Don's Religious Perspectives
Today's religious beliefs are not new to us at all, but
( IMHO )
they remain as absolutely imaginary concepts…
The ancient leaders of our ancestral relatives created various religious entities
( some of whom came with churches, some without )
with the intent of directing the masses in their favour—here are just a few:
|
The 1st religious belief that I will share here is that of
Christianity,
which currently holds ∼4 million churches globally; view more info
here?
Further discussions for this & others such as the Pagans, the Celts etc are shared below The biblical report of a "Virgin Birth" on Sunday, December 25th, 2,032 years ago ( as of this writing ) was the arrival of the very well-known religious entity, Jesus, in Bethlehem, Israel—more on him is shared below Visit The 9 Orders of Angels, each of whom are imaginary entities ( and yes, are from Heaven ) starting with the "Seraphim Angels," each with 6 wings—2 to cover their faces, 2 to cover their feet & 2 that are used for "flying," the "Cherubim Angels" with 4 wings ( held in 2 pairs ) to "fly around" with 4 faces on their heads: a lion, an ox, an eagle & a human… Another 7 types of imagined Angels are shared by the above Orders of Angels link Finally for this view, see "Lucifer" ( The Devil ), who is an imagined entity from Hell who brought "evil things" to all of humanity… really! |
| 2nd in this list is the religion of Allah that has 3.6 million mosques & prayer towers globally, as well as many differing & imagined Angels; view more details here? |
| 3rd are the Norwegian Valkyries and their imagined place of death in Valhalla |
| 4th are the Gargoyles on the corner edges of the roofs of ancient castles & rich-peoples houses to keep the rain at bay, those annoying & imagined Hobgoblins, those Chinese roof-guards to defend them from evil spirits, the little silly Gremlins ( from the movie ) and the tiny imagined Fairies that Dad did believe in… |
| The 5th & final group shared here are the people from Ancient Greece, who attempted to cross the river Styx when they died to get to their imagined place of Hades, some were sadly washed away from reaching their desired place… |
Having attended many church-based events during my 70+ years of life, some voluntary ( marriages, funerals, christenings, etc ), some not ( as shared below ), I will share that I have never successfully been directed or influenced to change my individual religious perspectives, despite attempts by many…
I am an Atheist, and have been so for my entire conscious life… I will undoubtedly continue with this belief!
( also see a WiKi view on this? )
Stepping back into some historical perspectives that precede today's
religious beliefs,
when a person or a child died
( naturally, or was killed by a savage animal or an horrendous assault by another person )
during our years of living millions of years ago,
their bodies were not preserved in any way—simply consumed by hungry animals, leaving only partial bones for researchers to find…
my
Story
does share this, along with many other events
Recent research has brought to light the fact that some of these deaths began to be
handled differently
around 300,000 years ago…
Archaeologists have concluded that the intentional burials of archaic humans, the
Homo naledi,
provides **proof** that religious ideas began to exist at that time—this research continues to remains somewhat conjectural as of this writing
Homo sapiens emerged about 315,000 years ago alongside other hominin species;
handling deaths in those early days was largely a functional response driven by survival, but the earliest glimmers of symbolic funerary practices were beginning to surface, blurring the line between basic ecology & early culture.
The discovery of an actual burial of a human child in Africa was in early 2021—the
burial
has been assessed to be ∼78,000 years ago
Other
evidence
that some infer as indicative of religious ideas includes symbolic artifacts from Middle Stone Age sites in Africa
The recent discovery of quite ancient decorative "bling" beads for our ancestors ( with no religious perspectives ) appear to have been created as far back as 142,000 years ago… That was when hunter-gatherers ( in what today is Morocco, North Africa ) collected tiny seashells, bored them with holes, & strung them up to adorn their hair, bodies, or clothing. The look must have been bedazzling, because the same type of perforated shells spread quickly throughout northern Africa & into the Middle East. The beads—the world’s oldest if these new dates hold up—suggest modern humans were engaged in this fully symbolic behavior 10,000 to 20,000 years earlier than previously known!
