Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Why are lies more appealing than the truth?

It would seem that so many people are gullible and fall for myths over reality. I suspect that’s why there is such faith in religion not just when it is obviously devoid of facts but even when up against facts that outright debunk the myths people will not let the lies go and instead often hold myths as true with even greater belief. Instead of just becoming outraged we must ponder what in the world is going on? I use to look down on them as morons willfully running headlong into superstition and illusion as if it were their addiction. But that extreme intentionality or completely denialist choice conclusion is somewhat leaving me a bit and I am starting to see it as truly sad and cognitively foolish which could be somewhat nature not only nurture. It seems some people have an innate insecurity or are somewhat incapable of reality and thus feel a need to seek out myths to buy into. Therefore, some people may contain a hyper-maladaptive tendency to desire myth as a way of thinking or myth as a way of life. It could be a comfort with reality weakness motivating one to choose to live according to myth and about increase the inability to reach reality that is completely devoid of any myths. Such non-critical thinking would thus feel like thinking along mythical lines is a very good way of thinking, if not the best. This would seem to be the case with those prone to not just myths but denialism, superstition, supernaturalism, religion, and extreme conspiracy theories. Theists like to confuse the understanding of atheism to lessen its obvious reason. So, here’s a definition of atheism: all offered claims of god(s) are baseless and devoid of a shred of testable or provable evidence, and the claims of or about gods either don’t represent in reality or claim to represent things contrary to reality as well as contradicts each other requiring a conclusion of atheism (lack of belief or disbelief in theism). All doubt is not the same nor is all skepticism the same. Cartesian doubt is also known as Cartesian skepticism, methodic doubt, methodological skepticism, or hyperbolic doubt. Cartesian doubt is a systematic process of being skeptical about (or doubting) the truth of one’s beliefs, which has become a characteristic method in philosophy. This method of doubt was largely popularized in Western philosophy by René Descartes (1596-1650), who sought to doubt the truth of all his beliefs in order to determine which beliefs he could be certain were true. Methodological skepticism is distinguished from philosophical skepticism in that methodological skepticism is an approach that subjects all knowledge claims to scrutiny with the goal of sorting out true from false claims, whereas philosophical skepticism is an approach that questions the possibility of pure knowledge. Cartesian doubt is methodological. Its purpose is to use doubt as a route to certain knowledge by finding those things which could not be doubted. Scientific skepticism is also called rational skepticism, and it is sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry. Scientific skepticism is different from philosophical skepticism, which questions our ability to claim any knowledge about the nature of the world and how we perceive it. Methodological skepticism, a systematic process of being skeptical about (or doubting) the truth of one’s beliefs, is similar but distinct. Scientific skepticism embraces empiricism; in social science, scientific skepticism thus tends towards the positivist end of the spectrum of the positivism dispute, essentially rejecting anti-positivism and qualitative research, as well as other research approaches that do not follow a rule-based form of scientific method as unscientific or non-scientific. Scientific skepticism has been defined as an approach which prefers beliefs and conclusions that are reliable and valid to ones that are just comforting or convenient. Therefore one using scientific skepticism rigorously and openly applies the methods of science and reason to all empirical claims, especially their own. This means to provisionally proportions acceptance of any claim to valid logic and a fair and thorough assessment of available evidence, and be aware of the possible pitfalls of human reason and the mechanisms of deception so as to avoid being deceived by others or themselves. Scientific skepticism values method over any particular conclusion. Scientific skepticism is thus a provisional approach to claims. It is the application of reason to any and all ideas — no sacred cows allowed. In other words, scientific skepticism is a method, not a position. Ref

Spiritual Woo Woo, Trying to Make Magic of Reality.

I was asked what are my thoughts on Spirituality?

A person to me: Damien, I’m with you in the science side and nature. But what are your thoughts on spirituality?

My response: Personally I don’t know what that means. I used to call myself a spiritual atheist but the more I learned the less I saw that as anything meaningful and was just my placeholder carry-over word from my religious past. What I meant by it was I say value and meandering in the world. That things were connected in some way. I now have a nonreligious word that states this and is more substantive and beneficially descriptive. Axiology or Axiological. Which stands for value theory or value science. And I call myself an Axiological Atheist. But it’s more than just that value is also a morality and humanistic motivation for my atheism.

A person to me: Pretty good. Maybe spirituality is just being conscious of morals and reality. Just wondered where you stood on it. I still pray. (learned behavior I guess). Thanks for the reply.

My response: I believe in you and you should believe in you.

A person to me: Right on, thanks.

My response: I can send you a link about Axiological Atheism if you want.

A person to me: Alright cool.

My response: https://damienmarieathope.com/2015/10/30/axiological-atheism-explained/

Overall, it should be understood that I don’t value the word spiritual.

It really means nothing to me. I went through a phase when I was working through understanding myself apart from the religion I had lived my whole life.

So I used to say I was a spiritual atheist. That for me was a lack of understanding of how to use nonreligious words to explain how I felt.

With the word spiritual, I wanted to say I saw meaning in the world, which people had value and I cared and wanted to live an ethical humanistic life.

I now do not put value in the word spiritual as it has 20 meanings if you ask 10 people.

The use of the word spiritual to me is just woo woo, trying to make magic of reality.

I have a better word that is more accurate to my thinking “axiological/axiology especially formal or scientific axiology and this word does not have the religious baggage.

I am an Axiological Atheist

Axiological Atheism can be thought to involve ethical/value theory reasoned and

moral argument-driven apatheism, ignosticism, atheism, anti-theism, anti-religionism, secularism, and humanism. 

Axiological to Atheist: is meant to denote an atheistic rejection of the existence of gods or supreme beings in favor of a “higher absolute”, such as humanity or universal ethical principles.

Axiological reasoning as a form of atheism mindset favors humanity as the absolute source of holistic ethics and care values, and permits individuals to resolve moral problems without resorting to gOD. One value of holistic universal ethics being humanistic is mutual care and responsibility.

In the absence of a supernatural caretaker, we know that the responsibility for improving this world rests where it always has – with the people who live, think, feel, and act in that world. Thus, no spiritual woo-woo is needed or wanted.

If you think spirituality is true because you think that we have a soul or spirit check out: “My correspondence with a believer in souls”

If you think spiritual is true because you think that ghosts or spirits are true check out: “So are Ghosts Possible, Because Energy Does not Die? Well, NO!”

If you think spiritual is true because you think developed a spirit in evolution check out:

If you think spiritual is true because you think humans have a spirit, because we may not be part of evolution check out: “Humans are Part of Evolution, not a Special Creation”  and Evolution is FACT!

To me, the term spiritual is a lingering connection to religious beliefs and Science Facts Should Make Religious Belief Impossible.

Wondering why I am so harsh on woo-woo ideas like spirituality and not just attack or challenge religion, well I Hate Religion Just as I Hate Pseudoscience.

“Dead is Dead” no ghosts, spirits or souls…

What Part of That confuses you?

“A Physicist Just Explained Why the Large Hadron Collider Disproves the Existence of Ghosts“

