this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
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Today I Learned

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[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It always complete the picture to understand that the creation myth used in the Bible was not Jewish or Christian in origin. It was an appropriation of a pagan myth of the era. Like most Christianity, it is just a syncretism to make the cult palatable to the newly recruited. "Oh yes, that thing that you already believe in was totally our god".

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I think all major religious myths, like languages themselves, are derivative of previous myths on some level. Sure, there was a proto-mythology at some point, but it expanded, changed, etc. until it divided into multiple religions. And, of course, Judaism beget Christianity beget Islam, but all of them took other religious myths that were popular at the time and wove them into the tapestry.

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 6 points 2 months ago

I think they mean more like in say Europe where Christianity came in, took cultural events etc for other religions and claimed it as their own rather to make conversion easier.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

This is colonial thinking. "Civilization just happens to be the natural evolution of what I am doing. Your ways are barbarian backwards savagery". It is the same logic.

There's nothing natural or linear in religious belief. Catholicism itself is fragmented into hundreds of sects, and so is every single religion ever to have existed. Adapted to the particular capricious vanities of the local clergy and the established local customs. Christians taking some Jewish elements was just a manipulation tactic. I'm also sure some Islam sects would behead you for suggesting that Islam is a derivative of Christianity. The theory of a proto religion is also wrong, we know for a fact that not all of modern religions started from the same proto-belief, but ancient religions are actually quite varied and distinct.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I didn't make a claim even remotely like that. I was not talking about superiority in any way. I'm not a Muslim and what you're saying I'm claiming would only make sense if I was a Muslim since that was the end of the "evolution" I was talking about.

Would you make the same claim about proto-languages, that modern languages are not derived from them?

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world -1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Yes, any proto-whatever theory is colonialist in essence. It's a very heated argument in anthropology, sociology and social psychology. The current consensus is that it is only valid for the indo-european migration, and a version exist for the proto-sino-tibetan migration. But, we understand that it can only be claimed to apply thus far, and with all sorts of modern ideological biases and caveats. Both language and religion are extremely complex social phenomena that have independently appeared all throughout history. And every time they have their very unique and distinct qualities. There's no unified tree of languages that has enough evidence to be authoritative. And there's no such linear derivation equivalent for religion. It is all just pop-sci feefees.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wait... you're saying that languages aren't actually derived from older languages and anyone who thinks so is colonialist?

Because I would look into where the 'ist' suffix in 'colonialist' comes from. Believe it or not, it didn't pop into existence along with the rest of the English language.

I'm sorry you don't like it that Judaism was derived in great part by Babylonian mythos which, themselves, likely were derived from a previous mythos, but I'm not sure what that has to do with colonialism or any idea of superiority and I'm sorry you don't like the simple fact that we can point to specific stories which eventually made their way into Judaism and then on to Christianity and Islam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh_flood_myth

As for why that is linear? Because that's how time works. The Babylonians came first, then the Jews, then the Christians, then the Muslims. And each one derived their religion from the previous one.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Ffs, this is why I never engage with you. You're so thick skulled, nuance is always lost on you. It's like "bad faith argument, the person". Enjoy your strawman, you built it, you can keep it.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Insulting me won't change the fact that each of those religions was derived from the previous one in a linear fashion.

In fact, you have been insulting me this entire time. You claimed that I was doing some sort of colonialist superiority thing. As I said, that only makes sense if you are talking about Muslim superiority and Islamic colonialism, something that hasn't happened in a very long time. I'm not Muslim and I also don't think there is anything superior about any of those other Middle Eastern religions that ended up spreading around the world.

I just don't know why you think oral history and folklore being passed down from generation to generation doesn't happen when it's the only way we have left to learn about many indigenous peoples' histories. Sometimes by getting them from multiple groups and figuring out what truths can be gleaned by the similarities.