Hindu God's

Most people know that there are many gods in the Hindu religion. The lists of "major deities" that I have found often include somewhere between 15 to 25 gods. I have no idea how many minor or lesser gods there are but it must be quiet a few. I am going to talk about a few of the major gods. What their purpose is, how the fit into the religion, the overall importance of the god, and interesting things I find about them.

First up, Brahma

Brahma is the creator, he is responsible for making the earth. The changing of day to night is also his responsibility. He is part of the holy trinity consisting of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma created many lesser gods with his mind and many more with his body. To create the human race he split himself into two people, one being a goddess, the other a god. Brahma called the girl part Gayatri, and together they created people. Brahma has four heads and four arms, he used to have five but one was lost after a conflict with Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma holds in his hands a sacrificial tool, knowledge, a water pot, and a rosary.

Bramha is a complicated god with many tales and back stories. Having multiple gods makes it much easier to create tales of how the gods interact, which makes them easy to characterize and relate too. Brahma is the first piece in setting up the aura of factuallity of

existence.

Vishnu

Vishnu is the preserver, lord of protection, sustenance, and maintenance. He is the second part of the trinity. He is responsible for sustaining the human race. He does so with the help of his consort Lakshmi, the goddesses of wealth. Vishnu needs Lakshmi's wealth to continue supporting and protecting the human race. He has dark skin the color of clouds. He carries in his hands a conch shell, a disk ( to represent the wheel of time ), a lotus

flower, and a mace ( to show the power and punishing capabilities if discipline in life is ignored). He rests on a bed made out of a 1000 headed serpent.

Shiva

Shiva is the god of destruction, the third part of the trinity. He destroys the world so Brahma can create a new one. Shiva is also responsible for the changing of people, destroying old habits and making change possible. He is covered with ashes, carries a poisonous snake to show he has mastered death, a trident, he is often shown with some sort of tiger representing the mind, he has the goddess Ganga captured in his matted hair. Ganga is the goddess of the Ganges river, he captured her to prevent the flooding of the world. Shiva lives on top of Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas. He has had two

wives. The first was Sati, and the second was Parvati. He is the father of Ganesha, and Kartikeya.

Ganesha

Ganesha is the god of knowledge and remover of obstacles. He earned this position by racing his brother around the universe. While his brother took off to travel the universe, Ganesha walked around his mother and father whom he considered the source of all existence. He won and earned the title of Lord of all existing being. There are many stories regarding how Ganesha got an elephants had instead of his own. One was that his mother created him to guard her doorway, when Shiva demanded entrance and Ganesha refused he was decapitated. Later on Parvati (his mother) restored him to life and gave him the only available head around. That of an elephants. Ganesha is a fat ugly man with the head of an elephant, he shows that inner beauty is more important than physical appearances.

Lord Rama

Lord Rama is the hero of the tale Ramayana. He is one of the most commonly worshiped

gods in all of Hinduism. Lord Rama carries a bow and arrow and destroy evil. The monkey god

Hanuman is his loyal devotee. A brief of the Ramayana can be found here. He is married to Sita.

Lord Krishna

Lord Krishna is loved by all people. He is one of the commonly worshipped gods in

Hinduism. He is know for his ability to spread love through music, and for destroying evil. He is

often portrayed with a human child that was his friend. This image helps bond man and god

together. He is also often shown with his childhood pet cow. He is the 8th incarnation of Vishnu.

Lord Kartikeya

Kartikeya is the god of war, very similar to Ares from Greek mythology. He is the second

son of Shiva, with Ganesha being the first. He has six faces each with its own name: Kartikeya,

Subramaniam, Skanda, Guha, Shadannana, and Sanmukha. He is also the god of fire. He works

with Ganesha to help people. While Ganesha helps clear the path ahead, Kartikeya gives power

to the individual in order to help them complete their goals. He carries a spear to destroy bad

habits in humans.