According to sciencealert.com, “Recent polls have found that 42 percent of Americans and 52 percent of people in the UK believe in ghosts – a huge percentage when you consider that no one has ever come up with irrefutable proof that they even exist. But we might have had proof that they don’t exist all along, because as British theoretical physicist Brian Cox recently pointed out, there’s no room in the Standard Model of Physics for a substance or medium that can carry on our information after death, and yet go undetected in the Large Hadron Collider. “If we want some sort of pattern that carries information about our living cells to persist, then we must specify precisely what medium carries that pattern, and how it interacts with the matter particles out of which our bodies are made,” Cox, from the University of Manchester, explained in a recent episode of BBC’s The Infinite Monkey Cage. “We must, in other words, invent an extension to the Standard Model of Particle Physics that has escaped detection at the Large Hadron Collider. That’s almost inconceivable at the energy scales typical of the particle interactions in our bodies.” Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who was also on the show, replied, “If I understand what you just declared, you just asserted that CERN, the European Centre for Nuclear Research, disproved the existence of ghosts.” “Yes,” said Cox. It’s become glaringly obvious that the Standard Model of Physics is an incomplete theory, with several gaping holes that physicists have been trying to patch up for decades, but Cox says the existence of ghosts doesn’t fall within the ‘known unknowns’ of the Standard Model. Instead, he says it directly contradicts the one of the most rigorously tested and fundamental laws of the Universe we have – the second law of thermodynamics. The second law of thermodynamics states that the total entropy of an isolated system always increases over time. Entropy is a measure of the randomness or disorder within a closed or isolated system, and the second law of thermodynamics states that as usable energy is lost, chaos increases – and without extra energy being put into a system, that progression toward disorder can never be reversed. In other words, energy is always lost to heat in any system – whether it’s a washing machine or the Universe – and you can never get back all the energy you put in. The principle can be used to explain why the arrow of time only ever marches forwards; why there’s a past, future, and present; and why you can’t un-scramble an egg, because it would lower the Universe’s entropy. So how does that apply to ghosts? Because we can’t touch and interact with them, ghosts can’t be made of matter, but instead of energy.  And if energy is necessarily lost within every system – particularly if they’re doing anything that requires using more of it, such as moving, emitting light, or making spooky sounds – it would be impossible for them to maintain their existence for any significant period of time. The second nail in the coffin comes from the Large Hadron Collider, because while there are things about the Universe we still can’t find using this giant particle accelerator, what we can see very well is the way energy drives our cells’ information. If we assume that the energy that sustains ghosts isn’t an entirely new substance or medium, but carries on from when we were living, then this mysterious force controlling the particles that make up our cells would have been detected in the Large Hadron Collider by now. “I would say if there’s some kind of substance that’s driving our bodies, making my arms move and legs move, then it must interact with the particles out of which our bodies are made,” says Cox. “And seeing as we’ve made high precision measurements of the ways that particles interact, then my assertion is that there can be no such thing as an energy source that’s driving our bodies.” DeGrasse Tyson adds to this by saying that while he, like many people, has experienced “haunting experiences” in the past, he’s yet to really find a phenomenon that’s defied his complete knowledge of physics, maths, and astrophysics. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get the very human urge to want to believe in the lingering dead. “In that moment, there’s a mystery, and it’s kinda fun,” he says. “And that allows me to understand, and even embrace, the urge that people have to want there to be this deep mystery, such as ghosts of ancestors. I have a soft spot for what that psychological state is, because I’ve felt that intermittently, except I kept exploring and getting the answer.” You can download and listen to the whole segment at the BBC’s website.” Ref

So are Ghosts Possible, Because Energy Does not Die? Well, NO!

No ghosts are not possible, as at no time did magic get added to our natural evolution.

However, ghost believers say but it’s not magic, it’s reality, it’s a scientific fact that once energy is created, it can never cease to exist, it just changes form.

Nevertheless, they are in error, they seem to be confusing two things, as energy is mindless not aware of what it was in a previous form. Science is against ghosts and souls and stating that energy can go on is a non sequitur to infer that proves ghosts is like saying that because we were once star stuff we turn back into stars.

Ghost believers will most likely keep believing and close in on the belief while also closing out the reason and evidence debunking the belief in ghosts. They can believe as they wish and no amount of that belief makes a thing such as ghosts true.

Let’s address the thinking that if energy cannot be created or destroyed but only change form, what happens to our body’s energy when we die, why not ghosts?

According to Benjamin Radford, a Live Science Contributor, it may seem like a reasonable assumption — unless you understand basic physics. The answer is very simple, and not at all mysterious. After a person dies, the energy in his or her body goes where all organisms’ energy goes after death: into the environment. The energy is released in the form of heat, and transferred into the animals that eat us (i.e., wild animals if we are left unburied, or worms and bacteria if we are interred), and the plants that absorb us. There is no bodily “energy” that survives death to be detected or seen. So are ghosts real? Science says NO. Ref

You still believe in ghosts because you think you have seen or felt them? Well, think again it’s all just in your head.

Scientists Created “Ghosts” in the Lab: This sensation is commonly reported in people with certain neurological or psychiatric disorders, or those exposed to extreme conditions. In 1970, mountaineer Reinhold Messner reported seeing a “phantom” climber descending the slopes of a particularly extreme summit alongside him. This also happens in people who have recently experienced another extreme condition: the loss of a spouse. In most cases, the sufferer reports the very real sensation of an unseen presence. This is the stuff of which ghost stories are made, but researchers say they know why this feeling occurs, and they’ve even recreated it in the lab. Ref

Scientific Thinking not Faith Thinking

Science, unlike faith, uses more Critically Open-Minded Reasoning (open assessment and reflective correctability) the effort to overcome all of those issues common with Induced Delusional Disorder or “faith brainwashed” thinking. With science, unlike faith thinking, all facts are welcomed, even if they contradict a treasured theory or model, which must then be rejected immediately. A true scientist will be delighted at having found a new aspect of science, especially if it changes a scientific view, whereas a true religionist/fideist motivated by faith or Induced Delusional Disorder will deny it and try to explain it away. Admittedly science is not a single category, approach or thinking, however nobody who is reasonable and informed can or should reject or deny the truths it produces. Religion too is not a single category, approach, or thinking, however, nobody who is reasonable and informed can accept its deluded or reality-devoid beliefs as any kind of truths. The scientific method assumes a priori of methodological naturalism about the nature of reality that is devoid of considering supernatural causes, it is not agnostic about this. The scientific method is using a form of philosophical rationalism to establish this view about the nature of reality along with the commonly held philosophy of empiricism, because looking for proof or truth devoid of considering supernatural causes by using a priori assumptions is employing rationalism. Open–mindedness for Bertrand Russell is the virtue that prevents habit and desires from making us unable or unwilling to entertain the idea that earlier beliefs may have to be revised or abandoned; its main value lies in challenging the fanaticism that comes from a conviction that our views are absolutely certain. A review of certain key ideas provides a clearer sense of the dimensions of the ideal of open-mindedness for all those who are determined to make this aim central to their work as teachers. What follows is a road map to the terrain which surrounds the idea of open-minded inquiry. Ref  Moreover, Open–mindedness is receptiveness to new ideas. Open–mindedness relates to the way in which people approach the views and knowledge of others, and “incorporate the beliefs that others should be free to express their views and that the value of others’ knowledge should be recognized.” According to What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite, closed-mindedness, or an unwillingness to consider new ideas, can result from the brain’s natural dislike for ambiguity. According to this view, the brain has a “search and destroy” relationship with ambiguity and evidence contradictory to people’s current beliefs tends to make them uncomfortable by introducing such ambiguity. Research confirms that belief-discrepant-closed-minded persons have less tolerance for cognitive inconsistency. Ref

Spiritual Woo Woo, Trying to Make Magic of Reality.

I Blaspheme the Unreal Unholy Bible Spirit called gOD

A person to me: Damien, I’m with you in the science side and nature.

But what are your thoughts on spirituality?

My response: Personally I don’t know what that means. I used to call myself a spiritual atheist but the more I learned the less I saw that as anything meaningful and was just my placeholder carry-over word from my religious past. What I meant by it was I say value and meandering in the world. That things were connected in some way. I now have a nonreligious word that states this and is more substantive and beneficially descriptive. Axiology or Axiological. Which stands for value theory or value science. And I call myself an Axiological Atheist. But it’s more than just that value is also a morality and humanistic motivation for my atheism.

A person to me: Pretty good. Maybe spirituality is just being conscious of morals and reality. Just wondered where you stood on it. I still pray. (learned behavior I guess). Thanks for the reply.

My response: I believe in you and you should believe in you.

A person to me: Right on, thanks.

My response: I can send you a link about Axiological Atheism if you want.

A person to me: Alright cool.

My response: Axiological Atheism Explained, Explaining Axiological theism, Axiological agnosticism, and Axiological atheism, Axiological Dignity Being Theory

Overall, it should be understood that I don’t value the word spiritual.

It really means nothing to me. I went through a phase when I was working through understanding myself apart from religion I had lived my whole life. So, I used to say I was a spiritual atheist. That for me was a lack of understanding of how to use nonreligious words to explain how I felt. With the word spiritual, I wanted to say I saw meaning in the world, which people had value and I cared and wanted to live an ethical humanistic life. I now do not put value in the word spiritual as it has 20 meanings if you ask 10 people. The use of the word spiritual to me is just woo woo, trying to make magic of reality. I have a better word that is more accurate to my thinking “axiological/axiology especially formal or scientific axiology and this word does not have the religion baggage. I am an Axiological Atheist (value theorist atheist). Axiological to Atheist:is meant to denote an atheistic rejection of the existence of gods or supreme beings in favor of a “higher absolute”, such as humanity or universal ethical principles. Axiological reasoning as a form of atheism mindset favors humanity as the absolute source of holistic ethics and care values, and permits individuals to resolve moral problems without resorting to gOD. One value of holistic universal ethics being humanistic is mutual care and responsibility. In the absence of a supernatural caretaker, we know that the responsibility for improving this world rests where it always has – with the people who live, think, feel, and act in that world. Thus, no spiritual woo-woo is needed or wanted. If you think spiritual is true because you think that we have a soul or spirit check out: “My correspondence with a believer in souls” If you think spiritual is true because you think that ghosts or spirits are true check out: “So are Ghosts Possible, Because Energy Does not Die? Well, NO!” If you think spiritual is true because you think developed a spirit in evolution check out: If you think spiritual is true because you think humans have a spirit, because we may not be part of evolution check out: “Humans are Part of Evolution not a Special Creation”  and Evolution is FACT! 

