It is a Sunday so why not do a post on something religious? Since I need something to write about that does not involve having to watch the news I have decided that civilization was a good place to start….
Since this has a religious overtone about it……it oughta get those juices flowing on a lovely Sunday morn……
I know my readers like my historical perspectives and others find it tedious….for those that appreciate the history thank you and for those that find it tedious……don’t worry knowledge only hurts for a little while and you will eventually get over it……
The mainstream guys say that civilization began about 5000 years ago….most say it was along the Tigris and the Euphrates…..but what was the reason that they , the ancients, decided to come together and work together to form a society? Was it trade or maybe agriculture….or something more deep?
There is a post that could answer these questions……
The belief in all-seeing and punitive gods may be a huge factor in how modern civilization came to be. So report researchers in the journal Nature after studying nearly 600 individuals from eight communities, including plant cultivators on the South Pacific island of Tanna, wage laborers on Fiji and in Brazil, herders and wage laborers in Siberia, and East African hunter-gatherers. Using a behavioral game involving a cup and dice, the researchers found that people were more likely to reward strangers in a distant land over themselves if they thought their actions were being monitored from on high. That proved especially true if the strangers shared their religious beliefs. The upshot is that these beliefs make people more likely to cooperate with those outside their immediate social circles, and perhap explains how “far-flung peoples” came together, say the researchers in a press release.
“A large part of the success of human civilizations may have lain in the hands of the gods, whether or not they are real,” writes an evolutionary biologist in Nature. As Science News explains, this tendency to cooperate with strangers would have had huge implications starting about 10,000 years ago as primitive communities began to have more contact with each other. In the study, the stronger the belief in a punishing god, the greater the likelihood was for rewarding distant strangers, reports ABC Science. The researchers theorize that this is why Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, all of which include what Science News calls “divine discipline,” have spread so successfully. Their adherents made sure to work with each other.
Fear? It works well for war…..and for religion……
Hmmm…I ate meat on Ash Wednesday in defiance and got horrible news on Thursday. Correlation or coincidence? Your intro made me laugh.
I give up watermelon for Lent….basically because it is out of season anyway…..glad you got as chuckle….chuq
Moving from fear to love is the essential step ahead. As Jesus urged, “Fear not.”
For your Sunday Enlightenment…;)
“In all the tribes of Australia, without exception, there exists a belief in one Supreme Power, who is the first cause of all creation. Their descriptions differ on minor points and their terminology varies slightly, but according to the consensus of the sociologists and anthropologists, they all invariably believe in the existence of that ultimate first cause called ‘High Gods’—another name for Allah, God, Brahmâ and Parmatama etc. ”
“The Concept of God among the Aborigines of Australia”
https://www.alislam.org/library/books/revelation/part_3_section_2.html
Was it God Who created man, or was it man who created God, is the vital question … but to admit ideas of God did not evolve from primitive superstitious myths.”
As for ‘fear’ …..
“He Who Has Overcome His Fears Will Truly Be Free.” ~Aristotle
Enjoy your Sunday Peace….
🙂
p.s.
Fear is a potent element in animal behaviour but it can be used wisely by humans to spur to greater effort. Out of control it can displace rational thought and produce negative results.
As we see….
Agreed
I agree with Aristotle….
In one sense, the verification of a lot of what I have written is satisfying to see; I’ve said on numerous occasions our entire civilization is based on delusion, to wit, the twin delusion of religion and money, neither of which has any basis in reality. In another sense, it strikes a chord of ironic sadness, for it reminds me of two quotes, (naturally), which speak to the subject, to wit:
““A man’s ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” — Albert Einstein
“He that feareth is a slave, were he never so rich, were he never so powerful. But he that is without fear is king of all the world.” — E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros
Lady P.’s second comment says it perfectly…. As we see….
gigoid, the dubious
For me believing that God can be found in me, or in the smallest things if you just look around you.
I belief the god of punishment, revenge, hell and damnation is not what it is all about. My believe is a God of unconditional love, who respects free will.
Of god has to be about fear, it is abuse of power. Fear is not the way to change a human hart from its core (soul).
Answering this is something Dutch people don’t like to do in public, talking about religion.
It is considered as something personal. If somebody at work, or a social gathering ask somebody concerning religion it is considered bad manners.
That is one of the reason why we find the way Americans express their believes so publicly unsettling.
And considering people that are atheist, agnostic, humanist etc as people lacking morality is shocking.
Your belief system is an excellent example of how religion should be taught and practiced…..chuq
Religion is something that should remain between the Diety and the Subject of the Diety because the ternal contract is personal thus it is both disrespectful and disastrous to introduce discussions about doctrinal issues into the Social fabric and more particularly in connection with concepts surrounding governance.
Religiously dominated social orders tend to be dictatorial in nature and do not promote freedom among the subjects so whenever religion and politics are mixed the end result is always bound to be one ideology trying to secure dominon over another and moral as it may appear it is an attempt at establishing a dictatorial order.
As to the existence of God:
The greatest and most reliable proof of the existence of God lies in Mankind’s perpetual and never-ending search for Him. God is in the DNA of man and thus we have an understanding of the claim that we are created in His Image.
Even the Atheist searches for a God …. albeit consciously unwillingly — The Atheist searches for The God of disbelief and this is a God with as much power over an individual’s life as any other, but a God nonetheless regardless of the protestations of the unbeliever. If “Unbelief” were not a God then the unbeliever would not be so compelled to lift it to the status of worship; would not be so driven to convince others — to make converts, as it were.
I agree….religion is a personal matter and belongs with the person and not something that should be used to beat people around the head…..