As you can see from just seven of some of the major gods of Hinduism, there is an abusrd

amount of back story. Every god has its own stories with many of them being intertwined,

and some being contradictory. Many of the stories get to be elaborate and allow for the gods to

be well personified. Painstaking detail has gone into the creation of these tales. All to provide

an explanation for the world around us. To explain things and provide meaning for existance.

The stories provide the solid base for a religion to be built around. Stories that are interesting

and easily told quickly spread and convert new members. The stories can be used to give reason

for certain rituals, and can add significance where there was none before. The stories about the

gods are a fundemental part of Hinduism, used to teach lessons and provide examples to

emmulate. The stories and gods themselves are not the religion, they are means in which taught,

spread, and understood.

A temple full of

various Hindu gods. There are many.

Baha'i

This week I spent some time reading Baha'u'llah. I also took a peak at a Baha'i website, and viewed a few videos on the religion.

I learned that Baha'i believe that most major religions share some core values. Baha'i focus on the shared parts of the religions and unite them as one super religion. They believe that many of the create prophets shared by different religions are all just prophets of Baha'i and that Baha'u'llah is the newest of them. I am happy to see such a diverse multicultural religion exist. Because they draw from so many religions it is easy for people people to convert and focus on the core morals.

I discovered that talking about someone behind their back is forbidden in Baha'i. While it is somewhat childish and impoliet in American cultural I am still surprised that it such a strong rule. They call it backbiting. There are no real punishments for breaking the rule, but all Baha'i do thier best to avoid it and try to help others avoid doing it as well. They often find a positive thing to say to help counteract the negative things said about the person.

The Baha'i are organized into commitees and are controlled at different levels. Each place of worship is run by a commitee, each region, each continent, and finally one that is comprised of nine people they admister the religion as a whole. This is a very different structure than say Cathalocism with its single leader and large buracracy of cardinals and bishops and other clergy.

Baha'i has is very own calender! It consists of 19 months named after the attributes of god. Each month has 19 days, and there are four or five extra days to keep it in place with the solar year. The year dating is based on the founding of Baha'i in 1844. One month out of the year from march 2 to 22, the Baha'i fast from sunrise to sunset.

There is obviously much about Baha'i that I still do not know. I plan on continueing my learning adventure into the world of Baha'i.

Cult vs Religion

By our definition in class most if not all cults count as religion. They have systems of symbols creating lasting beliefs and work to explain the world. Most cults obviously have symbols and create beliefs and most likely have a back story of origin. So does it work the other way around? Do all religions count as cults?

Wikipedia has a nice article on cults. Including a collection of dictionary definitions. The definitions include a system of religious beliefs and ritual, A religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader leader, or a small religious group with excessive control over members.

So depending on which definition you pick either all religions are cults, all are cults expect a few major religions, or very few cults exist. In my personal opinion I consider cults to be the groups who seclude themselves from society, either in complexes, monasteries, or some other form of isolation. I only have problems with cults if they brainwash people into joining or have dangerous or destructive beliefs. From what I understand there are very few cults out there that actually brainwash or are destructive, but they do exist.

Nobody should be forced into believing anything. Sometimes when I talk to my religious friends I feel like they have been brain washed into believing in Christianity, and some of the more far fetched parts of the bible. I just can't seem to understand why people are so willing to believe that communion can be considered to literally be the body and blood of christ. My cousin was an alter boy. He showed me the giant package of "Communion Waffers" the ingredients list did not actually contain Jesus. When I listen to people who try to convince me they are eating Jesus, I can't help but get the feeling that all religions are brainwashing people.

Either way, I still consider a cult to the creepy little secluded groups of people, but major religions brainwash people too, just more openly.

New religion

What goes into making a new religion? Is it a fast or slow process? How important is a founder?