Two Atheists philosophers: debate “spiritual”

To me, the term spiritual is a lingering connection to religious beliefs and Science Facts Should Make Religious Belief Impossible. Wondering why I am so harsh on woo-woo ideas like spiritual and not just attack or challenge religion, well I Hate Religion Just as I Hate Pseudoscience.

Extreme Religious Faith & Induced/Shared Delusional Disorder

Why we know religions and gods are lies is confirmed in my blog, “The Evolution of Religion and Removing the Rationale of Faith”

The Way of a Sound Thinker?

Battle For Evidence?

agnostic vs ignostic

Ignostic Atheist?

Sorry You Have No Evidence

I Am an Ignostic Atheist

I reject that even the term god has any valid coherent meaning outside myths.

The door of reason opens not once but many times.

Religions continuing in our modern world, full of science and facts, should be seen as little more than a set of irrational conspiracy theories of reality. Nothing more than a confused reality made up of unscientific echoes from man’s ancient past. Rational thinkers must ask themselves why continue to believe in religions’ stories. Religion myths which are nothing more than childlike stories and obsolete tales once used to explain how the world works, acting like magic was needed when it was always only nature. These childlike religious stories should not even be taken seriously, but sadly too often they are. Often without realizing it, we accumulate beliefs that we allow to negatively influence our lives. In order to bring about awareness, we need to be willing to alter skewed beliefs. Rational thinkers must examine the facts instead of blindly following beliefs or faith.

I fully enjoy the value (axiology) of archaeology (empirical evidence from facts or artifacts at a site) is knowledge (epistemology) of the past, adding to our anthropology (evidence from cultures both the present and past) intellectual (rational) assumptions of the likely reality of actual events from time past.

Religion is Unwarranted Faith and Belief   The problem with religion is unwarranted faith and belief. The problem of faith is as an invalid justification and the belief problem is holding unjustified false belief believing it is justified true belief. 

People sometimes think My Stuff on religion is too detailed. And I think, these are only the highlights of the cliff notes on the issue of religious evolution. It actually is even more…

I know enough to surprise archaeologists but they don’t realize I have been researching since 2006 when I became an atheist. I wanted to know. I am also going to publish my prehistory book, which will shock the world, at how much I have figured out, it is breathtakingly amazing.

I am mainly a prehistorian, 1 million to around 5,000/4,000 years ago. So while I may understand the past most don’t I don’t know a lot of history many seem to commonly know. I am not reading any more books, maybe ever again as I am tired from a life devoted to deep study. lol

Nothing is a justified true belief without valid or reliable reason and evidence; just as everything believed must be open to question, leaving nothing above challenge.

I like learning prehistory!

I also hate: 

“Pseudo-science, Pseudo-history, and Pseudo-morality.”

So yeah, history is fun, but one must weed through the sometimes added mythology, half-truths, or outright lies. This is even more important when reading religion-related information.

My thoughts on religious progression, and reasoned speculations from the evidence:

Animism (100,000 years ago)

Totemism (50/45,000 years ago)

Shamanism (30/35,000 years ago)

Paganism (13/12,000 years ago)

“Institutional” Progressed Organized Religion (5,000 years ago)

Religion Progression

1. Animism (belief in a perceived spirit world) passably by at least 100,000 years ago “the primal stage of early religion”
2. Totemism (belief that these perceived spirits could be managed with created physical expressions) passably by at least 50,000 years ago “progressed stage of early religion”
3. Shamanism (belief that some special person can commune with these perceived spirits on the behalf of others by way rituals) passably by at least 30,000 years ago
4. Paganism “Early organized nature-based religion” mainly like an evolved shamanism with gods (passable by at least 13,000 years ago).
5. Institutional religion developed stage of “Progressed Organized Type Religion” as a social institution with official dogma usually set in a hierarchical/bureaucratic structure that contains strict rules and practices dominating the believer’s life.

Religion Progression

1. Animism (belief in a perceived spirit world) passably by at least 100,000 years ago “the primal stage of early religion”

2. Totemism (belief that these perceived spirits could be managed with created physical expressions) passably by at least 50,000 years ago “progressed stage of early religion”

3. Shamanism (belief that some special person can commune with these perceived spirits on the behalf of others by way rituals) passably by at least 30,000 years ago

4. Paganism “Early organized religion” (passably by at least 13,000/12,000 to 5,000 years ago):

*primal stage of organized religion is 13,000 years ago.

*proto stage of organized religion is around 10,000 years ago.

*origin elements leading to the progressed stage of organized religion is around 7,000 years ago.

*developed stage of organized religion is around 5,000 years ago.

I classify Animism (animated ‘spirit‘ or “supernatural” perspectives).

I see all religious people as at least animists, so, all religions have at least some amount, kind, or expression of animism as well.

I want to make something clear as I can, as simple as I can, even though I classify Animism (animated and alive from Latin: anima, ‘breath, spirit, life‘ or peoples’ “spiritual” or “supernatural” perspectives. Potentially, in some animism perceives, all things may relate to some spiritual/supernatural/non-natural inclinations, even a possible belief that objects, places, and/or creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence, and/or thinking things like all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words— could be as animated and alive ref) as the first expression of religious thinking or religion, it is not less than, nor is it not equal to any other religion, or religious thinking. I see all religious people as at least animists any way, so everyone is at least animist, how could it be less than other religions as all other religions have at least some amount, kind, or expression of animism. Animism, +? is what I think about all that say they are spiritual or religious in thinking. Regardless if they know it, understand it, or claim it, they all, to me, an animistic-thinker, plus a paganistic, totemistic, and shamanistic-monotheist, calling themselves a Christian, Jew, or Muslim, as an example of my thinking. Animism (is the other-then-reality thinking relates to, thus it is in all such non-reality thinking generally.

Furthermore, I actually am impressed by animist cultures in Africa, others have seen them as primitive or something, help with that, they are revolutionaries with women’s rights, child rights. I mean if I had to choose a religion it would be animism only like in Africa so I don’t look down on them nor any indigenous peoples, who I care about, as well as I am for “humanity for all.” I challenge religious Ideas, and this is not meant to be an attack on people, but rather a challenge to think or rethink ideas, I want what is actually true. May we all desire a truly honest search for what is true even if we have to update what we believe or know. I even have religious friends, as I am not a bigot.

I class religious thinking in “time of origin” not somehow that any are better or worse or more reasoned than others. No, I am trying to help others understand how things happened, so they understand, and for themselves can finally think does the religion they say they believe in, still seems true, as they believed before learning my information and art. I am hoping I inspire freedom of thought and development of heart as well as mind as we need such a holistic approach in our quest for a humanity free for all and supportive of all. Until then, train your brain to think ethically. We are responsible for the future, we are the future, living in the present, soon to be passed, so we must act with passion, because life is over just like that. I am just another fellow dignity being. May I be a good human.

