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From a distance, it can all seem very silly.
從遠處來看,這一切顯得非常愚蠢。
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These people have gone to Lourdes, in the foothills of the Pyrenees,
這些人去了盧爾德,位於比利牛斯山的山腳下。
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in the hope that the Virgin Mary might cure them of cancer and heart disease.
希望聖母瑪利亞可以治癒他們的癌症和心臟病。
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These people have gone to Medjugorje in Bosnia Herzegovina
這些人則去了波士尼亞與赫塞哥維納的默主哥耶
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to pray they might get a chance to talk to dead beloved relatives.
祈禱他們也許有機會和已過世的摯愛親人對話。
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And these people are praying at the Western Wailing Wall of the old Jewish Temple in Jeruselam
而這一群人在西側的哭牆禱告 - 位於耶路撒冷的一座舊猶太教堂。
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and leaving all sort of notes for God to read in the cracks between the stones.
在石縫之間留下各式各樣的紙條,希望這些訊息能直達天聽。
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No wonder some Atheists just think the whole of religion is ludicrous,
不意外地,一些無神論者覺得 整個宗教糸統是愚蠢可笑的,
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and they aren't bothered about saying so very directly.
他們一點也不介意說得這麼直白。
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But that's the wrong way to look at religion.
但是這不是一個正確看待宗教的方式。
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What religion teaches us isn't about what's true,
宗教並非教導我們去討論「何謂真理」。
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but about what many of us here on earth desperately want to be true,
而是在這地球上,我們當中有許多人熱切地去追求真理。
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for some pretty understandable reasons.
因為一些顯明易懂的原因。
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At one point in the bible, Jesus goes into the house of a man called Jarus,
在聖經中有個故事,耶穌去了一個叫做睚魯的人的家中。
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whose 12-year-old daughter has just died.
他的女兒剛過世了。
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Everyone is weeping and lamenting. But Jesus calmly says that she's not dead, she's just asleep.
每個人都在哭泣哀悼,但是耶穌輕聲細語地說她並沒有死,而是睡著了。
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"Little girl, I say to you get up!" He says.
耶穌說「小女孩,我命令你起來!」
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We shouldn't laugh or dismiss the whole thing as nonsense.
我們不應該將整個故事斥為無稽之談。
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When your child is very sick, you may well end up believing in miracles.
當你的兒女病危時,你同樣會祈禱希望有奇蹟發生。
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Because at the end of the day, under immense psychological pressures,
因為在那一天,你會承受極大的心理壓力,
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you love your child more than you care about the laws of physics and biology.
你如此愛你的兒女,使你已經不在乎物理或生物學的定律。
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And when your loved ones do die, it can take a very robust mind indeed
而他們真的不幸過世時,這的確很難不去想像...
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not to imagine, late at night when the sadness becomes overwhelming,
當夜晚來臨,那個沉重的悲傷到來時
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that somehow your parent, or child, or friend, is somewhere still around and in a better place than they were.
而你已過世的雙親、或子女、朋友仍在你的身旁, 並且處在一個更好的地方。
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And that they might be able to see us as we go about our daily lives
他們也可以看到我們的日常生活
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and forgive us and understand what we, perhaps, never found a way to say to them.
並且原諒、理解我們未能 來得及說出那些想要告訴他們的話。
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And when you're in a complete mess, and all you want to do is cry in shame,
當你在一團混亂時,你能做的也只是遺憾落淚。
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you might well start to long for someone who could understand. Someone wise and forgiving,
於是你可能會去盼望 有一個具備智慧、憐憫之心的神明, 他能夠理解你。
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with kindly sympathetic eyes who wont judge and will be patient and kindly, like an ideal mother.
有著慈愛的眼神,像一個完美的母親, 她不會責難你、很有耐心又慈祥。
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Science may very rightly deny the existence of the Virgin Mary, let alone paradise and miracles.
科學可能會斷然否認聖母瑪莉亞的存在, 更不用說天堂和奇蹟
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But these beliefs shouldn't just be interpreted as pieces of stupidity.
但這些信仰不應該被解讀為愚昧之行。
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They are signs of extreme emotional distress and desperation,
他們都是極大苦難、絕望的象徵。
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which should rightly elicit in us understanding and sympathy.
可以引起我們內在的理解與同情
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Religious beliefs are, of course, technically false.
當然,宗教信仰在科學角度來看站不住腳。
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But they're coming from a very tender and vulnerable place, which needs our empathy.
但是他們來自於一個溫柔、脆弱之處,需要我們的體恤。
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Of course Atheists are technically right. But there's no point getting maddened by the apparent irrationality of the religious.
當然,無神論有他們的科學依據。 但是對於宗教明顯地的非理性他們不需要發怒。
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We have to understand it and appreciate the intensity of the longings that lead some of us to believe in fantasies against all odds.
我們必須理解它,並且為那些克服萬難、信仰堅定不搖的人祈福。
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Because reality is just sometimes unbearably painful.
因為現實在許多時候的確是不可承受之痛。