Theory of Religous Circularity (another name needs to be made up for this theory)
So it occurred to me today that there is a common pattern among most world religions. First, a person breaks away from the main oppressive religious establishment to teach radical new doctrine. The teachings are also aimed at reforming society for the better. After awhile, the religious teachings from into a religion that then begins taking on converts. After this though, the original religion eventually becomes corrupted and becomes an oppressive establishment sometimes worse than what the original religion was turning away from in the first place.
For Example:
-From the Jewish standpoint-
Abraham, the father of monotheism, broke away from the polytheistic religions of the Ancient Near East to follow one God, the only living God according to him. This in itself was a radical move because there had been a tradition of polytheism since thousands of years before Abraham. Over the course of several thousand years, Jewish Prophets such as Moses establish law which is said to have come to God in a way that would civilize their people. For example, the ten commandments offered a revolutionary change to the way society worked. Unfortunately, as time went on the religious establishments set up in Israel began to take the law too seriously. By the time Jesus at come to the scene, he began teaching against the hypocritical Jewish establishments of the day such as the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Pharisees.
-From the Christian standpoint-
As noted before, Jesus' teachings broke away from the orthodox Judaic practices of the day. Because Jews believe that they are God's chosen people, Judaism had taken on an extremely racist tone in the day of Jesus (this is noted in the story of the 'Good Samaritan'). Jesus broke away from this racist view to say that we shouldn't look at people's religion or ethnicity, we are all human brothers and sisters. Jesus also taught against the Jewish law of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" to say that we should just for forget what others have done to you. This, again, was radically different than what the Jewish establishment taught.
After his death, the Christian religion existed as an underground organization that was mostly concerned with spiritual affairs. As the teachings of Jesus became more and more popular throughout the Roman Empire, the emperor Constantine decided to replace the Roman Religion with Christianity in order to prevent a rebellion. Now the oppressive religious establishment that Jesus had taught against now existed in the form of the Roman Catholic Church.
As history went on in Europe, people began to get fed up with the Catholic Church and decided that they would brake away in order to get back to the original meaning of Christianity. This was the beginning of the Protestant Religions. Again, they became the oppressive religious establishment in parts of Europe. In America, people became fed up with the Protestant Churches, and thus began the many evangelical movements. In some ways, the evangelical movements have not become oppressive as much as say the Catholic Church. But, their power in American politics is growing all of the time.
-From the Islamic point of view-
The Prophet Muhammad came out of a society mixed with Judaic, Christian, and nomadic religions. His message was that of unifying everyone into one community so that everyone, especially the poor and orphans, could be taken care of (he himself was an orphan). Eventually he and his followers had to resort to military operations as they were being attacked by the Meccans who hated Islam because it threatened their Economy. (Mecca was the site of a famous pagan shrine which the Meccans made a lot of money off of. If Islam took hold, the Meccans would loose money from pilgrims). After Muhammad's death, Islam split into many different factions. Some of these factions have over time turned into organizations like the Taliban and the Iranian Government.
This is my thesis and it needs a lot of work. Any suggestions would be nice (even though only about three people are reading this blog right now).
For Example:
-From the Jewish standpoint-
Abraham, the father of monotheism, broke away from the polytheistic religions of the Ancient Near East to follow one God, the only living God according to him. This in itself was a radical move because there had been a tradition of polytheism since thousands of years before Abraham. Over the course of several thousand years, Jewish Prophets such as Moses establish law which is said to have come to God in a way that would civilize their people. For example, the ten commandments offered a revolutionary change to the way society worked. Unfortunately, as time went on the religious establishments set up in Israel began to take the law too seriously. By the time Jesus at come to the scene, he began teaching against the hypocritical Jewish establishments of the day such as the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Pharisees.
-From the Christian standpoint-
As noted before, Jesus' teachings broke away from the orthodox Judaic practices of the day. Because Jews believe that they are God's chosen people, Judaism had taken on an extremely racist tone in the day of Jesus (this is noted in the story of the 'Good Samaritan'). Jesus broke away from this racist view to say that we shouldn't look at people's religion or ethnicity, we are all human brothers and sisters. Jesus also taught against the Jewish law of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" to say that we should just for forget what others have done to you. This, again, was radically different than what the Jewish establishment taught.
After his death, the Christian religion existed as an underground organization that was mostly concerned with spiritual affairs. As the teachings of Jesus became more and more popular throughout the Roman Empire, the emperor Constantine decided to replace the Roman Religion with Christianity in order to prevent a rebellion. Now the oppressive religious establishment that Jesus had taught against now existed in the form of the Roman Catholic Church.
As history went on in Europe, people began to get fed up with the Catholic Church and decided that they would brake away in order to get back to the original meaning of Christianity. This was the beginning of the Protestant Religions. Again, they became the oppressive religious establishment in parts of Europe. In America, people became fed up with the Protestant Churches, and thus began the many evangelical movements. In some ways, the evangelical movements have not become oppressive as much as say the Catholic Church. But, their power in American politics is growing all of the time.
-From the Islamic point of view-
The Prophet Muhammad came out of a society mixed with Judaic, Christian, and nomadic religions. His message was that of unifying everyone into one community so that everyone, especially the poor and orphans, could be taken care of (he himself was an orphan). Eventually he and his followers had to resort to military operations as they were being attacked by the Meccans who hated Islam because it threatened their Economy. (Mecca was the site of a famous pagan shrine which the Meccans made a lot of money off of. If Islam took hold, the Meccans would loose money from pilgrims). After Muhammad's death, Islam split into many different factions. Some of these factions have over time turned into organizations like the Taliban and the Iranian Government.
This is my thesis and it needs a lot of work. Any suggestions would be nice (even though only about three people are reading this blog right now).
posted by Bruce at
3:15 PM
1 Comments:
What main oppressive religious establishment was Muhammad breaking from? Joseph Smith? No doubt that the followers were later persecuted/oppressed, but weren't initially searching for something new, rather than rejecting established reign?
You did mention Protestantism which I think is a good example of opposing/rejecting and breaking from the current establishment, but the circular part of your thesis would be hard to prove. It's less like a circle and more like a downward spiral wouldn't you say? (or maybe a tree with lots of branches?)
Isn't the final argument of the thesis that (most) world religions are the result of previous oppression and (most) religions are ultimately doomed to oppress?
Couldn't it be eve more macro? In any major organization political, religious or otherwise? Birth, growth, power, domination (but not necessarily "oppression"), revolution & rebirth?
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