Here are a few of what I see as “Animist only” Cultures:

“Aka people” Central African nomadic Mbenga pygmy people. PRONUNCIATION: AH-kah

“The Aka people are very warm and hospitable. Relationships between men and women are extremely egalitarian. Men and women contribute equally to a household’s diet, either a husband or wife can initiate divorce, and violence against women is very rare. No cases of rape have been reported. The Aka people are fiercely egalitarian and independent. No individual has the right to force or order another individual to perform an activity against his or her will. Aka people have a number of informal methods for maintaining their egalitarianism. First, they practice “prestige avoidance”; no one draws attention to his or her own abilities. Individuals play down their achievements.” ref

“Mbuti People”

“The Mbuti people are generally hunter-gatherers who commonly are in the Congo’s Ituri Forest have traditionally lived in stateless communities with gift economies and largely egalitarian gender relations. They were a people who had found in the forest something that made life more than just worth living, something that made it, with all its hardships and problems and tragedies, a wonderful thing full of joy and happiness and free of care. Pygmies, like the Inuit, minimize discrimination based upon sex and age differences. Adults of all genders make communal decisions at public assemblies. The Mbuti people do not have a state, or chiefs or councils.” ref

“Hadza people”

“The Hadza people of Tanzania in East Africa are egalitarian, meaning there are no real status differences between individuals. While the elderly receive slightly more respect, within groups of age and sex all individuals are equal, and compared to strictly stratified societies, women are considered fairly equal. This egalitarianism results in high levels of freedom and self-dependency. When conflict does arise, it may be resolved by one of the parties voluntarily moving to another camp. Ernst Fehr and Urs Fischbacher point out that the Hadza people “exhibit a considerable amount of altruistic punishment” to organize these tribes. The Hadza people live in a communal setting and engage in cooperative child-rearing, where many individuals (both related and unrelated) provide high-quality care for children. Having no tribal or governing hierarchy, the Hadza people trace descent bilaterally (through paternal and maternal lines), and almost all Hadza people can trace some kin tie to all other Hadza people.” ref

*Primal superstition starts around 1 million years ago with. Then the development of religion increased around 600,000 years ago with proto superstition and then even to a greater extent around 300,000 years ago with progressed superstition.

Around 100,000 years ago, is the primal stage of early religion, the proto stage of early religion is around 75,000 years ago, or less, the progressed stage of early religion is around 50,000 years ago and finally after 13,500 years ago, begins with the evolution of organized religion. The set of stages for the development of organized religion is subdivided into the following: the primal stage of organized religion is 13,000 years ago, the proto stage of organized religion is around 10,000 years ago, and finally the progressed stage of organized religion is around 7,000 years ago with the forming of mythology and its connected set of Dogmatic-Propaganda-Closure belief strains of sacralized superstitionism. I will now give offer my rough outlined four-stage hypotheses, which use the reference of a house, in order to help to explain the way how that house (modern religions) fully developed a packet of wishful thinking nonsense, in order to assist in grasping the relative big picture of both the original elements that are involved in what often became a variety of nonrealism/unrealistic faiths or beliefs around the world. Moreover, this relative compiled a set of nonrealism faith or belief components (animism, totemism, and paganism) that are often still found in almost all religions today. My hypothesis with an explanation of this house (modern religions development).

1. First, there is the foundation: Superstitionism and Symbolism/Ritualism.
2. Second, is the frame and walls: Supernaturalism and Sacralizism/Spiritualism.
3. Third, is the roof and finishing elements of the structure: Dogmatism and Myths.
4. Fourth, is the window dressing and stylings to the house: decorated with the webs religious Dogmatic-Propaganda.

In the stage of organized religion, one important aspect that is often overlooked because of male-only thinking or by some over-emphasized because of extreme feminism is gender. There are some obvious gender associations in artifacts and possible gender-involved religious beliefs but thoughtful feminist archaeologists do not pounce on every representation of a woman and pronounce that it is a goddess. Around 5,000 years ago there are the full elements seem to be grouping together with its connected set of Dogmatic-Propaganda-Closure belief strains of sacralized superstitionism that took different forms of behavior in different areas of the world.

Interconnectedness of religious thinking Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, and Paganism

So, it all starts in a general way with Animism (theoretical belief in supernatural powers/spirits), then this is physically expressed in or with Totemism (theoretical belief in mythical relationship with powers/spirits through a totem item), which then enlists a full-time specific person to do this worship and believed interacting Shamanism (theoretical belief in access and influence with spirits through ritual), and then there is the further employment of myths and gods added to all the above giving you Paganism (often a lot more nature-based than most current top world religions, thus hinting to their close link to more ancient religious thinking it stems from). My hypothesis is expressed with an explanation of the building of a theatrical house (modern religions development ending with Institutional religion/organized religion).

Hidden Religious Expressions

“animist, totemist, shamanist & paganist”

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife (you are a hidden animist)

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects (you are a hidden totemist)

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife (you are a hidden shamanist)

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife who are guided/supported by a goddess/god or goddesses/gods (you are a hidden paganist)

Primal early superstition starts around 1 million years ago with. Then the development of religion increased around 600,000 years ago with proto superstition and then even to a greater extent around 300,000 years ago with progressed superstition. Around 100,000 years ago, is the primal stage of early religion, the proto stage of religion is around 75,000 years ago, or less, the progressed stage of early religion is around 50,000 years ago and finally after 13,500 years ago, begins with the evolution of organized religion. The set of stages for the development of organized religion is subdivided into the following: the primal stage of early organized religion is 13,000 years ago, the proto stage of organized religion is around 10,000 years ago, and finally the progressed stage of organized religion is around 7,000 years ago with the forming of mythology and its connected set of Dogmatic-Propaganda-Closure belief strains of sacralized superstitionism. In the stage of organized religion, one important aspect that is often overlooked because of male-only thinking or by some over-emphasized because of extreme feminism is gender. There are some obvious gender associations in artifacts and possible gender-involved religious beliefs but thoughtful feminist archaeologists do not pounce on every representation of a woman and pronounce that it is a goddess. Around 5,000 years ago elements seem to be grouping together with its connected set of Dogmatic-Propaganda-Closure belief strains of sacralized superstitionism that took different forms of behavior in different areas of the world.

Promoting Religion as Real is Harmful?

Sometimes, when you look at things, things that seem hidden at first, only come clearer into view later upon reselection or additional information. So, in one’s earnest search for truth one’s support is expressed not as a one-time event and more akin to a life’s journey to know what is true. I am very anti-religious, opposing anything even like religion, including atheist church. but that’s just me. Others have the right to do atheism their way. I am Not just an Atheist, I am a proud antireligionist. I can sum up what I do not like about religion in one idea; as a group, religions are “Conspiracy Theories of Reality.” These reality conspiracies are usually filled with Pseudo-science and Pseudo-history, often along with Pseudo-morality and other harmful aspects and not just ancient mythology to be marveled or laughed at. I regard all this as ridiculous. Promoting Religion as Real is Mentally Harmful to a Flourishing Humanity To me, promoting religion as real is too often promotes a toxic mental substance that can divide a person from who they are shaming them for being human. In addition, religion is a toxic mental substance that can divide a person from real history, real science or real morality to pseudohistory, pseudoscience, and pseudomorality. Moreover, religion is a toxic mental substance that can divide a person from rational thought, critical thinking, or logic. Likewise, religion is a toxic mental substance that can divide a person from justice, universal ethics, equality, and liberty. Yes, religion is a toxic mental substance that can divide a person from loved ones, and religion is a toxic mental substance that can divide a person from humanity. Therefore, to me, promoting religion as real is too often promote a toxic mental substance that should be rejected as not only false but harmful as well even if you believe it has some redeeming quality. To me, promoting religion as real is mentally harmful to a flourishing humanity. Religion may have once seemed great when all you had or needed was to believe. Science now seems great when we have facts and need to actually know.

A Rational Mind Values Humanity and Rejects Religion and Gods

A truly rational mind sees the need for humanity, as they too live in the world and see themselves as they actually are an alone body in the world seeking comfort and safety. Thus, see the value of everyone around them as they too are the same and therefore rationally as well a humanistically we should work for this humanity we are part of and can either dwell in or help its flourishing as we are all in the hands of each other. You are Free to think as you like but REALITY is unchanged. While you personally may react, or think differently about our shared reality (the natural world devoid of magic anything), We can play with how we use it but there is still only one communal reality (a natural non-supernatural one), which we all share like it or not and you can’t justifiably claim there is a different reality. This is valid as the only one of warrant is the non-mystical natural world around us all, existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by superstitions like gods or other monsters, too many sill fear irrationally.

I know that god-something is is an unjustified and debunked claim of super supernatural when no supernatural any has ever been found to even start such claims. I am quite familiar with a general when and why gods were created. Gods are not in all religions nor their thinking. I believe that all claims of God will fail epistemic qualities need for belief and instead require disbelief in all of them, unless shown real epistemic value.

Every child born with horrific deformities shows that those who believe in a loving god who is in control and values every life is not just holding a ridiculous belief; it is an offensive belief to the compassion for life and a loving morality. Prayer is nothing like hope, as prayer is the Belief in magic and a thing one is believed they are praying to is magical things or beings. Hope is a desire or aspiration, not a Belief in magical things or you have additional beliefs added in that hope.

