actions against his fellow man, but the slaughter of beast in the name of 'sport' and harm to the environment. Beast are here for the well being of the planet, as a food source and as a very important part of the natural ecology of the planet, not for 'trophy hunts' or torture. The waterways of this planet are little more than cess pools because of mankind, society cannot stand by and let a dictator or an uncaring, greedy country (tribe) dictate a doctrine of hate and evil upon your fellow mankind or the environment.
The goal of all Humans on this planet (or anywhere else in the Universe) is to be happy, not oppressed or discriminated against and to live their life to the fullest in peace. The preponderance of hate, greed and intolerance breed unhappiness. One cannot be happy in his life when there is one or more of these evil feelings dictating his life actions. As stated earlier, every Human at one time or another has some of these feelings, either because of how they are treated or because of a perceived or an actual injustice. These are normal feelings (for Humans), but they should not dictate your life's actions. One should move on past these negative or hateful feelings and live a wholesome life devoid of these evil feelings for the betterment of himself and all of mankind.
You are fortunate to live on one of the jewels of the Universe. If there were such a physical place as 'Heaven', you are living on it today, do not let it slip away. Actually, I would advise the population of this world to strive for the betterment of man's actions towards himself and the planet's well being in a timely manner. Mankind on this planet is in his infancy and has a long way to go to ensure the survival of the species on this planet, the clock is ticking!
An excellent novel to read is "Lord Of The Flies". The author was able to fairly accurately depict how an 'isolated tribe' establishes leaders and 'religion' amongst the group, not unlike how ancient isolated tribes of mankind evolved. This novel delves into the psychosocial environment of the tribe and the resulting effects on the members of the tribe, including the evil that can be derived from seemingly 'good' people.
EARTH RELIGION
Religion of today is a manifestation of ancient man's superstitions, myths and embellishments, an assimilation of past primitive cultures, customs and values. With the rampant evil of the eighth and seventh centuries BCE (not unlike today), evil was on the verge of destroying the Human population of this world. Very early man was not the barbarian he became in the later centuries, although he was obviously by today's standards primitive, but not aggressive toward his fellow mankind. His sole purpose was to survive the elements IE, extreme weather, predators (beast), gather food and procreate.
Throughout the history of mankind on this planet, there has been an abundance of evil, sometimes evil was perpetrated in the name of 'God', other times it has simply been a lack of tolerance for someone of a different ethnicity. The crusades were not as much for 'religious' reasons, but rather for want of power and greed.
As with all species of plant and animal life, man's primary instinct is first to survive and secondly to propagate the species. Early man was not a monogamous species and mating was instead achieved on a chance meeting of a potential mate, much the same as many animals of today. The promiscuity of early man is what enabled the gene pool to become so diverse in the early years in southeastern Africa some two hundred thousand years ago. It was not until about sixty four thousand years ago, during the exodus from Africa, that mankind first started to settle with their mates, but even then they were not of a monogamist existence.
Today, most countries religions and cultures condone only monogamy in their societies because of man's 'moral values', a couple are expected to marry. Marriage was an invention of the religious cultures and is simply societies way of condoning the union of a couple and the expectation by society the couple will be faithful to each other. I do not want to keep harping on the radical Islamic states, but infidelity by women is a sentence of death by stoning, another example of barbaric standards (usually only the women are executed, not the men).
After the migration out of Africa, early man soon discovered there was safety in numbers, to stay together as a tribe. The tribe had the ability to either fend off large beast or to pool the food gathered for the survival of the group in times of famine and inclement weather. The collection of food was a feast or famine affair, in mild spring and summer months food was plentiful allowing the group to thrive and prosper. The tribes soon set rules to achieve a more harmonious existence within the tribe and a form of religion was adopted by the group. This religion was usually led by the strongest of the group and involved the belief in some sort of spirit or 'god', as professed by the tribal leader.
Winter months were a very rough time for most all, not only were the roots, berries and fruit gone for the duration of harsh winters, but game animals also left the area for greener pastures. So early man soon became nomads, with small groups following the game to warmer climates and eventually these groups became isolated from the others. It is a wonder mankind survived his early years on this planet after the Hourglass Effect. Disease was the mysterious killer, being very superstitious early man believed he must have offended the 'gods' and was subsequently smitten by the plagues that fell him because of his misdeeds.
It is ironic that Humans first began to 'cluster' in groups for protection against predators and the most vicious of all predators turned out to be man himself. During this period of struggling to survive, it seemed that other outside tribes had no inhibitions about taking what another tribe had accumulated, taking by either force or intimidation (not much has changed in today's world). As a tribe was conquered by 'others', the beliefs, gods and superstitions of the conquering tribe were imposed on the survivors of the conquered tribe.
Early man believed all that was around him was the result of some higher form of Being, anything he could not explain must be the result of a higher Being, a Creator. Neolithic man (eighth thru sixth century BCE) were probably the first society to have ritualistic 'religious' ceremonies as directed by the leaders who usually became the priest of the tribe. The leaders of these tribes learned early on they had much better control over the tribe's members if they could control their actions by threat or intimidation at the hands of the 'gods'.
The leaders taught a belief that all things on Earth had a 'soul', including inanimate objects. Neolithic man was quite possibly the first to bury food and possessions with the dead, to be carried forward in the afterlife. They also practiced 'human sacrifice' to appease the gods, the sacrifices were carried out by the priest of the tribe or at the very least at their direction. In some instances, at the direction of the priest, the sacrifices were cannibalized as further appeasement to the gods.
These acts of sacrifice and cannibalization were a further form of intimidation by the leaders to control and intimidate their followers, claiming; 'It was God's will' Not much different than some leaders of today's tribes that rule by outlandish and horrific means, such as in some of the extremist Islamic states where women are still regarded as 'property', and one must live life under extreme circumstances as dictated by the 'religious leaders' or be butchered by the ruling faction, usually as a public display for minor offenses to further their control over the people.
The doctrine of rule by terror is still practiced in many Islamic states today and is referred to as Shar'ah law, as dictated by their interpretation of the Koran. It is considered blasphemy for a person of a different religion to even touch the Koran, with a sentence of death!
Some cultures believed there was a god for every aspect of their lives, a 'Sun god', a 'Moon god' (the belief that a god pulled the Moon and Sun through the sky), a 'god of the oceans', a 'god of the soil', even a 'god of fertility' (it took thousands of years for mankind to equate sex with a woman's pregnancy). Any aspect of life that could not be explained or easily demonstrated was considered to be the act of a god (many of these primitive beliefs still persist in today's world, IE the belief in 'God', 'Allah', 'Jehovah', etc.).
Different tribes had a different god ('s) at the center of their superstitions and the belief in the elder's stories that were passed from generation to generation, these beliefs became 'law' in the group but were changed as the needs of the leaders changed. These laws (as professed by the Prophet) would be the basis for the tribes religion. Some of the named gods were: Roman = Jupiter; Greek = Zeus; Egyptian = Ammon; Osiers, cow goddess Hathor or Isis, the child god Horus; Babylonian = Bel-marduk; Jews = Jehovah; Persian = Mithras the Sun god, to name only a few, as you can see each tribe had at different times different gods as it suited their purpose.
Religion, as with other aspects of human behavior and beliefs, is a 'learned behavior'. From infancy you are 'taught' the beliefs of your parents or your group of peers, whether you realize it or not, you are consistently being molded to their myths and beliefs.
You did not spontaneously start to act like a boy or a girl at birth, it is a learned behavior, your first recollection of toys and dress are that of what your society considers to be gender appropriate. As you grow and mature you recognize these toys and