on the beginnings of religion

And issues with "what is primative"

snip

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During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the supposed exemplar of such religion came from the Australian Aborigines, and in the 1970s the south African Bushmen or San were added as exemplars. In addition to these two allegedly primordial paradigms, many viewed native American peoples as bearers of ancient supernatural traditions. Others thought that isolated Amazonian and Melanesian societies could shed light on the subject.

What many of these reconstruction projects have in common is the assumption that all such peoples were frozen in time and that their “religions,” which are not isomorphic with Western concepts and definitions of “religion,” did not change over time. We know, of course, that none of this correct — all such peoples have complex histories of migration, contact, and change. While some may have carried on in ways that more closely resembled ancient lifeways, this doesn’t mean their “religions” (a word and concept foreign to most or all of them) are static models of the Paleolithic past. At best, they can serve as rough analogues that may have more in common with ancient ideas than do modern or “world religions.” At worst, they are considered to be pristine exemplars of original religion.

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I'm guessing there will be a lot of action in the next few decades as sophistication in neurology improves to the point where perhaps fundamental questions about religion and the brain can be asked ...

Comments

[Roger]

My religion is that religion is the antithesis of science. What exactly is the difference between a modern miracle and an ancient miracle? In ancient times one was miraculously healed by the laying on of hands; today one is miraculously healed by the laying on of radiation.

Religion is mind control, pure and simple. Indoctrination begins at birth. There is no difference between primitive and modern religions; they all feast on ignorance. Pity the poor student; she learns creationism and intelligent design at home and in church, and she learns evolution and genetic mutation in school and university. Is it a surprise that a quarter of young adults believe they were created and evolved?