Rachel Welsh
Mini Paper 1
In my opinion, tribal and ancient religions still very much exist today, only not very much so in America. After doing some research online, I found that many countries still practice tribal religions, including Africa and India. I didn’t however, find much about the Hellenistic religions still being practiced today, but I did learn that Hellenistic religion supposedly helped shape Christianity into what it is today.
While doing my research on tribal religions, I got a better understand for what it actually meant to be part of a tribal religion. I found out that there are specialists, who basically interpret signs from nature, gods, and spirits that convey approval or disapproval for huge issues, such as war or moving a village. In comparing these sort of ways to how we deal with things today, if we were to be contemplating going to war, I do not think we would be looking for a sign from God, or a spirit. Looking for ‘a sign’ usually means being superstitious, or we sometimes even make it into a joke now a days. Most people do not wait around to see if God, or nature will tell them how to make a decision, they just make it themselves. I think God does play a huge roll in you making that decision, but some people think they are given a sign from God, when really, they are just lucky.
I also learned that if you are not born into a tribal religion, they do not encourage you to join one. If you are not born into it, then those who are part of the tribal religion think that you won’t understand, or have the same strong beliefs they have. It is actually discouraged for anyone to ‘convert’ to a tribal religion. Today though, it seems like it is nothing to want to convert to a different religion, or change your beliefs. I think what people ‘believe in’ is very broad, and converting to another Faith almost seems silly, because unless you practice your Faith VERY strongly, why should you convert to another religion? If you are Christian, or Jewish, or Buddhist, and you want to convert to another religion, it should be expected that you leave all your old beliefs behind and embrace only your new ones, but I think that some people change religions as much as they change their shoes these days! Most people really can’t tell you exactly what they believe in, or why, all they can say is, ‘Yeah, I’m a Christian.’ But what does that even mean? Does it even mean anything to anybody these days? I completely understand why those who are part of a tribal religion don’t encourage people to convert because their beliefs are instilled in them from the day they are born! To be in a tribal religion, you have to practice and believe EVERYDAY! You can’t just convert and then not practice what you are being shown or told, you have to sort of make an effort to prove you should be there, which takes me on to my next topic, some of the themes of the tribal religions.
While I was reading the text book, there were definitely some things that stood out to me as things we still do today, only we don’t really have names for them. The one thing that really stood out to me was Rites of Passage. The book states that Rites of Passage are when you take a step from one stage to another, including birth, puberty, marriage, and death (pg. 31). Today, these are all huge steps in a persons life, but we also celebrate things like sweet 16’s, and turning 18-becoming an adult, or turning 21. We celebrate things like graduations, and births of our children, and job promotions. I think we have a lot more to celebrate, or congratulate today, so we have many more Rites of Passages, but it really is based on the same idea, taking a step towards a new life.
Another aspect of tribal religions that we still practice today but it doesn’t have anything to do with religion really, is healing. They use herbs and massages to treat people, and while we are lucky to have technology and medicine to help treat people now a days, some people do still believe in using herbs and massages. Usually if someone is using herbs, it means they are using them spiritually, but just because you use something spiritually doesn’t mean it has anything to do with religion. They say certain scents help take away stress, or some herbs help get rid of headaches, but even if I were to try things like that, it has nothing to do with my beliefs, or Faith.
When looking back at ancient religions, one thing that stands out to me, and continues to still be significant today, are sacred sites. Those temples and pyramids that are still here today that were sacred back then, are still sacred now, and mean a lot to both past and present civilizations. Also, while tribal religions only sacrificed animals, ancient religions sacrificed grain, animals, but most surprising, humans! Maybe there are some cultures that still do this today, but even sacrificing an animal seems very drastic to me.
Religion today doesn’t seem to rely on too many real things that you can see, but it seems to be more based on beliefs. People don’t need to actually see God to believe in Him, they just need to have Faith. People of other religions don’t need to actually see something to believe, or have faith, or have some sort of explanation why things happened the way they did. The way I look at religion is sort of like a child looks at Santa Clause, or the tooth fairy, or even the Easter Rabbit. Sure, every kid believes in them, but no child can explain how Santa makes it to millions of houses in one night! If you believe in something, that’s all that matters. Yes, we grow out of the Santa and Easter Bunny stage, but with religion, the more you grow up and the more you learn, the better you can understand it, and the better you can make your own decisions based on your Faith. Your religion and your faith is what you make of it. People will always have different beliefs, and different ways of worshipping, or practicing what they are preached, it’s been like that since the dawn of time, but no matter what happens, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and no one is wrong. Sacrificing a human sounds absolutely crazy to me, but in some cultures, it’s expected of you; it’s a way of life.
Works Cited
1. http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/religion/blrel_type_tribal.htm
2. http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/india/tribal.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_religion
4. Ways to the Center, Denise L. Carmody &T.L.Brink, Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2006. Pgs. 31, 59.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment