Re: The religion meme

From: Jeremy Bradley (jeremyb@nor.com.au)
Date: Mon 18 Nov 2002 - 11:29:41 GMT

  • Next message: Vincent Campbell: "RE: Why Europe is so Contrary"

    At 10:44 AM 17/11/02 -0800, you wrote:
    >> From: Vincent Campbell <VCampbell@dmu.ac.uk>
    >
    >SNIP..........
    >> Thanks for this Ted, it does sound somewhat plausible. Just one question-
    >a
    >> lot of early religions also place their gods in the environment, sun,
    >moon,
    >> stars, mountains, rivers etc. does this fit with the idea you've
    >presented?
    >> I would think it should, environmental change beyond the control of early
    >> humans might easily lead to features of the environment which might be
    >very
    >> significant when change occured (the Nacza and their famous lines, for
    >> example, not runways for spaceships but ritual pathways relating to the
    >> mountainous landscape that provided the arid plain with water).
    >>
    >> Vincent
    >>
    Hi To Ted and Vincent I think that I have some insights for you on this one. Whislt studying diverse cultures and their spiritualities through primary narratives it occured to me that cultures form thier spiritualities in the image of their own cultures. This means that a hunter gatherer people have nature spirits which include animals, geographic anomolies, springs, lakes, rivers, and so on. Agrarian societies have seasons, fertility, winds, rain and so on. The great male monotheism on the other hand derives from a patriarchal tribe of herding people. The image of the great, all powerful God, standing guard over his flock (the Pope still even carries a curly stick) is the mirror of Abraham and his people. I hope that this makes some sense to you, as it is late and I've had a rough day. I can explain this theory better with more time. Cheers Jeremy

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