Cargo Cults are very much based on delusion as it is a false belief.
In no conceivable way can I possibly see how Cargo Cults can add truth to the Christian myth (Even though I never actually mentioned Christianity in my original post). To me the evolution of Cargo Cults directly shows how other more complex religious belief systems could have come about.
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