As paleo-anthropologist Alison Brooks of George Washington University had shared, "Shells are special wherever you find them, because when you wear a shell on a string around some part of your body, you're using your body to send messages to strangers about your identity… Everyone's arguing today that when you have symbolic behavior, you have fully capable modern humans." Previously, the earliest known shell beads were from the Contrebandiers & El Mnasra caves in Morocco, dating to between 103,000 & 122,000 years ago, & from Israel's Skhul Cave. But the "iffy" dates at Skhul are from only two shell beads from a layer dated roughly to between 100,000 & 135,000 years ago, Brooks says
The new beads were found in Bizmoune Cave, a stunning gallery in the flank of an 800-meter limestone mountain in western Morocco, just 12 kilometers east of the Atlantic Ocean. Between 2014 & 2018, researchers had excavated 33 oval-shaped, perforated shells of the mollusk Tritia gibbosula… All but one of the thumbnail-size oval shells were found in a single layer of ashy silt as were stone blades & scrapers, charcoal from ancient campfires, & fragments of wildebeest, gazelle, & zebra bone
The researchers next dated carbonate mineral deposits ( such as stalagmites & flowstones ) that had formed in the cave, including one near the cave's mouth that was in the same layer as the beads—and likely formed around the same time. They then measured the radioactive decay of uranium into thorium in that flowstone to date it to 142,000 years ago
Given the large margins of error on the date, the researchers say there is a 95% chance the bead-bearing layer is between 120,000 & 171,000 years old—and propose an age of at least 142,000 years for the beads
A religious place, "Göbekli Tepe" ( also view a WiKi page? ) was recently discovered in Urfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey as one of the most startling archaeological discoveries of our time: massive carved stones that were built about 11,000 years ago, predating the religious structure of Stonehenge in southern England by some 6,000 years, crafted & arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet developed metal tools or even pottery
The place was then intentionally buried by its creators about 1,000 years later, purposefully filling the megalithic enclosures with mountains of dirt & limestone rubble, sealing the monumental pillars beneath an artificial mound. While the exact reason remains one of archaeology's great mysteries, there are several prevailing theories about why the site was sealed:
| Planned Decommissioning: It is widely believed by researchers on Quora that the site was not abandoned due to disaster, but systematically retired & buried in a grand, ritualistic closing ceremony |
| Preservation of the Sacred: Some archaeologists suggest the builders buried the structures to protect their sacred artwork & monuments from the elements or to keep them consecrated as time passed |
| Astronomical or Cyclical Use: Other theories propose the enclosures may have been tied to specific celestial cycles or functions, & once those cycles passed, the structures were buried as a new one was built nearby |
| Over centuries, successive building phases took place, with newer, smaller structures sometimes built on top of the previously buried enclosures. Eventually, the entire hilltop was abandoned & preserved as the artificial mound we know today |
Our ancestral humans existed with possible religious beliefs ( as shared above ) prior to the time of the Göbekli Tepe place, living before the "Younger Dryas" age which occurred between ∼12,900 & ∼11,700 years ago… Their related ancestors ( like the Neanderthals ) had all passed away, leaving only today's anatomically modern humans who had lived in hunter-gatherer societies, categorized under the Upper Paleolithic & the early Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic eras
Because formal, city-state "civilizations" with writing & writing systems did not emerge until ∼6,000 years ago in the mid-Holocene, these earlier societies are defined by archaeologists through their distinct stone tool industries, artwork & regional geographic settlements
An actual & very ancient place is the Doggerlands, off of the east coast of England… It was uncovered by a trawler in 1931 that had dredged up a prehistoric harpoon, carved from bone or antler—assessed as being from ∼10,000 years ago. The place had existed for many thousands of years under the last Ice Age ( with no known religious activities ), but was drowned around 8,000 years ago by the rising oceans as the ice melted. Other actual ancestral places & events do exist, such as the one surrounding the Göbekli Tepe in Turkey (above), the coastal sinking of the Portus Magnus in Alexandria and many others that are under research
Another ancient place named "Stonehenge" holds Celtic and Druid religious beliefs, built 5,000 years ago. Its predecessors include the Wood Henge, the ancient Stone Circles and the many Megaliths that surround the world
The 1st religious crusade to recover Jerusalem began in 1096 as one of the many military campaigns. It was launched by the papacy against the Muslim rulers for the recovery & defense of the Holy Land, as part of a wider crusading movement. The First Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in November 1095—a call to arms for Christians to reconquer Jerusalem from the Muslims, with promises of spiritual reward
The arrival of the Pilgrims in November, 1620 at Cape Cod created the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.