Religion removed? All its pseudo meaning as well as pseudoscience, pseudohistory, and pseudo-morality. We have real science, realistic history and can access real morality with a blend of philosophy, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and cognitive science. I do not hate simply because I challenge and expose myths or lies any more than others being thought of as loving simply because of the protection and hiding from challenge their favored myths or lies.

It is not a matter of being the only flame but to inspire us all to unify as one, to bring light to all we can. Be an honest thinker who values only reason and evidence as your main helpful guides. Follow an “ethics of belief” and don’t “believe what you like” rather what is justified soundly, thus let “Reason” be your master, and may you master “Reason.” Anger has been easier than care but it is my care I hold as value and it is this care, not some anger, I wish to inspire. In fact, I wish for us all to truly slow down and think, to add the needed care. Yea, we should do the needful, the worthy, and what is true. Reason rules.

No God: No evidence, No intelligence, and No goodness = Valid Atheism Conclusion

1. No evidence, To move past the Atheistic Null Hypothesis: There is no God/Gods (in inferential statistics, a Null Hypothesis generally assumed to be true until evidence indicates otherwise. Thus, a Null Hypothesis is a statistical hypothesis that there is no significant difference reached between the claim and the non-claim, as it is relatively provable/demonstratable in reality in some way. “The god question” Null Hypothesis is set at as always at the negative standard: Thus, holding that there is no God/Gods, and as god faith is an assumption of the non-evidentiary wishful thinking non-reality of “mystery thing” found in all god-talk, until it is demonstratable otherwise to change. Alternative hypothesis: There is a God (offered with no proof: what is a god and how can anyone say they know), therefore, results: Insufficient evidence to overturn the null hypothesis of no God/Gods.

2. No intelligence, Taking into account the reality of the world we do know with 99 Percent Of The Earth’s Species Are Extinct an intelligent design is ridiculous. Five Mass Extinctions Wiped out 99 Percent of Species that have ever existed on earth. Therefore like a child’s report card having an f they need to retake the class thus, profoundly unintelligent design.

3. No goodness, Assessed through ethically challenging the good god assumptions as seen in the reality of pain and other harm of which there are many to demonstrates either a god is not sufficiently good, not real or as I would assert, god if responsible for this world, would make it a moral monster ripe for the problem of evil and suffering (Argument from Evil). God would be responsible for all pain as life could easily be less painful and yet there is mass suffering. In fact, to me, every child born with diseases from birth screams out against a caring or loving god with the power to do otherwise. It could be different as there is Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), also known as congenital analgesia, in which a person cannot feel (and has never felt) physical pain.

My Thought on the Evolution of God?

Animal protector deities from old totems/spirit animal beliefs come first to me, 13,000/12,000 years ago, then women as deities 11,000/10,000 years ago, then male gods around 7,000 years ago. Then Moralistic gods around 5,000 years ago.

Silence is no virtue, especially against injustice, oppression, or untruths. From our natural only reality, there is no need to hide, for Atheism and a magic-free universe is the truth and theism religion and its supernatural thinking gods are just a lie. Truth deserves to be supported and has no need to remain silent and should instead, inspire its strong championing. I hear this call deep in me to bravely champion the truth of atheism and I do it with pride. To me, Animistic Somethingism: You just feel/think there has to be something supernatural/spirit-world or feel/think things are supernatural/spirit-filled. “Somethingism” is commonly an unspecified belief in an undetermined supernatural reality, stated sometimes as spiritual but not religious, but, to me, is basically unrealized animism. Vague Theism or god Somethingism: just say NO! May I remind you , vague theism, somethingism or “ietsism” is not some Philosophers Stone of Theism removed from strong critique.

So loudly, I will proclaim supernatural, and gods are willful mental illusions, confusions, and lies that are commonly inspired by a life of religious influences, religiously motivated fears, and or religious indoctrination. I laugh at questions like “what would convince you of god” as if I approach thinking differently dependent. As a rationalist I am always moved best by valid and reliable reason and evidence, you know the very stuff, all religions and any supernatural claim always lack in the end. Religion is big on claims but small of real reasoning, full of logical fallacies in thinking, and no evidence to quorate all their delusionary supernatural nonsense and superstitions.

My Antireligionism?

I will grant you some religious mythology is quite interesting but I never forget it is simple stories of hope, fear, and magical thinking arising from human ignorance fueled by imagination and presto people believe in things never seen. I hate religion as I hate harm, oppression, bigotry, and love equality, self-ownership, self-empowerment, self-actualization including self-mastery, as well as truth and not only does religion lie, it is a conspiracy theory of reality. I know that god-something is is an unjustified and debunked claim of super supernatural when no supernatural any has ever been found to even start such claims.

I don’t think antireligionism is really anti-friendly-atheism, as it can involve being friendly to people even if it is harsh to religion, positive antireligionism or Anti-Accommodationism is attacking bad thinking and bad behaviors, not just people who believe. Not just an atheist and antitheist, I am a proud anti-religionist. I have greater confidence in science as they often admit errors and I have greater mistrust of religion as they often refuse to accept or admit errors.

What I do not like about religion in one idea, religions as a group are “Conspiracy Theories of Reality,” usually filled with Pseudoscience, Pseudohistory, along with Pseudomorality, and other harmful aspects. An antireligionist generally means opposition to religion, this includes all, every religion or pseudo-religion, YES, I am an atheist and antitheist, who is “Anti” ALL RELIGIONS. But I am against the ideas, not people. We regrettably pay our life debt in our time lost living one moment at a time which seems to group together into what we call a life, so live as there just went another lost moment.

“But Damien, Souls are real because energy does not die!”

My response, That is a logical fallacy as it is not a reasoned jump in logic. Energy leaves all once alive bodies by dissipating heat in the environment then is gone as the once related energy in a now dead body.

My Quick response from Ray Comfort’s Movie Noah: VIEDO 

Quick video of me answering Eric Hovind’s questions: VIEDO 

American Atheist Challenges Calgary Street Church: VIEDO 

Atheist in a Wheelchair challenges a street preacher: VIEDO 

My speech at the Bring Back our Motto Atheist rally: VIEDO 

“The Tree of Lies and its Hidden Roots” Discussing the Evolution of Religion: VIEDO 

Axiological Atheism: A Conversation with Atheist Damien AtHope (Apologetics Academy): VIDEO 

The Evolution of Religion and Removing the Rationale of Faith: VIEDO 

Speech on the Evolution of Religion & Religious Sexism: VIEDO 

Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, Paganism & Progressed organized religion: VIEDO 

Understanding Religion Evolution (Mount Vernon) with good Q & A: VIEDO 

The Archaeological/Anthropological Evolution of Religion: VIEDO 

My Understanding of Religion Evolution (with an atheist Meetup group, a presentation in Pasco, WA): VIEDO 

Trying to Help Promote Knowledge: Philosophy and Science: VIEDO 

Hammer of Truth: Yes, you too, have lots of beliefS: VIEDO 

Ethnographer/Anthropologist Saumya Sharma: VIEDO 

Religious Fallacies: Appeal to Emotion: VIEDO 

Sound thinking, Presumptive-value, Axiology, and Disciplined-Rationality: VIEDO 

I am a “Scientific Axiology” minded “Philosophic Axiologist Theorist”: VIEDO 

Discussing Leadership and Prehistory with Leader Deanna L. Lawlis: VIEDO 

Religion Evolution by Archaeology and Anthropology: VIEDO 

No, Religion and Gods were not Created due to fear of Lightning: VIEDO 

Don’t confuse beliefs, religion and science are two different epistemologies: VIEDO 

Prehistory: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” the division of labor, power, rights, and recourses: VIEDO 

Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago): VIEDO 

Pre-animism 300,000 years old and animism 100,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIEDO 

Animism as in that seen in Africa: 100,000 years ago: VIEDO 

“Totemism” as first seen in Europe: 50,000 years ago: VIEDO 

Totemism 50,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIDEO 

Shamanism (as seen in Siberia: 30,000 years ago): VIEDO 

Shamanism 30,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism”: VIEDO 

Paganism (Turkey: 12,000 years ago): VIEDO 

Paganism 12,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism): VIEDO 

Paganism: Goddesses around 12,000 years ago then Male Gods after 7,000 years ago: VIEDO 

Chatting about Turkey spreading early paganism around 9,000 years ago: VIEDO 

Early Atheistic Doubting: “2,570 Years Ago”: VIEDO 

Chatting about the terms Atheist, Theist, Agnostic, Anti-theist, and Anti-religionist: VIEDO 

Validity, Reliability, and Soundness Simplified as it Relates to Reasoning: VIEDO 

