EVOLUTION OF RELIGION

 I'll today be starting a new series on evolution.  The foci will include:

• Religion, a spiritual matter.
• Universe, probably next Sunday, for this too has spiritual implications.
• Humanity, same.
• Fire.
• Artificial Intelligence.
• There could be other topics.

I've long thought about how religion first got started, and in my mind, how it came to be was that the equivalent of a cavemen/cavewomen community usually had some sort of leader.  

• How could this person maintain control?  
• One way was to have his subjects police themselves, so created was a supreme being who watched over you all the time.  
• These societies were provided an advantage that favored their dominance for survival.  
• I've also long felt that religion led to larger communities, and might have been essential for Humanity to arrive at where we are earlier than without.

Of course, there is strong sentiment for God being the originator of religion.  I asked Google AI, how old is God:

In theological terms, God is generally considered eternal, existing outside of time and without a beginning or end, making the question of age inapplicable. However, in the context of technology, a former Google engineer once aimed to develop an "AI god" to be worshipped

. 

I asked Google AI this question about how religion got started:

Based on anthropological, psychological, and historical perspectives, the most common reason religion started is to provide meaning, comfort, and social cohesion in the face of uncertainty and mortality. 

Key drivers for the origin of religion include:

• Addressing the Unknown: Historically, humans used supernatural agents to explain natural phenomena and solve problems beyond human control.
• Social Cohesion and Belonging: Religion fosters community, reduces feelings of isolation, and provides a shared moral framework.
• Mortality and Control: Religion helps humans manage the fear of death and find order in a complex world. 

Modern Perspective (AI and Religion):

Interestingly, modern technology has sparked a new form of "techno-religion," where AI is viewed as a potential future deity, driven by a desire for a "higher power" that can solve humanity's problems better than humans can. Some observers note that as traditional religious institutions lose influence, people seek the same comfort, awe, and moral guidance from advanced technology. 

That final paragraph is where I'm headed in this series.

Let me approach religion from different perspectives.  One is Wikepedia's History of Religion:

• Timeline of Religion.
• Religion predates recorded history, which began about 5000 years ago.

• 
  No doubt there were religious practices in the Middle Paleolithic Period, 200,00 BC to 50,000 BC.
• As Homo sapiens first appeared around 300,000 years ago, many experts in this field have a sense that we humans were first to practice religion.
• But do apes today have any sort of religion?  Jane Goodall has said that chimpanzees are spiritual.  But spirituality is an internal and individual matter, while religion involves an external, institutionalized system of sharing beliefs and rituals.  It is this difference that precludes apes from starting religion.
• Certainly, there must have been early hominids living in small groups, and they might have been the first.
• A form of "human" appeared as long as 12 million years ago.
• Maybe the earliest named hominid, Sahelanhropus tchadensis, which appeared 7 million years ago in Central Africa, only very shortly after the human and chimpanzee lineages split, might have had the ability to live in tiny communities.
• By the appearance of  the walking Ardipithecus ramidus 4.5 million years ago and Australopithecus (like the famous Lucy) 4 million years ago, a case can be made that an early form of religion might have initiated with them.
• So certainly, by the time of Homo habilis (2.5 million years ago), Homo erectus (2 million years ago) and Neanderthals (400,000 years ago), one of them almost surely must have had religion.
• In other words, we Homo sapiens probably did not invent religion.
• So I asked Google AI, and its response was that it is highly possible that earlier hominids, particularly Neanderthals, practiced ritualistic behavior before Homo sapiens.
• 
  Keep in mind that dinosaurs survived for nearly 200 million years until that fateful asteroid appeared around 66 million years ago.  We hominids have only been around for maybe 10 millions years.  Religion is a relatively new concept that might not be even a million years old.

So back to the timeline of religion.

• 100,000 BC:  earliest human burial in the Middle East.
• 50,000 BC:  Neanderthal burials in Europe and Middle East.
• 40,000 BC:  Cremation in what is now Australia.

• 
  10,000 BC:  Cave burials.
• 9000 BC:  Shrine in India.
• 7000 BC:  God statues in Jordan?
• 4000 BC:  Religious records in Mesopotamia (the Fertile Crescent was in modern-day Iraq).

• 
  3100 BC:  Stonehenge abuilding (completed in 2600 BC).
• 2600 BC:  Oldest surviving Egyptian Pyramid.  
• 2560 BC:  The Great Pyramid of Giza.
• 1500 BC:  Oldest Hindu scriptures.

• 
  1300 BC:  Polytheistic religion of the Chinese Shang dynasty.
• 600 BC:  Start of Zoroastrianism.
• 500 BC:  Jewish Torah compiled.