One of the key elements of creating a new religion is some sort of social tension. Be it a racial conflict between groups, core disagreements amongst peoples of a religion such as the Lutheran Catholicism schism, or some sort of other major issue. Racial tension was one of the reasons for the creation of the Bahai. Conflict between the Kurds and the Shi'i along with some of the other groups provide ample disagreements to break off from one another entirely.

Fast or slow is a question of perspective. It could take the better part of a person's lifetime to get a religion started at all, and chances are it wouldn't really get going until after the death of the founder. Religion is a constantly evolving and changing beast. Rapid changes are possible, but most changes are slow taking place over hundreds of year. The Lutheran schism is an example of a rapid change, while the gradual evolution of Catholicism has taken place over thousand of years.

A strong founder is crucial to the success of a religion. Without a founder there will be no set direction for the religion to evolve. People need someone to unite under, a figure they can relate to. Without a figure head there is no easy way to interact with other religions or political leaders. The Catholic pope while not a founder is an obvious leader. He controls which way the church evolves and maintains the beliefs of the founder. Many founders are considered prophets and ultimately hold a special place in the mythology of the religion.

Christian Rock

When most people think of christian rock, they think soft rock with overt christian messages. However there are lots of bands that have been breaking out of that mold to get their message out. Lots of them have gotten some heavy radio play. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has less obvious christian undertones but they are still there.

Christian rock has been breaking into all sorts of different genres. Screemo bands are one of the

newest mediums to spread the message of god. It can be difficult to understand them and pull

any meaning or words from it but the under the screaming and electric guitar the message is still

christian. One example of a christian screemo band is The Devil Wears Prada.

Rastafari music in my mind still counts as christian music. It spreads a religous message through music and Rastafari is more christian than anything

else. Granted the messages are of a very different nature than the average christian rock band. While christian rock focuses on how God is good,

and will help you out, Rastafari music spreads the word about the Rastas and encourages people to rebel against the western power structure and to get in touch with African roots.

What was once a very narrow and niche genre of music has spread into all sorts of genres.

Many people listen to the music our of catchiness or popularity and are oblivious to the strong

messages and undertones that lie beneath the music. I can't help but wonder when another major

religion will break into the American music scene. Buddhist rock could be interesting.

Rastafari take two

I watched this video today and learned about a very different group of Rastafaris than I have

learned about so far. These Rastas still share the Dreadlocks, the colors red green and yellow,

the flag, and many of the same views. The biggest distinction I found were the differences in

attitudes toward "Babylon." Both the book Rastafari and Bob Marley have very strong feelings

white culture, and the west as a whole. They spread messages of how bad it is and how evil

Babylon is. The Rastas from the video don't appear to nearly as violent towards Babylon. They

just want to go back to Africa, and live simple lives filled with prayer in an effort to save up the

means to return. The turban and the regimented praying are two differences that are easy to spot.

While Marley spreads messages of rebellion, the simple Rastas awake early in the morning

to pray. I have a much easier time relating to the peaceful Rastas. Being a part of Babylon I

can't help but feel like some of the Rasta's hatred toward Babylon includes me, and everyone I

know. The peaceful Rastas do not seem to share the same hatred of Babylon, they just want to

go to Ethiopia. Its much easier to get along with people when neither side openly expresses

dislike of the other. I think the Marley Rastas would more easily further their cause if the message

wasn't quiet so anti Babylon. Granted that is a big part of their identity.

Rastafari

I have started reading the book Rastafari by Ennis Edmonds, and after two chapters in I still have no idea what Rastafari is about. I gathered that it orginated in Jamaica and that Haile Sellassie is the both the leader of the movement and possibly the second coming of christ, but other than that I don't anything about what they actually believe. The media has associated Rasta culture with smoking marijuana, and doing drugs.

I spent a little bit of time digging around the web to find out a little more. The Rastas believe that Haile Sellassie is a manifestation of god, and that they will be returned to the promised land of Ethiopa. Some still believe that Haile is still alive and his death was a hoax. Many Rastas believe that the white people are to blame for most everything and refers to them as Babylonians. The smoking of "ganja" is a means to cleanse the spirit and to heal the world.

