Sunday, January 3, 2010

Superstition

We don’t believe in witches anymore. Three, four hundred years ago, ordinary people were very afraid of witches. About 100 000 witches were hunted down and burned to death here in Europe.

And, we no longer believe in trolls or gnomes or ghosts or evil spirits. Today we believe that such beings are creations of overheated minds. We believe that they are fantasies.

We no longer believe that evil spirits causes schizophrenia and epileptic fits or that kids can contract polio if they jump in heaps of leaves in the autumn.

We no longer believe in God as they did three hundred years ago. The churches have lost most of their power over common peoples minds. We are no longer afraid to end up in hell when we die. Some people are still going to church on Sundays and some people are still afraid of ghosts but people in general have abandoned superstition. Beliefs change.

1 comment:

Diane said...

Unfortunately, when you live in a Bible Belt state such as I do, you are acutely aware of the many people who are still trapped in their religious beliefs, superstitions, and fears that dominate their everyday lives. Please tell me that we are evolving, though! Poor Texas, it's going to be one of the last places on the planet to let go of those rigid beliefs.