• 
  563BC to 400 BC:  Siddhartha Gautha, founder of Buddhism was born?
• 447 BC:  Parthenon dedicated to the goddess Athena.
• 399 BC:  Socrates tried for impiety.

• 
  323 BC:  Death of Alexander the Great at the age of 32.
• 250 BC:  Third Buddhist council convened by Ashoka.
• 140 BC to 200:  Development of Hebrew Bible canon.
• 6-4 BC to 30 or 33:  Jesus Christ led to the establishment of Christianity.
• 70:  Gospel of Mark.
• 250 to 900:  Mayan step pyramids created.
• 350:  Complete biblical texts.

• 
  381:  First Council of Constantinople.  The foundational statement of Christian faith was formulated as The Nicene Creed.

• 
  410:  Western Roman Empire began to decline and onset of the Middle Ages.
• 570 to 632:  Life of Islamic prophet Muhammad.
• 680:  Division between Sunni and Shia developed.

• 
  712:  Oldest Shinto text.
• 1095 to 1099:  The First Crusade led to the capture of Jerusalem, and established what is today Israel.
• 1202 to 1204:  Fourth Crusade and sack of Constantinople.
• 1222 to 1282:  Life of Nichiren Daishonin, creating this branch of Buddhism that chants, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
• 1300 to 1521:  Aztec society.
• 1486 to 1534:  Life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who popularized the Hare Krishna chant.
• 1500:  Spanish Empire begins to spread Catholicism.

• 
  1517:  Martin Luther launched Protestant Reformation.
• 1791:  Freedom of religion enshrined in the Bill of Rights, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
• 1823:  Joseph Smith claims to receive visions and golden plates for the Book of Mormon.  Was murdered in 1844.
• 1905:  France passes law on the Separation of Church and State.
• 1917:  The October Revolution in Russia suppressed religion.  It took 70 years, but the Church beginning near the end of Cold War regained status and property.
• 1931:  Jehovah's Witnesses emerge from the Bible Student movement.

• 
  1939-1945:  6 million Jews killed by the Hitler regime in the Holocaust.
• 1947:  Pakistan and Bangladesh (1971) became religious Muslim nations.  British India became India with a Hindu majority.

• 
  1948:  Israel established as a homeland for Jews.
• 1954:  Church of Scientology established by L. Ron Hubbard.
• 1959:  The 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet.  He is still in exile, and is 90 years old.
• 1979:  The Iranian Revolution resulted in the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

• 
  1993:  The European Council agreed to religious freedom within all members of the European Union in the Maastricht Treaty.
• 2008:  Nepal, the world's only Hindu Kingdom, was converted to a secular nation.

So to summarize:

• There are up to 10,000 distinct religions worldwide.
• Christianity alone has 45,000 denominations.
• More than 77% of the global population follows one of the four largest religions:  

• 
  Christianity:  2.5 billion (32% of the world population).
• Catholic:  1.3 billion.
• Protestant:  920 million.
• Orthodox:  230 million.
• Islam:  1.9 billion (24.5%).
• Sunni:  1.7 billion
• Indonesia:  227 million, with 99% being Sunni.

• 
  Pakistan:  roughly 205 million, with 85-90% being Sunni.
• Bangladesh:  150 million, over 90% Sunni.
• Nigeria:  110 million, 53% Sunni.
• Egypt:  100%, over 90% Sunni.
• Turkey:  100 million, over 90% Sunni.
• Saudi Arabia:  25-30 million, 84-90% Sunni.
• These countries had at least 95% Sunni:  Morocco, Somalia, Tunisia.

• 
  Shia:  200 million to 260 million, lot of uncertainty.
• Iran:  66-70 million, 90-95% Shia.
• Pakistan:  21.5-30 million, 10-20% Shia.
• India:  16-24 million, 3% Shia.
• Iraq:  19-22 million, 62-65% Shia.
• Bahrain has 60-70% Shia.
• Lebanon as 50% Shia.

• 
  Hindu:  1.2 billion (14.5%).
• Vaishnavism, 399 million, 68%.
• Shaivism 385 million, 27%.
• Shaktism, 305 million, 3.2%.
• India, 1.12 billion.
• Nepal 28.6 million.
• Pakistan 4.4 million.
• USA 2.5-3 million.

• 
  Buddhism:  around 400 million (5.5%).
• Cambodia 97%.
• Thailand 94.4%.
• Myanmar 89%.
• China has from 53 million to 244 million Buddhists, but only 4-8% of the population.
• USA has 1% Buddhists.

Next?  Our Universe.

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