There is still much I do not know or understand. I hope that the book on Rastafari moves away from long winded speeches on charisma and focuses on what the religion actually is. I want to understand the religion, not some dudes theory on how charismatic people and events change the world.

Solomon and Sheba

This week I read a small part of the Kebra Negast. It is a story about King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. It tells of how they met and the child that came from their meeting. This child then goes on to rule Ethiopia. This story adds some pretty significant back story to Ethiopian royalty. Having ties to prominent Jewish and Christian figures does nothing but increase the power of the kings and queens. In an a prominently christian and Jewish society, have a biblical back story helps reinforce the identity of the nation and gives a rich and important history. Regardless of the truth behind the story, just having it exist can bring a sense of pride and religious significance to the country. This story could affect politics when working with Jewish or Muslim leaders. Jewish leaders may be more inclined to work with people supposedly descended from important biblical Jews, while Muslims may even be offended and be more difficult to work with. This could work the other way around too. Either way, a back story that gives royalty special significance could greatly affect the lives the royalty.

I found out that there was a movie made about Solomon and the queen of Sheba. The whole movie is on youtube, but they don't seem to allow any sort of embedding so if you care to take a look just search Solomon and Sheba on youtube.com.

Conceptual Blending

Today I read an article called the Analogical Mind. It talks about metaphors and conceptual blending. After a bit of thinking I have decided that one of the main parts of religious studies is using conceptual blending to compare two or more things. We compare things from different parts of the same text, between books, between religions, and between completely different things. My discussion of rowing as a religion, is a half decent example of conceptual blending. Looking at two things and finding similarities and differences in a combined frame of reference. It would be very difficult to compare two religions without conceptual blending. While many are similar, being able to line up the similarities in order to better show the differences is crucial in understanding them. Comparing the different sects of Christianity would be very difficult for someone who has never been exposed to them before without being able to blend and differentiate them. Either way conceptual blending is an important tool that we use more often then we think.

Do religion parodies count as religion?

Last year I first heard about the Invisible Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM). It was created as a parody in order to prove a point about teaching creationism is school. However a large number of people, mostly atheists and agnostics 'believe' in the FSM. This people are often refered to as Pastafarians or Spagnostics. Even though this religion was created out of parody, more people are starting claim association and are begining to practice the very loose dogma that was set forth by the creator Bobby Henderson.

So does this constitute a real religion? At the moment people do not worship together in large groups, but there is a diffinitve set of symbols and full blown structure and belief system. Bobby has created a complete 'bible' and a full creationist story. This technically fullfills Greers definition by having a set of symbols that lead to lasting beliefs. Does the knowledge that the beliefs themselves are supposed to be a joke actually make the beliefs any less valid? I don't know but I am curious if the FSM is still aorund in 50 years. I wouldn't really be surprized if it doesn't.

Here is a video or two explaining how and why the FSM was created.

Translation advice

I read a portion of Saint Augustine's On Christian Teachings. Book 2 to be precise. The most important thing I took from the reading was a set of suggestions for interpreting translations of books. He advises having many sets of the same book but translated by different people, and possibly through different languages. For example, I would need a few copies of the book of psalms, one translated directly from hebrew, another one translated by somebody else, one translated from greek or latin, and so on and so forth. Having multiple copies from different translations can be extremely useful in understanding some passages. If there is a passage that doesn't make sense or sounds funny, cross check it against a different translation. If it is the same at least you know it is probably translated properly and can ask someone of knowledge for help, and if they are different your lack of understanding could be due to a poor translation. Having different sets of translations through different languages can help, because some languages can carry meaning and have different words that will translate into the next language better. So while the direct Hebrew may not make much sense, maybe from Hebrew to Latin to Greek to English will carry the emotion or meaning properly.