They then created the "Mayflower Compact," which shared the following:
|
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN.
We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod [on] the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620 |
A later event in January, 1692 at the Salem Village, Massachusetts, ∼50 miles north of the Plymouth Colony was the religious Slaughter of Witches. A group of young girls in Salem Village had become consumed by their disturbing "fits," accompanied by seizures, violent contortions & bloodcurdling screams. A doctor diagnosed the children as being victims of black magic & over the next several months allegations of witchcraft spread like a virus through the small Puritan settlement
Twenty people were eventually executed as witches but contrary to popular belief, none of the condemned were actually burned at the stake; in accordance with the English laws of that time, 19 of the victims were instead taken to the infamous Gallows Hill to die by hanging. The elder, Giles Corey was pressed to death with heavy stones after he refused to enter an innocent or guilty plea. Still more accused sorcerers did die in jail while awaiting trial…
The 1987 movie, The Witches of Eastwick shared a relevant yet imaginary story… Starring as a Devil ( named Daryl, played by Jack Nicholson ) he seduced & hurt each of the 3 witches, Alex ( played by Cher ), Jane ( by Susan Sarandon ) and Suki ( by Michelle Pfeiffer) they then together collaborated to successfully destroy Daryl… The movie is based on the 1984 novel of that name by John Updike & was given many awards
Subsequent to each of these & other sad events that are shared above, on Thursday, July 4th, 1776 the United States of America was created after each of the 13 colonial places began
The best estimated percentage of Christians around the world at that time ( 250 years ago as of this writing ) is listed here by region; they comprised approximately 20% to 23% of the global population. This era was defined by the peak of European colonial expansion & consequently, the vast majority of the world's Christian population was concentrated in Europe & the Americas, while remaining a distinct minority in Asia & Africa
Historical demographic estimates for that period (ca. 1776), broken down by region are:
| Europe held ∼85%—90% and was the undisputed stronghold of global Christianity at that time, heavily dominated by Roman Catholicism in the south & west, by Protestantism in the north & by Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia & the east |
| The Americas ∼60%—70%: Rapidly rising due to European settlement & colonization. In North America, the native populations were heavily displaced & Christian adherence hovered around 40-50% for white settlers ( though the First Great Awakening significantly impacted church adherence ); Latin America was highly Christianized by Spanish & Portuguese missions |
| Sub-Saharan Africa ∼1%—3%: Prior to the 19th & 20th-century missionary movements, Christianity was primarily limited to historic outposts ( such as Ethiopia ) & small coastal trading enclaves. The continent was overwhelmingly defined by traditional indigenous faiths & by Islam |
| Asia & the Pacific held <1%: Tiny, isolated minority pockets existed ( the Philippines & in India ), but Christians made up a nearly negligible fraction of the massive populations in China, Japan, & the rest of Asia |
| Middle East & North Africa ∼2%—4%: Once the heartland of Christianity, the region had a steadily declining Christian minority under the rule of the Ottoman & Persian empires |
There are also many imagined ancestral events, people & places, such as the stories that surround the Mesopotamian flood—this is shared in the well-known Christian bible story, Noah's Ark… An especially interesting case is the ancient disappearance of the mythical island of Atlantis, described as an allegory for moral decline by the Greek philosopher Plato, who wrote in his Timaeus & Critias dialogues that "Atlantis was located in the Atlantic Ocean, just beyond the Pillars of Hercules" describing it as a massive naval empire that was eventually swallowed by the sea after angering the gods; this is widely interpreted as the being in the Straits of Gibraltar
These & other places are shared in my history page
Today's global societal world has significantly evolved since the time of the discovered burials, shared above,
bringing many religious beliefs that are held by the 8-billion+ people across the world, some holding very high-intensities in their beliefs, multiple prayers on mats etc…
Some are far less so:
.jpg)
click to view details
( or the
PDF )
| Key Perspectives of the Chart ( which shows only the last 2 centuries as of this writing )
