"Of all the praises that can be sung about our Great-Goddess ancestors, probably the most stunning of all is their ability to live for hundreds — and in some cases thousands — of years without plunging into the hell that is human warfare. ...Go HERE to buy a copy of Switching to Goddess.
"Otherwise well-educated people will tell you we’re born biologically primed to wage war. That it’s in our genes. Frankly my dears, these people don’t have a clue. Before about 4000 BC, give or take a few years in either direction, and depending on where you are on the globe, there was no war. At least not what’s called “institutionalized” war, where war is built into our social systems, so it’s almost impossible to dig it out and pitch it on its ear, and where wars happen every few decades or so, regular as the beat of your heart.
"I’m sure you’ve heard the fantasy tale — doubtless more than once as a matter of fact — that humans are biologically built to war, and that war’s been with us from the beginning of time. For whatever reason, during the twentieth-century big batches of academics convinced themselves humans are born violent. Although some today still believe this hogwash, others are pointing to the obvious: given what we know now about our peaceful first cousins the bonobos and the numbers of nonwarring societies in the world, there’s just no way human beings can be born violent. Pure and simple: if you’re not taught war, you’re not going to do it."
From: Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future, Chapter 5, "Before War," 2008, Hampshire, UK: O Books
After the Goddess Era, of course, came the War God Era, which we still bask in today. Pure and simple, Jehovah, Allah and Yahweh are war gods. If you doubt it, go read the New York Times article "Wayward Christian Soldiers" by Charles Marsh, professor of religion at the U. of Virginia:
"... Jerry Falwell boasted that "God is pro-war" in the title of an essay he wrote in 2004."Go HERE to buy a copy of Switching to Goddess.
SNIP
"Many of the most respected voices in American evangelical circles blessed the president's war plans [in Iraq], even when doing so required them to recast Christian doctrine."
SNIP
" Charles Stanley, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta...: 'We should offer to serve the war effort in any way possible,' said Mr. Stanley, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. 'God battles with people who oppose him, who fight against him and his followers.'"
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foto above: Ancient Minoan Goddess
Hi
ReplyDeleteI remember an old Irish joke about a traveller who asks a countryman how to get to Dublin and is told, "Well, I wouldn't start from here".
I firmly believe that organised war has not always been a part of human society. It has, however, been so for what we call the period of recorded history.
That it is possible to get back to that sort of thinking is to me what amounts to an article of faith but I do not know haw we will get there. But we have to start from here. And here is not where I would wish to be or to start from.
PS - love the idea of an official holiday at Samhain.
brian, check out today's post (Oct. 31).
ReplyDelete"Before about 4000 BC....."
ReplyDeleteThey didn't wage war because they didn't have the means and there were not the other civilizations to do so. When they finally got agriculture down and figured out where was suitable to live then they fought quite a bit. The entire Middle East and around the Mediterranean have seen near constant war since even before anyone had writing. Frankly my dear, you have no idea what you're talking about.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteBWA, HA, HA, HA, HARDY, HAR HA... HE hehehe....
Spoken like a true student of prehistory, ancient history, and archaeology.
NOT.
You need to read a couple dozen elementary textbooks before you come back here again and try spouting sanctimonious nonsense.
Anonymous - probably a male, too scared to make his comments publicly. Scaredy cat!
ReplyDelete