[By:Kandiah Thillaivinayagalingam]
The first religious belief system which was formed as an
oral tradition during the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution,was disseminated among
the members of the tribe and was taught to each new generation.Much later,after
writing was developed,the beliefs were generally recorded in written form.A
major loss of flexibility resulted.Oral traditions can evolve over time;written
documents tend to be more permanent.Unfortunately,because these belief systems
were based on hunches,the various religions that developed in different areas
of the world were,and remain,all different.Their teachings were in conflict
with each other.Because the followers of most religions considered their
beliefs to be derived directly from God,they cannot be easily
changed.Thus,inter-religious compromise is difficult or impossible.Also,because
religious texts are often ambiguous,divisions developed within
religions.Different denominations,schools,or traditions have derived different
meanings from the same religious texts.Thus were laid the foundations for
millennia of inter-religious and
intra-religious conflict.For example,During
the Portuguese rule in Jaffna,The villagers asked to assemble and then a
missionary ask them to reject their "God Shiva" [ "false"
gods as per Catholic priest ] and accept "one true God"[Jesus]."It
was not a request;it was almost a command backed by the authority of the
Portuguese government"-Begin by Bible,if unsuccessful then use the
Sword-"Fear of a fine or corporal punishment with cane and stock ensured
their regular attendance at church on Sundays and feast days.This is the way
Tamils were converted to
Christianity during the Portuguese rule,not by
willingness or one's own consent or Comparing shaivism and Christianity,But by
means of money or power.However,The first organized religions appear to have
been based on fertility.They were focused on the worship of the great Earth
Goddess.Religion evolved to include male Gods who were gradually given
increased importance by the priests.This development may have been caused by
developing knowledge of the male's involvement in the process of
reproduction.Some observers believe that modern-day religions remain largely a
response to human fear.Their main function is to provide their followers with a
feeling of security while living in a dangerous environment in which a person
can be injured,killed or murdered at any time due to natural causes,accidents
or human hatred and intolerance.
The introduction of farming,when people learned how to
produce rather than acquire their food,is widely regarded as one of the biggest
changes in human history.This change happened at various times in several
different places around the world.However,at the end of the
each day both with
the advanced farming technology we have today and as far back as 10,000 years
ago we still need the sun to shine and rain to fall to produce a good
harvest.And throughout the world today many farmers pray for a good
harvest.It's not difficult to see that ancient man may too have carried out
this practice,and a relationship developed between man and nature,man and God,a
sort of unwritten agreement,a contract,where man pleads with God or prays to
God for sunshine and rain.And as time moved forward it came to pass that this
contract required a special day of the week, separate from work days,when
prayer could take place.Also required was a special place where the contract
could be honoured along with skilled people who would administer the carrying
out of the contract.From this idea probably we can see where the apparatus of
organised religion,Such as special or Holy day for worship or
prayer[Sabbath],the temple,and the priest,may have stemmed from.And further
back in time we find more evidence of religion.Throughout the world we find
Palaeolithic Cave Art and in many of these caves,such as the Gargas caves in
France,there appears to be a religious influence behind the art.Some of these
caves could be regarded as mankind's first temples.So there appears to be
evidence of religion stretching back to almost 30,000 years ago.Further,A team
of Indian archaeologists also discovered ancient rock paintings in a
dilapidated cave near a Paliyar tribal habitation at Kombaikadu village
situated 1,000 metres above sea level on Palani-Kodaikanal Road,Tamil
Nadu,India in mid 2015.In one of the paintings, A holy lance was drawn on the
cave wall,The picture of holy lance showed prevalence of shaivite culture in
ancient times,Another picture depicts a person holding an axe in his hand with
a dead body lying near his feet and Hand symbol was also painted on these
rock.This type of hand symbol was present in many rock paintings throughout the
world,such as South Africa,zimbabwe,France and Indonesia.Also the ancient
artists used red colour to draw these paintings.All these paintings are atleast
4000 years old.Not only that,Graves from Europe and western Asia give a strong
indication that the Neanderthals were the first hominoids to bury their dead
perhaps as long as 50,000 years ago.In some cases the buried bodies were
accompanied with meaty animal bones.Other times with flowers,and in some cases
useful objects such as tools suggesting that some Neanderthal groups may have
had a belief in some kind of an afterlife.They, like so many religions of today
saw death as not the end, but merely the beginning of a new cycle of
existence.So,we can easily assume that,the Neanderthals the first
hominoids,Also may be aware of God,religion and an afterlife .
Part:03 Will follow
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