The Shifts of the "Folk & Other" Religions are the most significant trend ( shown in red ) is that their religious beliefs declined from an estimated peak of 35% in the early 1800's to ∼3% today ( all of the early chart measurements are projections—no actual evidence ) and include the traditional, ethnic & syncretic practices… As global populations have modernized & shifted into urban environments over the years, many individuals have moved from those traditional practices into the larger institutionalized religions, or into the Unaffiliated category, as shown in the religions shared below |
| Christianity's Trajectory
The 2.65 billion people ( shown in orange ) in today's global population, ∼32% who have held Christian beliefs grew significantly through the 19th & early 20th centuries, reaching a peak of 35% in the early-1900s—the are the 1st religious group on my list
While the absolute number of Christians does continue to grow, its percentage of the total global population has seen a slight decline in the 21st century, largely due to the lower birth-rates in the Christian regions & in The Rise of the Unaffiliated ( see below ) Christianity, specifically within the Pentecostal & Charismatic movements, has also been well-known for the practice of individuals uttering what secular observers often describe as "Gobbledegook" or gibberish, while under the influence of the Holy Spirit [ see references 1 & 2, listed below ]… within the religion, this practice is formally known as "speaking in tongues" or as "glossolalia" [2, 3] The key concepts of this practice are shared as follows: 1) The Source: Practitioners believe that they are filled with the Holy Spirit ( the 3rd entity of the Christian Trinity ) & the Spirit temporarily takes control of their speech to pray, or to deliver messages [4, 5, 6] 2) The Language: While skeptics & outsiders perceive the sounds as meaningless babble, believers view it as a holy, supernatural communication. It is typically categorized as either an "unlearned foreign human language" ( xenoglossy ) or as a divine "language of angels" [2, 3, 7] 3) The Biblical Origins: The tradition is rooted in the New Testament of the Bible, where the most famous occurrence was on the Day of Pentecost, shared in the Book of Acts, where Jesus's disciples were "filled with the Holy Spirit" & began speaking in different languages [1, 3, 4, 8] 4) The Modern Movement: While the phenomenon does have very ancient roots, its widespread modern practice began in the United States during the Azusa Street Revival of 1906, which sparked the global Pentecostal movement [1] Linguistic & Psychological Perspectives are where linguists studied glossolalia note that the utterances lack the grammatical structure, syntax & a semantic meaning found in real human languages. Instead, speakers unconsciously string together phonemes ( sound units ) from their own native language, creating streams of speech that mimic the rhythm of a spoken tongue without conveying linguistic data [9, 10, 11] Sources: 1 click, 2 click, 3 click, 4 click, 5 click, 6 click, 7 click, 8 click, 9 click, 10 click and 11 click |
| The Growth of Islam Islamic believers ( ∼25%, the 2nd group shown in gray ) have maintained a steady upward trajectory in percentage share over the last 200 years, supported by consistent growth rates & younger demographic profiles in many Muslim-majority regions |
| The Rise of the "Unaffiliated & Secular" Religions This category ( often called the "nones," shown in yellow ) is the 3rd group… These people were statistically negligible in the 19th century but have seen a sharp increase to ∼24% since the mid-20th century ( which includes myself, as I described above ), particularly in secularizing the Western nations & East Asia |
| Stability of Hinduism Hinduism ( ∼15%, the 4th group shown in blue ) has remained relatively stable in terms of its percentage of the global population, largely because its demographic growth has closely tracked the overall growth of the global population |
| Buddhism Buddhists ( ∼7%, the 5th & final group, shown in green ) have remained with this religion at this level across two centuries |
| The data used for the creation of this list was from the Gemini app, including historical demographic datasets from the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), Pew Research Center longitudinal studies & academic estimates of global religious change |
A different perspective of time may be seen as perceived in many religious cyclical forms—Hinduism and Buddhism, where cosmic cycles of creation & destruction dominate—or linearly, as in Judaic-Christian traditions which emphasize creation, progression, & an ultimate end
My personal views of Christianity and churches do hold many thoughts… will share just a couple!