Aron Ra interviewing me on my “Archaeological/Anthropological Understanding of Religion Evolution”: VIEDO 

Truth Navigation: “Hammer of Truth”: VIEDO 

The Origin of Language: Starts in Symbolism Around 100,000 years ago: VIEDO

 Legesse Allyn: Writer/Researcher in Ancient Languages and Ancient Scripts: VIEDO 

Lisa For Truth: Origins of Religion and Anthropology of Religion: VIEDO 

Debunking Ancient Aliens and other Unsupported Pseudoscience Beliefs: VIEDO 

Dear Mr. AtHope, The 20th Century is a Failed Atheist Century: VIEDO 

The Rise of Inequality: patriarchy and state hierarchy inequality: VIEDO 

Shifting through the Claims in support of Faith: VIEDO 

Why do all monotheistic religions have a male god?: VIEDO 

Video relating to my future book: “The Tree of Lies and its Hidden Roots”: VIEDO 

My interview with Robert Rob Moore of Atheist Underground: VIEDO 

Atheist Pastor: Historian Christopher Atlee: VIEDO 

Bernard Lamborelle: Abrahamic Faith by Means of Deification: VIEDO 

Stefan Milo: “Atheist Archaeologist YouTuber”: VIEDO 

Interviewed by Jay at The Nevermore Tavern on My Prehistory Thinking: VIEDO 

My (Close CHANCE) TV Opportunity Interview TO HOST A SHOW ON PREHISTORY: VIEDO 

Discussing Beliefs, Bias, Prehistory, History, Archaeology, Anthropology, and Humanism: VIEDO 

Interviewing Dr. David Miano, Historian, and Educational YouTuber: VIEDO 

The History Voyagers, Gobekli Tepe: Show 1# the first temple: VIEDO 

The History Voyagers, Gobekli Tepe: Show #2 the pillars: VIEDO 

Deeply Discussing Anthropology, Archaeology, Psychology, Science, Atheism, Philosophy, and Religion: VIEDO 

Chatting about My style of Atheism (with a theist fan): VIEDO 

Witness a mental dynamite explosion, in the revolution that is Damien Marie AtHope: VIEDO 

My American Atheist “MeetUp” Presentation, Evolution of all Religions, 100,000 to 4,000 years ago: VIEDO 

Gillian Hovell: ‘The Muddy Archaeologist’ Ancient Historian & Archaeologist: VIEDO 

“Understanding Religion Evolution: Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, Paganism & Progressed organized religion”

Understanding Religion Evolution:

• Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago)
• Animism (Africa: 100,000 years ago)
• Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago)
• Shamanism (Siberia: 30,000 years ago)
• Paganism (Turkey: 12,000 years ago)
• Progressed organized religion (Egypt: 5,000 years ago), (Egypt, the First Dynasty 5,150 years ago)
• CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS (after 4,000 years ago)
• Early Atheistic Doubting (at least by 2,600 years ago)

“An Archaeological/Anthropological Understanding of Religion Evolution”

It seems ancient peoples had to survived amazing threats in a “dangerous universe (by superstition perceived as good and evil),” and human “immorality or imperfection of the soul” which was thought to affect the still living, leading to ancestor worship. This ancestor worship presumably led to the belief in supernatural beings, and then some of these were turned into the belief in gods. This feeble myth called gods were just a human conceived “made from nothing into something over and over, changing, again and again, taking on more as they evolve, all the while they are thought to be special,” but it is just supernatural animistic spirit-belief perceived as sacred.

Quick Evolution of Religion?

Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago). So, it all starts in a general way with Animism (such as that seen in Africa: 100,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in supernatural powers/spirits), then this is physically expressed in or with Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in mythical relationship with powers/spirits through a totem item), which then enlists a full-time specific person to do this worship and believed interacting Shamanism (beginning around 30,000 years ago in Siberia) (theoretical belief in access and influence with spirits through ritual), and then there is the further employment of myths and gods added to all the above giving you Paganism (beginning around 12,000 years ago in Turkey) (often a lot more nature-based than most current top world religions, thus hinting to their close link to more ancient religious thinking it stems from). My hypothesis is expressed with an explanation of the building of a theatrical house (modern religious development). Progressed organized religion (around 5,000 years ago as seen in Egypt) with CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS (after 4,000 years ago).

Historically, in large city-state societies (such as Egypt or Iraq) starting around 5,000 years ago culminated to make religion something kind of new, a sociocultural-governmental-religious monarchy, where all or at least many of the people of such large city-state societies seem familiar with and committed to the existence of “religion” as the integrated life identity package of control dynamics with a fixed closed magical doctrine, but this juggernaut integrated religion identity package of Dogmatic-Propaganda certainly did not exist or if developed to an extent it was highly limited in most smaller prehistoric societies as they seem to lack most of the strong control dynamics with a fixed closed magical doctrine (magical beliefs could be at times be added or removed). Many people just want to see developed religious dynamics everywhere even if it is not. Instead, all that is found is largely fragments until the domestication of religion.

Religions, as we think of them today, are a new fad, even if they go back to around 6,000 years in the timeline of human existence, this amounts to almost nothing when seen in the long slow evolution of religion at least around 70,000 years ago with one of the oldest ritual worship. Stone Snake of South Africa: “first human worship” 70,000 years ago. This message of how religion and gods among them are clearly a man-made thing that was developed slowly as it was invented and then implemented peace by peace discrediting them all. Which seems to be a simple point some are just not grasping how devastating to any claims of truth are when we can see the lie clearly in the archeological sites.

Paganism:

*primal stage of organized religion is 13,000 years ago.

*proto stage of organized religion is 10,000 years ago.

*progressed stage of organized religion “Myths Origin” is 7,000 years ago.

*developed stage of organized religion is 5,000 years ago.

• Paganism 12,000-7,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Pre-Capitalism)
• Paganism 7,000-5,000 years old: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Capitalism) (World War 0) Elite and their slaves!
• Paganism 5,000 years old: progressed organized religion and the birth of the state: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (Kings and the Rise of the State)
• Paganism 4,000 years old: Moralistic gods after the rise of Statism and often support Statism/Kings: related to “Anarchism and Socialism” (First Moralistic gods, then the Origin time of Monotheism)

Then from 5,000-4,000 years ago, moralistic deities are invented likely by or for the state. Then around 4,000 years ago monotheism emerges.

Paganism was more than shamanism at first it was about the clan leader from 13,000 to 7,000 years ago then from 7,000 until 5, 500 was a time of proto kings and by 5,000 kings were a growing norm.

The term “paganism”, used by me and some others who are academics, roughly refers to pre-Christian, socioreligious-cultural-based traditions which were polytheistic (worshiped multiple entities), and to me, I speculate also involve elements of Animism, Totemism, and shamanism; which together with polytheism are what I call paganism.

* “paganist” As I conceive it in a simplified way is to believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife who are guided/supported by a goddess/god or goddesses/gods (you are a hidden paganist/Paganism: an approximately 12,000-year-old belief system) And Gobekli Tepe: “first human-made temple” as well as Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city” are both evidence of some kind of early paganism, to me.

Again just to clarify when I refer to seeming paganism thinking or behaviors (emphasize reverence for nature, polytheistic and animistic, totemistic, and shamanist religious practices). and Gobekli Tepe, by paganism I mean a grouped set of behaviors that I believe resemble the concept of paganism-type beliefs. Neither am I claiming to fully know or understand all the possible mythology beliefs that may be represented in the carving at Gobekli Tepe, some seem more straightforward others beyond current understanding, and possibly forever beyond full comprehension.

“Paganism was originally a pejorative and derogatory term for polytheism, implying its inferiority. Paganism (from classical Latin refers to “rural, rustic,” later “civilian”) is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people who practiced polytheism.” ref

“However, Paganism as a term of meaning represents a wide variety of traditions that emphasize reverence for nature and a revival of ancient polytheistic and animistic religious practices. Paganism is not a traditional religion per se because it does not have any official doctrine, but it does have some common characteristics joining the great variety of traditions. One of the common beliefs is the divine presence in nature and the reverence of the natural order in life. Spiritual growth is related to the cycles of the Earth and great emphasis is placed on ecological concerns. Monotheism is almost universally rejected within Paganism and most Pagan traditions are particularly interested in the revival of ancient polytheist religious traditions.” ref

“Religion may be defined as “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs,” whereas ritual is “an established or prescribed procedure for religious or other rites.” ref

*Primal superstition starts around 1 million years ago with. Then the development of religion increased around 600,000 years ago with proto superstition and then even to a greater extent around 300,000 years ago with progressed superstition.

