Curiosity can make one human embark on a journey so deep, so vast, that he/she may find herself interlaced in the thoughts deranged from ‘practical’ thinking. We tend to begin to think about “what if?” rather than “what now?”. Is this bad? Of course, not, it’s human nature. Infact, it’s an aspect that is apart of every being on this planet. From before 3000 BCE to the present, we have never stopped our search to find out how we came here. Who are we? Why are we here? What is my purpose? What is beyond the physical barrier I’m in? These are just a few questions that come to mind when you think about the unknown.
Scholars, Philosophers, Politicians, Leaders all confused as to how to define this hunger for knowledge of the unknown. How can we live like this if an aura of truth surrounds us and yet we have no way to reach it? Like an invisible shield, stood these great questions.
The answer? A movement of worldviews; religion. In thinking about religion, it is easy to be confused about what it is. Is there some essence, which is common to all religions? And cannot a person be religious without belonging to any of the religions? The search for an essence ends up in vagueness- for instance in the statement that a religion is some system of worship or other practice recognizing a transcendent Being or goal. Our problems break out again in trying to define the key term “transcendent.” And in answer to the second question, why yes: there are plenty of people with deep spiritual concerns who may not recognize anything as transcendent. They may see ultimate spiritual meaning in unity with nature or in relationships to other persons.
It is most likely that the first human came from Africa. There was Homo habilis, the tool-user, and Homo erectus, the upright type, walking like us on two feet; and then perhaps 250,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens, the knowledgeable one. And of course, we cannot forget Neanderthals. Naturally, as we push back our knowledge further into human prehistory, we speculate about the lives of our predecessors; and so ultimately, we speculate about the origin of human religion. When we begin to discover the origins of the first religion, we find that we can’t find any accurate or proven information. Thoughts are hard to infer from bones, or feelings from chiselled flint, or wishes from fragments of animal skeletons partly touched by fire as they are all eradicated by undergoing of change in society.
From the things, anthropologists and archaeologist have found though, we are able to determine that pantheism was the practise of the period. Pantheism is portrayed in religions of today and I believe that they depict the essence of life. Before I start to elaborate on my premises, I would like to clarify that I don’t wish to influence nor negatively affect any religion in anyway. My only motive is to illuminate my thoughts on religion as a whole, and Humanity through the voice of my opinions.
Nobody knows with accuracy how the first religions evolved. By the time that writing had developed, many religions had been in place for many millennia and the details of their origins had been forgotten. However, there is speculation that the first religions were a response to human fear. They were created to give people a feeling of security in an insecure world, and a feeling of control over the environment where there was little control.
During their evolution from proto-human to full human, they developed questions about themselves and their environment:
What controlled the seasonal cycles of nature -- the daily motion of the sun; the motion of the stars, the passing of the seasons, etc.
What controlled their environment -- what or who caused floods, rains, dry spells, storms, etc? What controls fertility -- of the tribe, its domesticated animals, and its crops. What system of morality is needed to best promote the stability of the tribe? Above all: what happens to a person after they die?
Living in a pre-scientific society, people had no way to resolve these questions. Even today, with all of our scientific advances, we still debate about the second last question, and still have no way of reaching a consensus on the last. However, the need for answers (particularly to the last question) was so important that some response was required, even if they were merely based on hunches. Some people within the tribe started to invent answers based on their personal guesses. Thus developed: The first religious belief system, the first priesthood, the first set of rituals to appease the Goddess,
Other rituals to control fertility and other aspects of the environment, a set of behavioural expectations for members of the tribe, and a set of moral truths to govern human behaviour.
These formed an oral tradition, which was disseminated among the members of the tribe and was taught to each new generation. Much later, when writing was developed, the beliefs were generally recorded in written form. A major loss of flexibility resulted. Oral traditions can evolve over time; written documents tend to be more permanent.
Unfortunately, because these belief systems were based on hunches, the various religions, which developed in different areas of the world, were all different. Their teachings were in conflict with each other. Because the followers of most religions considered their beliefs to be derived directly from God, they cannot be easily changed. Thus, inter-religious compromise is difficult or impossible. Also, because religious texts are often ambiguous, divisions developed within religions. Different denominations, schools, or traditions have derived different meanings from the same religious texts. Thus were laid the foundations for millennia of inter-religious and intra-religious conflict.
Today’s religions are either monotheistic religion or (in which a single male god is worshipped), henotheistic religion (a religion which recognizes a single main deity, but which recognizes other gods and goddesses, heroes, or saints as facets or manifestations or aspects of that supreme God.)
Spirituality, itself is perceived as very complicated and unsupported concept as people think it, as a whole is unapproachable. I believe that the real religion is the religion of humanity. Of being a good person in general. But then again, what is the definition of ‘good’ in today’s’ society? Is it not being bad? One category of religions follows the suit of this perception. Pantheism- the belief that all is god. It prevailed in numerous ancient cultures. The belief that the universe itself was divine was typified in the Animism beliefs of the African and American Indian Cultures, the later Egyptian religion under the Pharaohs, and Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism in the cultures of the Far East. Generally, Pantheism is the principle that god or universe is everything, and everything is ‘god’. Therefore, nature is also part of god. We must be in harmony with nature. We must nurture it and be nurtured by it. Humankind is no different from any other animals. We must live in harmony with them, understand them, and learn from them, focusing on the relationship between humanity and the elements of nature.
Beliefs and faiths manipulated and conjured within the world and soon conflicts bore in. Religion was becoming detrimental to our society, but who is to blame for it? Al Quada, Talibanization, political elections, the holocaust, 9/11, Fragile Communities, War, Extremism, non-acceptance, and even influential judgments stated in our own homes, all of these being labelled by religion. Why? Why are they? Just because some religious extremists decided to do something conceivably appalling, the whole group is blamed! Because of this discrimination, most religions have had to hide there identity just in order to not be attacked, hoping there families will stay safe. People using weapons as their voices to argue about something we cannot even see. People blame it on the other generation, “Why did you create religion?” Well, why did we create war? Why did question others? Why didn’t we accept the way things are and move on? Because we aren’t ourselves anymore. We wander in this dream that we call reality and forget ourselves. ‘The most heinous and most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives.” Mohandas K. Gandhi. He was right. This is not the case for just religion, but for race, gender, political views, origin, anything. This isn’t right, judging people in general. We must move beyond this and embrace one religion that should’ve been there first and fur most. The religion of humanity. Thank you.