| My Dad held zero religious beliefs from his early life ( scroll down to 1934 in his page? )… his 1st marriage, though, was in a Parish Church ( see his Marriage note with Eileen, on the 2nd page of his profile? ) & his 2nd marriage ( with my Mum ) was held at the Register Office in the Town Hall at Bournemouth; neither of these events have shared any advice for religion with me that I can recall! | ||||||
| My 1st church-related memory was that at some point during my time at the
Infants School
in the early 60's, Mum had taken me to a bus-trip by myself
( with other adults & kids )
that started out from the
St. Johns Church,
a short walk from home… I cried as we departed as I couldn't find out when we were to return!
My Dad is buried at that church also | ||||||
| During my years at the
Senior School
near my home in the late 60's, I was "educated" weekly with various religious threads by a priest from the nearby church (above), not convincing me or teaching me anything…
These learning’s encompassed many things, so I will share just a few:
| ||||||
| Moving on, in the early 70's at the Military School in Harrogate, church was not a choice—I had to attend on every Sunday… I had declared my religion to them as an Atheist ( I do suspect that I did do that—no actual memory! ) & they chose the "Other Denomination's Church" for me. That church is viewable in the British Soldier Newspaper ( page 18 ) to the right; the church to the left is their "Roman Catholic Church" and their main church, the "St. Alban's Anglican Church" is in the center… They chose these 3 for reasons that I never understood—other famous branches, such as the Protestants, who in 1517 were reformed away from the Catholics by Martin Luther were ignored—nothing special learned about religion there either! | ||||||
| My next church-related event was when Jane & I were married ( click to view details? ) on Saturday, April 19th 1975 at her parent's Baptist church in Eastleigh, Hampshire… | ||||||
| I then sadly transitioned away from my 1st wife, Jane
( for reasons that will not be shared publicly )
& was married to
"Ms. T"
on
August
21st, 1980 outside of a church, & later that year in her parents church.
In the early 80's when she & I lived in Sterling Park, Virginia I was advised by her that she needed me to bring the boys to her church on Sundays where she was playing—Stu was particularly anti as I recall! She also had me baptized at her Mom's church… not particularly interesting, but I went along | ||||||
| Today, I am blessed to have been married to Sandy since 1997; view some related details here—scroll down to ∼3 pages from the end? We are living as of this writing in the southern state of Georgia near to our 4 grandkids, having attended several marriages, funerals & christenings, life is fine! |
As a final note to close on my religious perspectives, I am curious: are **you,** my reader, a religious person of any faith?
An enthusiastic & evangelistic believer perhaps? Or just as an occasional church-goer?
Not to defame or to be derogatory
in any way
to your individual beliefs, please think for a moment as to **why** so many
Catholic Priests
( men )
have been destroying
( both physically & mentally )
the lives of boys & young men around the world since the early days of Christianity,
with virtually no punishments or real consequences?
Such a sad thing, that is not at all new…
Please note:
I do personally hold the entire Catholic Church pretty high on the infamous "list of liars" which sure seems a good idea
Feel free to share your thoughts, comments or criticisms etc here via eMail? You can also visit my dynamic tree or my Ancestry tree, both of which hold virtual duplicates of my current local tree data… Cheers!
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