Cargo Cults
Offline A video of a cargo cult can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7RA4UnEuQ0&NR=1
Cargo Cults seem to have originated around WWII, when cargos loaded with food fell from the skies of Africa, and many tribes thought the cargos came from angels. Today, many tribes build land strips hoping planes piloted by angels will land in them. Most cargo cults believe evil white men stole the airplanes from angels, but soon the truth will be known to all.
Cargo cults usually have priests who build boxes that resemble radios and claim they are getting their beliefs, laws from the gods themselves.
While cargo cults may seem dumb, let's face it, at least they can see airplanes. And failure to understand how airplanes work is exactly what made them worship airplanes in the first place.
_____________________________________________________________
- Login to post comments
That is an interesting comment on theism if ever I've seen one.
I feel really sad now that I have seen this.
This actually is in the South Pacific, not Africa.
Religion is truly a fascinating thing to observe.
If someone has religious beliefs they already innately believe other religions to be wrong. Showing them a silly religion which according to their already present beliefs can't be right isn't going to convince them of anything. Creating a video making fun of them is only going to hurt your cause.
Different strokes for different folks.
I think the point is to show how making up explainations for things without having an adequate understanding of them can lead to well... religions.
Long ago, the authors of the OT had no little idea what made people sick. They may have noticed that people with certain habits got sick and died. Their explanation since they had a poor understanding of illness was "god hates that, so when you do that, he punishes you." It was a matter of people trying to explain the world around them.
The people who started the cargo cults saw soldiers talking and listening to boxes then planes flew by dropping boxes of supplies. They didn't understand radios or planes, so it looked like magic.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke
-Triften