I think having a second translation of the book of psalms would have been very useful. Granted Alter provided other possible translations for some passages or phrases, but it would have been interesting as a whole to see how it was done differently.

Churches Charitable?

I know many people who donate money to charity through churches, but is that really the best way to help those in need? I was taught in high school that a good charity should be spending 90% of its budget directly helping people. From what I have heard the Catholic church spends less than 10% on charitable efforts. This is not acceptable. Money donated should be used to help people, not to support a wealth bleeding system. My girlfriends grandmother was asked for 200 thousand dollars in order to cover a down payment for a new church. That particular perish had built a new church less than five years ago. Building new and extravagant buildings is wasting the perishes money.

I am not trying to discourage people from giving to charity. I just think that people should think about where their money is really going, and if it is actually helping people or just helping to pay for the solid gold statue of Jesus. Look at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, now there is a charity run by financially smart people who figure out how to help people the best for the money spent. Well organized charities help people far more efficiently than the average church. What really makes more sense for helping people.

Psalm 18

Today I read psalm 18 from the "Book of Psalms" as translated by Alter. This psalm portrays a very fierce and destructive god. This psalm has god being represented first as a preluding earth quake, then as a volcano. Then god tilts the heavens in order to descend to earth and fly around on an "cherub." A cherub is some sort of god like war horse from Canaanite mythology. God then proceeds to destroy David's enemies with hail, fire, arrows, lightning, and water. He rescues David then proceeds to bestow upon him fighting abilities so he can destroy his own enemies. Such as strength, speed, a bronze bow, a shield, and a fearsome god based battle cry.

Many of the images of god are based on pre-Israelite mythological poetry. With some other images coming from Canaanite mythology. Religions evolve in contact with other religions. I would expect images of god to come from different sources. Founders of pre-christianity may have been former pre-Israelites. It perfectly logical for images from the old beliefs to carry into the new ones. It helps to ease the transition for new comers to the religion. Converted Canaanites may have included images from their own mythology in the poetry they wrote. Over time peoples poetry influences the next generation of poetry. The new generation drawing on multiple influences, might very well create a hodgepodge of mythological references. I would be more surprised to see a lack of mythologies than a combination of many.

The image of an omnipotent god flying down from the heavens on a god like war horse, preluded by earth quakes and volcanoes, launching fire and lightning before him, and pushing back the seas is a terrifying image regardless of what your beliefs are. In times of war this exactly the image you would want for your troops. Belief that a massively powerful god will come to help destroy your enemies, or give you the power to destroy your enemies yourself is a great morale boost. Modern christian god is a bit on the tamer side and certainly more hands off than the god of old. I suppose since Christians started fighting Christians there are fewer reasons why one side should be supported over the other. David was saved by his firm belief in god and by following what god preached. That doesn't work as well when both sides are christian. Makes you wonder if truly religion based war broke out if violent imagery of god would resurface. I suppose historically non violent Islam is being reinvented by some to support fighting non muslims...

Missunderstood

I learned recently that a few of my friends are involved in religions that I know virtually nothing about. Apparently Quakers can don't have to believe in god to be faithful. Some of them believe in a life force, and simply avoid killing things. I found it really interesting that a Christian sect didn't require believing in god. Everything I know about Christianity focuses on the single omnipotent god. I can't help but wonder how little I know about other sects of Christianity, or other religions for that matter.

How many choices to do people make based on their faith? I tend to think that its a large amount, and the only way to understand those choices is to understand other peoples faith. I think a substantial portion of conflicts could be resolved in the world, but getting to know to the other side, or for that matter your "own" side. I was raised Catholic but stopped attending church was I was young. I find that I have trouble understanding devote Christians motivations for many of their choices. Part of me is tempted to read to the bible, just to figure out why certain passages are so important and guide peoples lives. After that I might go read a Koran or read up on other religions in general. Lack of understanding can only lead to conflict. There is enough conflict in the world. Its time to learn how to avoid it.

