On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:35:21 -0600, "Don Begley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> That leads to my theory on how various religious traditions came into > being. Once humans reached a level of caloric & social security that > allowed some citizens to live past their sexually and huntingly (sic) > productive years, the longer-lived individuals had to develop an > argument for being fed by their younger counterparts. What better way > than to promise they could bring the sun back if only they were fed > while they performed the necessary rituals. Nice theory - but "social security" predated organized religion - a combination of generalized reciprocity and the fact that the old frts told good stories. The invention of agriculture - generating for the first time a surplus of food - inevitably resulted in the establishment of a formal religion quickly followed by a "kingship" of some sort. It was a question of surplus distribution - who should decide what happened to the surplus? coupled with the related question, who should control/possess the surplus until distributed? Unlike other tribal leadership roles, (e.g. war chief, head hunter, shaman) it was not obvious - based on consensus evaluation of individual skill sets - who should be "keeper of the surplus" but this was obviously a nice job to have so ambitious but otherwise unqualified types hit on the idea that they should do it because god/the gods wanted them to. An assertion beyond challenge. First claims to kingship were also based on "divine right." davew > > -d- ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
