It may surprise you all to know that of all the various concepts that our society had come up with, religion happens to be one of the oldest and the most pervasive of them all. In fact, a recent archaeological discovery in Gobekli Tepe in Turkey showed that ancient communities did have a form of institutionalized worship as the archaeologists grappled with the fact that they may well have discovered our planet’s first temple, to date to ever have been built.
The fact is that ancient men often viewed confusing elements including heavenly bodies, acts of nature such as storms as acts of divine providence, and naturally worshiped one or all of them. Such behavior was not localized but spread all over the world as some of the earliest cave paintings (34500 years ago) tell us. Religion is indeed an ancient concept and one that seems to have diversified as man became more developed. While there is evidence to support that early man’s migration about Africa started some 100000 years ago, religion, or at least mainstream religion as we know it, would not make an appearance until 15000 years ago.
One of the earliest mainstream religions to ever take shape and still remain in existence today happens to be Hinduism. Apart from the ideology, the religious texts, or the Vedas as they are called offer us a detailed glimpse into this ancient community which is fascinating both from an archaeological and genealogical point of view. The common consensus is that mainstream religion got is nascent beginnings around the shores of the Black Sea and as a result of the impending flood (10000 BC circa), the local population emigrated out of the Caucus region into Iran and India.
The fascinating part is that even though the same group split into two and migrated to different areas of the world their religions mirrored each other with some of the same laws being adopted from one to the other. This only goes to show you that most of the major religions like Christianity which was a result of the schism in Judaism only underscore the same that all religions have common origins and/or closely linked to each other.
In fact, even though most Islamic nations consider themselves to be sworn enemies of Israel the fact remains that they all have a common patriarch in Abraham which is why he is revered as he is today, in the Islamic world. Religion is an essential component of our society today and irrespective of whether you are an atheist or a rationalist, the fact remains that faith can move mountains and it certainly helps t motivate a lot of people.
Our society would indeed be better off if the various religions propagated peace and the various priests admonished their believers to give up violence. At least, that would go a long way to help reduce the various religion induced violent acts that take place all over the world on a regular basis. Perhaps, it is time for all of us, irrespective of our beliefs, to send a prayer to whatever higher powers there are, for world peace and brotherhood.