The importance of translation

This week I read two versions of the same psalm. Psalm two from the Book of Psalms by Robert Alter and the same Psalm from the Bay Psalm Book. The two translation are very similar, but there are some key differences that really manage to change the meaning of the Psalm. The Bay Psalm Book was also one of the first books printed in early America and the people from them may have taken some interesting meaning from the translation.

The early Americans may have taken this psalm to be more of a prophecy than anything else. In line 7 it states "God spoke to me, thou art my Son, this day I begot" Most early Americans probably interpreted that as God speaking to Jesus. Without knowing that this psalm was written some 500 years before the birth of Jesus, it would be easy to infer that Jesus is the son referred to. In actuality God is speaking to the kings of Jerusalem. The psalm says that those who oppose Jerusalem will be destroyed "break as potters sherds, and crush with iron rod." If looked at as though Jesus were talking the target of destruction suddenly changes from ancient enemies, to potentially any enemy of christianity at any point in time. This could be read as a prophecy that Jesus is going to come and destroy the conspiring princes and the kings of the earth. Only those who fear and revere the Lord will be spared.

Line 12 also has a key grammatical difference. The Bay version states "Kisse yee the Sonne, lest he be wroth, and yee fall in the way." and the Book of Psalms states "With Purity be armed, lest He rage and you be lost on the way." The Bay version hints that if you anger the Sonne bad things will happen if you get in the way. In the new translation there is more of left behind feel. The tone seems less angry and vengeful.

Overall I see the old version striking fear into Christians in order to keep them devote to Christianity, while the new translation is more of a warning to others that bad things will happen if they don't make friends with the Christians. The grammatical and slight wording changes make for a very different overall experience. I can't help but wonder how many other translations I have read and have taken an unintended meaning from. For that matter how many times has the bible been retranslated? I can't help but wonder how skewed the modern english bible is from its original meaning. Just think about how different modern christianity would be if the bible were even subtly different. It kind of makes me want a time machine just to see how many grammatical changes it would take to alter the future. My guess is three well placed ones.

What makes a religion?

Today I asked a teammate what his religious beliefs consisted of. He replied, "Rowing." At first this sounded a little odd to me. How can someone consider a sport to be a religion? I then thought up a list of what I take to be some of the key components of a religion.

Community- Being part of a team includes a person into the larger, broader community of rowing. I found it comparable to individual teams being churches, and christianity as being comparable rowing as a sport. Different styles of rowing were the different sects aka sweep vs sculling, and Catholic vs Lutheran, and different sports being different religions aka swimming vs rowing and Christianity vs Islam. The structures of communities and the interactions between the different parts of the hierarchy do resemble that of religion. Different while disagreeing on the best way to row, still agree that rowing is best, and conflict between sports or religions is common.

Ritual- Religion is often filled with rituals. Be it attending sunday mass, taking communion, meditating, praying, or something else more complex. Sports are filled with just as many rituals. The regular schedules of practice could be viewed as attending service. Stretching before exercising as meditating or praying before a service. Granted there are many superficial differences, but the idea behind regular and meaningful ritual is the same in both the world of sports and the world of religion.

Sense of fulfillment- I feel that a person is only truly participating in a religion if they receive some sort of emotional fulfillment from it. If attending does not make you happy, give you a sense of pride, or satisfy an emotional need, then they are not experiencing the whole thing. The same is true of sports. Anyone can participate in a sport, but if there is no emotional connection then they are not experiencing everything that sport has to offer. Team sports can provide a social bond that is extraordinarily strong. Very few types of groups can build community as quickly and as strongly as team sports. Individual sports still offer emotional fulfillment. I find very few things in life more enjoyable and satisfying than going for a swim and putting in a few thousand yards.

Overall, I find that sports share many of the same core components of religion. Sports may consist of very different belief systems, and don't have much to say about the afterlife or creation, but is that a really a defining factor of religion? I have always found creation and afterlife beliefs as a way for a church to convince peoples its beliefs are better, and to try to explain the world so that religion fits within it. I don't find that to be a nessecary part. I am more than content to go for a row or a swim and feel better for it.

