Jesus as a human seemed to be very humble. He preached love, peace and nonviolence. At the same time he was viewed as a radical threat to society. He was treated as radical rebel, and executed accordingly. Who he was during his life does not adequately explain the impact he left on the planet.
Most of the world, including third world segments, have revised their history and world views based on Jesus. Regardless of a person’s personal acceptance or rejection of Jesus as a personal savior (which the Christian church holds as the one and only purpose of Jesus) Jesus has successfully proven himself a force to be reckoned with by the sheer fact that identification with him by a culture has become a universal phenomenon. So many religions have been obliterated or else adapted the identity of Jesus into their belief systems.
One of my favorite examples is Voodoo. Voodoo is actually a hybrid religion of African tribal superstition and animism combined with the mythology of Jesus. When the Africans were being shipped to America for the purpose of slavery, the slave gatherers purposely scattered individuals among vast numbers of carrying craft going to different areas of the Americas. The idea was to ensure that people who spoke the same dialect would be separated in order to prevent gathering and plotting amongst the slaves.
At the same time, once they reached their destination, the Christian slaveholders had to justify their actions to God, and so chose to instruct their slaves in the teachings of Jesus, at the same time ensuring that they wouldn’t be able to read the scriptures for themselves.
The slaves worked underground and at night to unite with each other, and chose the Christian churches as their gathering spots at night, while their owners slept. As they learned to reconnect with each other, despite dialectic differences under the eyes of statues and paintings of Christian icons, they began to integrate Christian mythology into their own remembered tribal rituals and understandings. This was most prominent in Haiti, and spread to northern America.
Jesus and Voodoo
By turtlesuds - Posted on December 2nd, 2008
Tagged: language
• linguistic division
• PERSONAL FREEDOM
• Racism
• raising awareness
• Religious Studies
• Slavery
I feel kind of like this cut off abruptly. I am left wanting to read the rest of the story and it isn't there. :-(
"What a crazy random happenstance!"
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This is a synopsis of a very well thought out and well researched paper I did for a cultural anthropology assignment almost 10 years ago. It came to mind during my current religious studies course. I have the original paper buried somewhere in storage.
The most prominent idea that I gathered from this research was the power of common language and the devastating consequences of separation by language.
The slaves that gathered in the churches as I described all came from different tribes, with different dialects. Their challenge was to connect. As a result, various tribal beliefs and rituals began to assimilate, where in Africa they would have conflicted and fought each other. By separation they found solidarity.
This phenomenon is not unique, nor was this the first instance. The story of the Tower of Babel is the greatest example of the power of a common language, and shows the resulting confusion when people are separated by language.
The idea of "Pangea," the planet earth containing one solid mass of earth surrounded by water, that has gradually separated into divided parts as a result of tectonic activity is another piece of the puzzle.
My interpretation is that we are all equal, have all come from the same origin, and that human self interest has served to divide us. It is the desire of certain populations to dominate others that are responsible for the division we see today.
My hope is that there are enough awake and aware people to repair this damage.
I have encountered various blogs and posts about language, and its role in the world today. I recently read a post about how english is the universal language. being an english speaking person raised by speakers of english, I am glad. however, I am still distressed by the divides between cultures that could easily be cured if we all spoke the same language.
In regards to religion, it is my personal belief that language is the primary culprit standing in opposition to universal understanding. yet, the story of the Tower of Babel suggests that this is God's will.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
I do agre with the fact that language stands as a barrier in spreading of God's love.But there are various ways that this can be over come.Like the cleaning lady that works for us, is christian and her church preaches in telgu(one of their language) and also hinid.Thus making the message clear.
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It always seems impossible until it is done-Nelson Mandela.
I've never heard of those languages. Where are you from?
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
Telugu is one of the many languages spoken in South India (i think)
and Hindi is actually the language that most of North India speaks
and get this Hindi and Urdu are almost the same except their alphabet is different and each uses some words from their religious books such as Urdu uses a lot of Arabic words-- where as Hindi has many sanskrit words that are probably from the Bhagavat Gita or their books
"A person doesn't die when he should but when he can."
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
"close your eyes, clear your heart..." Allama Iqbal...An Ode to the Cup Bearer<
:yikes:
"A person doesn't die when he should but when he can."
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
"close your eyes, clear your heart..." Allama Iqbal...An Ode to the Cup Bearer<
If you find it, would you share it? I think several of us would be interested in reading it, if you're willing.
In regards to religion, it is my personal belief that language is the primary culprit standing in opposition to universal understanding. yet, the story of the Tower of Babel suggests that this is God's will.