Around 100,000 years ago, is the primal stage of early religion, the proto stage of early religion is around 75,000 years ago, or less, the progressed stage of early religion is around 50,000 years ago and finally after 13,500 years ago, begins with the evolution of organized religion. The set of stages for the development of organized religion is subdivided into the following: the primal stage of organized religion is 13,000 years ago, the proto stage of organized religion is around 10,000 years ago, and finally the progressed stage of organized religion is around 7,000 years ago with the forming of mythology and its connected set of Dogmatic-Propaganda-Closure belief strains of sacralized superstitionism. I will now give offer my rough outlined four-stage hypotheses, which use the reference of a house, in order to help to explain the way how that house (modern religions) fully developed a packet of wishful thinking nonsense, in order to assist in grasping the relative big picture of both the original elements that are involved in what often became a variety of nonrealism/unrealistic faiths or beliefs around the world. Moreover, this relative compiled a set of nonrealism faith or belief components (animism, totemism, and paganism) that are often still found in almost all religions today. My hypothesis with an explanation of this house (modern religions development).

1. First, there is the foundation: Superstitionism and Symbolism/Ritualism.
2. Second, is the frame and walls: Supernaturalism and Sacralizism/Spiritualism.
3. Third, is the roof and finishing elements of the structure: Dogmatism and Myths.
4. Fourth, is the window dressing and stylings to the house: decorated with the webs religious Dogmatic-Propaganda.

In the stage of organized religion, one important aspect that is often overlooked because of male-only thinking or by some over-emphasized because of extreme feminism is gender. There are some obvious gender associations in artifacts and possible gender-involved religious beliefs but thoughtful feminist archaeologists do not pounce on every representation of a woman and pronounce that it is a goddess. Around 5,000 years ago there are the full elements seem to be grouping together with its connected set of Dogmatic-Propaganda-Closure belief strains of sacralized superstitionism that took different forms of behavior in different areas of the world.

Hidden Religious Expressions

“animist, totemist, shamanist & paganist”

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife (you are a hidden animist)

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects (you are a hidden totemist)

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife (you are a hidden shamanist)

*Believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife who are guided/supported by a goddess/god or goddesses/gods (you are a hidden paganist)

I classify Animism (animated ‘spirit‘ or “supernatural” perspectives).

I see all religious people as at least animists, so, all religions have at least some amount, kind, or expression of animism as well.

The door of reason opens not once but many times.

Religions continuing in our modern world, full of science and facts, should be seen as little more than a set of irrational conspiracy theories of reality. Nothing more than a confused reality made up of unscientific echoes from man’s ancient past. Rational thinkers must ask themselves why continue to believe in religions’ stories. Religion myths which are nothing more than childlike stories and obsolete tales once used to explain how the world works, acting like magic was needed when it was always only nature. These childlike religious stories should not even be taken seriously, but sadly too often they are. Often without realizing it, we accumulate beliefs that we allow to negatively influence our lives. In order to bring about awareness, we need to be willing to alter skewed beliefs. Rational thinkers must examine the facts instead of blindly following beliefs or faith.

I think Göbekli Tepe started 12,000 years ago with man-centric, then after 11,000 years ago switched up, then around 10,000 to a little more woman-centric after female gods seem to emerge. But it was male animals, not male gods that I see happening 7,000 years ago.

Gobekli Tepe: First Temple, Early Paganism Themes, Sky Burial, Skull Cult, T-pillar Site Similarities, Obsidian Trade, Agriculture Revolution, and Megalith Cultures

12,000-year-old Gobekli Tepe: the first temple

At around 13,000 years ago, the site functioned as a ritual or religious center, with the early circles being added around 11,600 years ago. Then, between 11,130–10,620 years ago, the first building stage for Layer III was completed.  At this point, it was a totemistic-shamanistic proto-paganism meeting place of ancestor worship and cultic feasting as well as drinking, with evidence of beer brewing starting at almost 11,000 years ago. Next, around 10,280–9,970 years ago, enclosure B is constructed, followed by enclosure C at around 9,560–9,370. Some pillars are around 15 to 20 ft-foot-high and can weigh up to 20 tons, many with totem animals and anthropomorphic human-like fertility cult representations.

1. Gobekli Tepe: Show 1# the first temple (blog post with the info and references):  https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-voyagers-34558664

2. Gobekli Tepe: Show #2 the pillars (blog post with the info and references): https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-voyagers-35518483

3. Gobekli Tepe: Show 3# T-pillar site similarities (blog post with the info and references): https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-voyagers-35954832

4. Gobekli Tepe: Show #4 sky burial? (blog post with the info and references): https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-voyagers-36103977

5. Gobekli Tepe: Show #5 skull cult? (blog post with the info and references):  https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-voyagers-36317380

6. Gobekli Tepe: Show #6 Obsidian Importance (blog post with the info and references):  https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-voyagers-36351654

7. Gobekli Tepe: Show #7 Agriculture Revolution (blog post with the info and references):  https://www.patreon.com/posts/history-voyagers-36495975

8. Gobekli Tepe: Show #8 Early Paganism Themes (blog post with the info and references):  https://www.patreon.com/posts/36592703?fbclid=IwAR0ATxoT8mUb2Zgbf6YiHnA4jyWOv2LzEFp9m_iUKZJNbvDUy9KCETQUSFg

9. Gobekli Tepe: Show #9 Monumental Cover-Up (blog post with the info and references): https://www.patreon.com/posts/37264016

10. Gobekli Tepe: Show #10 Megalith Cultures (blog post with the info and references): https://www.patreon.com/posts/37266310

Creation myths: From chaos, Ex nihilo, Earth-diver, Emergence, World egg, and World parent

• Rape, Sexism and Religion?
• Sexism in the BIBLE: chapter and verse!
• New Testament: bigotry, cruelty, sexism, slavery, racism, etc.
• Sexism in Taoism
• Yin and Yang is sexist with an ORIGIN around 2,300 years ago?
• Sexism in Protestantism
• Sexism in Catholicism
• Sexism in Bahaism
• Sexism in Sikhism
• Sexism in Confucianism
• Sexism in Jainism
• Sexism in Shintoism
• Sexism in Buddhism
• Sexist Buddha
• Sexism in Islam
• Sexism in Hinduism
• Sexism in Mormonism
• Sexism in Jehovah Witness
• Sexism in Christianity (New Testament)
• Sexism in Judaism (old Testament)
• Sexism, Prejudice, and Killing in Vedic Culture (Hinduism)
• Sexism in Islam? Face Covering: Religious Freedom or Religious Oppression
• Speech on the Evolution of Religion & Religious Sexism
• Sexism in the Major World Religions
• All Religions are Sexist/Sexism

We have different knowledge, but that is good as we then complement areas the other is not better at. We don’t have to be good at everything, we have each other, we are our best when we work in solidarity, not competition.

I teach online mainly, I am doing it now for instance, (or in-person, if asked and my way is paid), humanity, prehistory, kindness, atheism, humanism, religion, reason, rationalism, truth navigation, science, philosophy, morality, axiology, solidarity, anarchism, socialism, etc.

I was not influenced by anyone in the atheist movement, so I don’t use a style that most under that label do. They doubt religions and gods but I prove their evolution in the story of human cultural expressions and connected rituals and mythology. Not hating, I invented my style.

To me, paganism starts around 12,00 years ago in Turkey/Anatolia in Western Asia. The odd thing is most of the world’s religious myths/fables start or commonly relate to “Siberia” like “Lake Baikal/Golden Mountains of Altai” region and “North China like Chertovy Vorota Cave (Devil’s Gate Cave) area at about 8,000/7,000 years ago and they were transferred to the middle east and East Europe/Balkans/Ukraine as well.”