Some other peoples ideas about sports as religion.

http://www.religionlink.org/tip_050118A.php

http://www.amazon.com/season-sports-as-american-religion/dp/0865546940

Effigy Mounds

Effigy mounds are symbols of native american religion. The birds and bird like creatures are representative of the over world, the bear creatures and other land creatures are symbols of the lower world, and serpents and lizards represent the underworld. The presence of all of the different worlds represent a harmony of existence. This goes along with Geertz's symbols representing a general order of existence. The concepts of over, lower, and underworlds make enough sense as to be believable. Building the massive structures added meaning, and provided explanations for the world around the native peoples. The way the mounds were built reflects the meaning of them. Many of the underworld effigies show signs of being dug downwards before being built up. This ties in the mythology of the underworld existing underground. The extensive rituals associated with building the mounds and the rituals performed on and around the completed mounds shows how important the mounds were to the people. Simply moving the astounding amount of soil shows dedication to what the mounds represent, and the importance to the people.

I can't help but wonder why such massive structures were built. Many of them were too large to properly view from the ground, and without being able to easily see the whole thing, constructing symmetric shapes must have been obscenely difficult. I wonder how long it would take modern man, without the use of heavy machinery, to built a 700 ft long mound. I can only guess years. Are there any symbols modern man would be devoted enough too, that he would give the time energy to constructing giant mounds by hand? I would guess not.

Organized Religion

I had an interesting talk the other day about religion. After an hour or two of discussion I decided that there are some problems with modern organized religion in my home community.

A few that bother me

1 Lack of fiscal responsibility

2 Competition amongst perishes

1. This is by no means universally true of all religions and may only be a problem in my home town. Many perishes of different sects of christianity are having severe monetary problems. The biggest of those being the inability to pay the absurd mortgages on the 15 million dollar buildings. The churches should not have assumed that the perish would be able to pay for such large monthly costs. This does not help people, but adds additional expenses to perish members families. In a time when many families are tight on money this strikes up moral issues with me. Once a month or so, my family will receive a letter for one of many local churches asking for a large donation in order to pay off church debts. This could have been avoided had churches not had impressive building wars.

2. When the economy was riding high and donations were up, local churches decided it would be an excellent idea to expand, and built enormous, lavish, and unnecessary buildings. There are now multiple 10 million dollar and up churches in a community of about 25 thousand. There was no need for any of the perishes to expand, and certainly no need to double or triple current capacities. They expected the new buildings to draw more members and increase donations to pay for the expansions. Very few new members joined the perishes, now the perishes are poor, and are leeching off of the community.

Ur-religion must have been happily without the problems of modern religion. Their places of worship were caves or just outside. Things were only as lavish as the bands could make them. Spending excess resources could have easily meant the end of the tribe. I think modern religion needs to step back and take a look at the needs of the members. What happens if the people can't survive? Ultimately to church fails. The needs of the members out weigh the needs of the church.

Pre Religion

Today I read Paleolithic Art and Religion and spent some time looking at the Cave of Lascaux website. After pondering for a while, I decided that the most important element of pre-religion is ritual.

The cave paintings are impressive, however the importance comes from the process of making them. Creating paintings and engravings in an unlit or poorly lit cave must have been immensely challenging. There is reason and drive behind these paintings. Either someone or many people spent a great deal amount of time creating these works of art. Why exactly did primitive man spend so much time on them? The article speculated it could have been part of a ritual to become a shaman. It is a decent theory, but there is little or no evidence of the motivations of ancient man. It fits well with modern knowledge of shamanism.

Part of me is inclined to think that the paintings had nothing to do with religious beliefs or complex rituals, but were simply a means of passing time in an age where there was little entertainment. People will go through great lengths to not be bored.