Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Navajo Creation Story
I believe that the Navajo creation story is just as likely to be true as the story of Adam and Eve. Actually, it's easier for me to say that they are equally as UNlikely, because I find the whole idea of creation difficult to wrap my head around. They are both, in my opinion, completely implausible because of such irrational things as the act of climbing through a hole to another world, or a talking snake (which would be cool, but not something I could ever believe). But to answer the question directly, I think they are both as likely to be correct because of the fact that their chances of being incorrect are the same. It's odd phrasing, I know, but my point essentially is that their subject matter is the same amount of plausible (next to none).
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The fact that you can't wrap your head around the idea of creation just proves your own sanity. Even if you accept the Big Bang theory, what happened before that? Was there a universe before that? But I stray from the point. Even though these stories are certainly unlikely from a scientific point of view, do you really think that whoever wrote the Torah thought a snake could talk? Perhaps these stories were simply vehicles for lessons or elaborations on what was thought to be true.
ReplyDeleteHallie, interesting that you equate what is true with what is plausible. Are those really the same thing?
ReplyDeleteTim brings up a good point--these stories are likely vehicles to get at something and have probably been embillished over time. Just like in the film, The Little Buddha, when the boy's dad calls the story of the Buddha an interesting "myth," the monk replies (I'm paraphrasing) "It is one way to get at the truth." The truth of the story is in their basic premises.
Looking at them this way, the stories shouldn't come across as equally true. Think about both stories--they don't explain the existence of evil in the world the same way. Which account rings "true" to you? There is no scientific answer to this, is there?
Also, I thought it interesting you thought humanity escaping from a hole in the sky far fetched. If you think about it, we currently have a hole in the sky (in the ozone layer) and we fly through it regularly on our way to space. If we ever start to populate other planets, won't the Navajo story suddenly look pretty forward thinking?