Connecting this with your other posts, I find the idea of the Tower of Babel interesting (doubly so, since it appears in the Torah). I read the other day (I think it was in the link I left you about the Jewish view of Jesus' status) mentioned that the Jews believe in national revelation. That is, they believe that if Jehovah is going to reveal himself, he's going to do it to a nation, not just one person (which makes sense, if you think about it).
The Tower of Babel is interesting because it separates us into those different nations, so humanity as a whole never receives Jehovah's words at the same time. This, in effect, causes the different conflicts after the event.
When I was younger, part of me didn't want to see peace in the Middle East. I believed, like a lot of Christians, that when that happened, it would be marking the beginning of the end of the world. If you've ever read the Left Behind series, or even the Book of Revelation, you'd know that that's a scary time. Looking back, that mindset kind of bothers me. I actually, on some level, wanted war to continue. That, to me now, is a rather dangerous mindset.
I apologize if I sound like I'm "bashing" Christianity. I'm really not trying to, but the more I learn about it (as dogma or an institution), the more I find disturbing.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
but that is unlikely because I won't be sifting through storage for awhile. I am also sad because I can't find a letter I wrote to my baby a week before she was born that I wanted to post. :{
Also, I remembered this paper was for a sociology class, not anthropology. Cultural anthropology made me obsessed with Pygmies for a semester. Ooh, and I don't know where my Deep Forest cds are either :{ again.
dragonwolf wrote:
"When I was younger, part of me didn't want to see peace in the Middle East. I believed, like a lot of Christians, that when that happened, it would be marking the beginning of the end of the world. If you've ever read the Left Behind series, or even the Book of Revelation, you'd know that that's a scary time. "
I find this disturbing as well. I was raised to be very leery and afraid of anything "New Age." That meant Enya, my Buddhist teacher (when I was still in public school), the dollar bill, and buildings that have any kind of orb atop the roof. I think it's funny that when I gave myself permission to explore such things, I found a world that was interested in peace across the world, healing herbs, crystals and precious gems from the earth, healing, in general, and lovely smelling incense.
How strange that people want to call that evil. I feel like the world is at crossroads. I feel that something major is going to happen, but I am not sure if it is a movement into the thousand years of peace prophecied in Revelation, or if it is the Apocalypse. Either way, there is a strong Christian tendency to fear peace, and it doesn't make sense, not even according to their own Bible.
There is a scary group right now called the "Christian Zionists" who are supporting and promoting war in the middle east because they want to see the building of the Third Temple in Israel so Jesus will come back.
Ultimately, it is this very silly idea that humans think that they can control the earth by doing things that will "make" God do something.
To be fair, not all Christians are so radical, but the radicals give the others a bad name, similar to the way terrorists mar Islam.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
How strange that people want to call that evil.
Indeed. When looking back at the things I believed, I came to realize that there are a lot of things that Christianity deems "evil," that aren't, and most of them don't "look" anything but good.
I remember one time, I decided to draw what I thought Satan looked like. What I ended up with was not some satyr with a pitchfork that Satan is generally depicted as, but instead, he had the appearance of an angel (which he technically was). He looked welcoming and good (even had white robes on), but there was something sinister and ominous about him.
What I find interesting, as well, is the number of occult-type that are either "of God" (usually when used against the enemies of a follower of God) or "of Satan" (usually when used by said enemies, even if the same abilities are being used).
To be fair, not all Christians are so radical, but the radicals give the others a bad name, similar to the way terrorists mar Islam.
Indeed, and that's generally why I distinguish between Christianity the institution (the Church, the political power, etc.; this generally includes the people who are afraid to even learn about other things) and Christianity the spirituality (individuals who look to follow the Bible and teachings of Jesus and who evangelize through doing good deeds and showing them how their faith has helped them, instead of saying anyone who doesn't believe Jesus was the savior of mankind is "wrong"; they at least respect one's opinion and know when to stop, even if they don't agree).
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
voodoo is a strong part of the culture in Louisiana.
what exactly are the differences and similarities?
from the blog i gathered religion is formed from the environment it is given.
and continued to evolve, and spread. That is true of all religions, as they spread, they change, usually in reaction to the environment, the environment including time, language of the land, political climate, etc.
I don't think religion is "formed" from the environment, but the environment shapes it. The religions most successfull in proselytizing recognize the culture it wants to reach and mold the message accordingly.
Catholicism is best at this. Mary is easily accepted by tribes that worship a goddess. Christian holidays fall on pagan holidays because by arranging it so, pagan cultures are ultimately obliterated by the powerful authority of the church. Meaning that once we make Easter about Jesus, people forget about the pagan festivals and rituals that used to mark the season of rebirth and regeneration.
When religion understands the culture, it gains power, and grows.
Voodoo can be seen as beautiful because it is the closest thing in North America to African tribal religions, but also as sad, because it is a result of an uprooting and the slaves lost much of their own tradition and culture, as did their children.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude