Hi, I'm JohnGreen. WelcometoCrashCourseReligions. Doesthislookfamiliar? YouprobablyknowitastheCoexistdesign, a smatteringofsymbolsthatcometogethertospellthewordcoexist. Thisisjustoneofthousandsofcarbumpersthatusesitsdesigntoproclaim a desireforpeaceandreligioustolerancetootherdrivers, I guess.
Nowviewersmightseethecoexistsymbolas a representationoftheworld's religions, right? You'vegot a crescentmoonforIslam, theJewishStarofDavid, a crosssymbolizing
Christianity, even a littleWiccanpentagramtodotthe I. Butthethingis, thatdoesn't coverallthereligionspracticedintheworld, notby a longshot. Andwhatitleavesouttellsyou a lotmoreaboutthehistoryofreligionthanyoumightthink.
Sowhat's thepointofhaving a categorylikethebigfive, andwhydowehearaboutonly a fewreligionswhileignoringtonsofothers? Let's gobackintimetofigurethatout.
Aswesawinepisodeone, whatcountsas a religionisactuallyquitecomplicated. Theideaofreligionasthisspecialcategorysetapartfromotherstuffpeoplethink, believe, anddo—well, that's only a fewhundredyearsold. Itcameaboutin 16thcenturyWestern
Accordingtothislogic, a lackofreligionimplied a lackofcivilization. Solike, Muslimsmighthavethewrongreligion, therebynecessitatingcrusadesandwhatnot, butatleasttheyhad a religionandwerethereforecivilized. PeopleintheAmericasandmuchofsub-Saharan
Minor. I'llletyoutake a guessforwhichreligionsgotthegoodlabels.
マイナーだ。どの宗教が良いレッテルを貼られたか、当ててみてほしい。
TextsfromBuddhism, Hinduism, andotherAsiantraditionsweretranslatedintoEnglish, whichhelpedcementtheideathatsacredwrittentextswere a universalfeatureof a quoteworldreligion. Meanwhile, thosewithoraltraditionswereseenasprimitiveorminor.
Basedonthosesimilarities, youcantellwhat's a religionandwhat's not, sortoflikehowyouknowPokemonandCallofDutyarebothvideogames, eventhoughtheydon't have a tonincommonatfirstglance.
Culturesareinternallydiverseandalwayschanging, sowecan't generalizeaboutwhatallmembersof a religionthinkanddo. Andinmosttraditions, wecan't draw a straightlinefromhowearlymembersdidstufftohowpeopledoitnow.
MywayofbeingChristianisn't likehowtheRomansdidit, whichisgoodnewsformeas I lackthemoralcouragetofaceoffagainst a lionin a Colosseum. ButmywayofbeingChristianisalsodifferentfromtheSouthernBaptistorUkrainianOrthodoxwayofbeingChristian. There's vastdiversitywithintraditionsaswellasacrossthem.
Linking a religion's currentinterpretationtothefar-offpastbecomes a wayofexcludingandcontrollingotherpeople's interpretations, which, inmyopinion, justisn't cool. Taylor
Toreallyunderstandallthewayspeopledoreligion, wehavetounpacktheboxeswe'vetheycamefrom, whattheydoinsociety, andwhoseintereststhey'reserving. Andthatunpackingshowsusthat a listofmajorreligionsisn't a mapof a pre-existingsystem. It's anideathatcreates a system, onethatreflectsandreinforcespowerwhileobscuringthecriteriaforwhatcounts.
Hi, I'm JohnGreen. WelcometoCrashCourseReligions. Doesthislookfamiliar? YouprobablyknowitastheCoexistdesign, a smatteringofsymbolsthatcometogethertospellthewordcoexist. Thisisjustoneofthousandsofcarbumpersthatusesitsdesigntoproclaim a desireforpeaceandreligioustolerancetootherdrivers, I guess.