• “12,000 years ago: Jericho has evidence of settlement dating back to 10,000 BC. Jericho was a popular camping ground for Natufian hunter-gatherer groups, who left a scattering of crescent microlith tools behind them.
• 12,000 years ago: Earliest dates suggested for the domestication of the goat.
• 11,600 years ago: Start of the current Holocene epoch.
• 11,000 -12,00/13,000 years ago (9,000 BC): Earliest date recorded for construction of temenoi ceremonial structures at Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, as possibly the oldest surviving proto-religious site on Earth.
• 11,000 years ago: Emergence of Jericho, which is now one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Giant short-faced bears and giant ground sloths go extinct. Equidae goes extinct in North America.
• 10,500 years ago: Earliest supposed date for the domestication of cattle.
• 10,000 years ago: The Quaternary extinction event, which has been ongoing since the mid-Pleistocene, concludes. Many of the ice age megafauna go extinct, including the megatherium, woolly rhinoceros, Irish elk, cave bear, cave lion, and the last of the sabre-toothed cats. The mammoth goes extinct in Eurasia and North America, but is preserved in small island populations until ~1650 BC.
• 11,000 – 9,000 years ago: Byblos appears to have been settled during the PPNB period, approximately 8800 to 7000 BC. Neolithic remains of some buildings can be observed at the site.
• 10,000 – 8,000 years ago: The post-glacial sea level rise decelerates, slowing the submersion of landmasses that had taken place over the previous 10,000 years.
• 10,000 – 9,000 years ago: In northern Mesopotamia, now northern Iraq, cultivation of barley and wheat begins. At first they are used for beer, gruel, and soup, eventually for bread. In early agriculture at this time, the planting stick is used, but it is replaced by a primitive plow in subsequent centuries. Around this time, a round stone tower, now preserved to about 8.5 meters high and 8.5 meters in diameter is built in Jericho.
• 9,500–5,900 years ago: Neolithic Subpluvial in North Africa. The Sahara desert region supports a savanna-like environment. Lake Chad is larger than the current Caspian Sea. An African culture develops across the current Sahel region.
• 9,500 years ago: Çatalhöyük urban settlement founded in Anatolia. Earliest supposed date for the domestication of the cat.
• 9,200 years ago: First human settlement in Amman, Jordan; ‘Ain Ghazal Neolithic settlement was built spanning over an area of 15 hectares.
• 9,000 years ago: Jiahu culture began in China.
• 9,000 years ago: large first fish fermentation in southern Sweden.
• 8,200–8,000 years ago: 8.2 kiloyear event: a sudden decrease of global temperatures, likely caused by the final collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, which leads to drier conditions in East Africa and Mesopotamia.
• 8,000-5,000 years ago: development of proto-writing in China, Southeast Europe (Vinca symbols), and West Asia (proto-literate cuneiform).
• 8,000 years ago: Evidence of habitation at the current site of Aleppo dates to about c. 8,000 years ago, although excavations at Tell Qaramel, 25 kilometers north of the city show the area was inhabited about 13,000 years ago, Carbon-14 dating at Tell Ramad, on the outskirts of Damascus, suggests that the site may have been occupied since the second half of the seventh millennium BC, possibly around 6300 BC. However, evidence of settlement in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000 BC exists.
• 7,500 years ago: Copper smelting in evidence in Pločnik and other locations.
• 7,200–6,000 years ago: 5200–4000 BC:Għar Dalam phase on Malta. First farming settlements on the island.
• 6,100–5,800 years ago: Żebbuġ phase. Malta.
• 6,070–6,000 years ago: Trypillian build in Nebelivka (Ukraine) settlement which reached 15,000—18,000 inhabitants.
• 6,500 years ago: The oldest known gold hoard deposited at Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria.
• 6,000 years ago: Civilizations develop in the Mesopotamia/Fertile Crescent region (around the location of modern-day Iraq). Earliest supposed dates for the domestication of the horse and for the domestication of the chicken, invention of the potter’s wheel.
• 5,900 years ago: 5.9 kiloyear event: a rapid and intense aridification event, which likely started the current Sahara Desert dry phase and a population increase in the Nile Valley due to migrations from nearby regions. It is also believed this event contributed to the end of the Ubaid period in Mesopotamia.
• 5,800 years ago: The Post Track and Sweet Track causeways are constructed in the Somerset Levels.
• 5,800 years ago: Trypillian build in Talianki (Ukraine) settlement which reached 15,600—21,000 inhabitants.
• 5,800–5,600 years ago: Mġarr phase A short transitional period in Malta’s prehistory. It is characterized by pottery consisting of mainly curved lines.
• 5,700 years ago: starts mass graves at Tell Brak in Syria.
• 5,700 years ago: Trypillian build in Maidanets (Ukraine) settlement which reached 12,000—46,000 inhabitants and built 3-story building.
• 5,700 years ago: Minoan culture begins on Crete.
• 5,600–5,200 years ago: Ġgantija phase on Malta. Characterized by a change in the way the prehistoric inhabitants of Malta lived.
• 5,500 years ago: Uruk period in Sumer. The first evidence of mummification in Egypt.
• 5,500 years ago: the oldest known depiction of a wheeled vehicle (Bronocice pot, Funnelbeaker culture)
• 5,300 years ago: Bronze Age begins in the Near East, Newgrange is built in Ireland. Hakra Phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation begins in the Indian subcontinent.
• 5,300–5,000 years ago: Saflieni phase in Maltese prehistory.” ref

Hinduism around 3,700 to 3,500 years old.

Judaism around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (The first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew” dated to around 3,000 years ago Khirbet Qeiyafa is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley. And many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed around 2,500)

Jainism around 2,599 – 2,527 years old.

Confucianism around 2,600 – 2,551 years old.

Buddhism around 2,563/2,480 – 2,483/2,400 years old.

Christianity around 2,o00 years old.

Shinto around 1,305 years old.

Islam around 1407–1385 years old.

Sikhism around 548–478 years old.

Bahá’í around 200–125 years old.

• 5,750 years ago: The Proto-Semitic people emerged from a generally accepted urheimat in the Levant. The Proto-Semitic people would migrate throughout the Near East into Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.
• 5,700 years ago: Lothal: Indus Valley trade-port city in India.
• 5,650 years ago: Minoan culture appeared on Crete.
• 5,500 Years old birth of the State, the rise of Hierarchy, and the fall of Women’s status
• 5,300 years ago: The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system and multi-storeyed houses, as well as for creating artifacts which could be linked to pre-Vedic religions.
• 5,200 years ago: Helladic culture and Cycladic culture both emerge in Greece.
• 5,102 years ago: This was the beginning of Kaliyuga, a new age among the followers of Indian religions.
• 5,100 years ago: The initial form of Stonehenge was completed. The circular bank and ditch enclosure, about 110 meters (360 ft) across, may have been completed with a timber circle.
• 5,100 years ago: Newgrange, the 250,000 ton (226,796.2 tonnes) passage tomb aligned to the winter solstice in Ireland, was built.
• 5,000 years ago: Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
• 5,000 years ago: First evidence of gold being used in the Middle East.
• 5,000 years ago: Vessels from Denmark
• 5,000 years ago: Sumerian Cuneiform emerged from the proto-literate Uruk period, allowing the codification of beliefs and creation of detailed historical religious records.
• 5,000 years ago: The second phase of Stonehenge was completed and appeared to function as the first enclosed cremation cemetery in the British Isles.
• 4,900 years ago: Beginning of the Early Dynastic Period I in Sumer.
• 4,900 years ago: Sumerianpictographs evolve into phonograms.
• 4,900 years ago: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period.
• 4,900 years ago: Votive statues from the Square Temple of Eshnunna (modern Tell Ashmar, Iraq) were made.
• 4,900 years ago: Syria: Foundation of the city of Mari.
• 4,900 years ago: Semitic tribes occupy Assyria in the northern part of the plain of Shinar and Akkad.
• 4,900 years ago: Phoenicians settle on Syrian coast, with centers at Tyre and Sidon.
• 4,900 years ago: Beginning of the period of the Sage Kings in China, also known as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
• 4,900 years ago: Ziggurats (multi-platform temples: 4,900 years old) to Pyramids (multi-platform tombs: 4,700 years old)
• 4,879 years ago: Rise of the Văn Lang Kingdom and the Hồng Bàng Dynasty in northern Viet Nam.
• 4,874 years ago: The 365-day calendar year was installed in ancient Egypt
• 4,852 years ago: The beginning of the period of the Three August Ones and Five Emperors in China.
• 4,832 years ago: Estimated germination of the Methuselah Tree, the oldest known living organism
• 4,807 years ago: Suggested date for an asteroid or comet impact occurring between Africa and Antarctica, around the time of a solar eclipse on May 10, based on an analysis of flood stories. Possibly causing the Burckle crater and Fenambosy Chevron.
• 4,800 years ago: Ur becomes one of the richest cities in Sumer
• 4,800 years ago: Harp Player, from Keros, Cyclades, was made. It is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• 4,800 years ago: Iran: Creation of the Kingdom of Elam.
• 4,800 years ago:  Seated Harp Player, from Keros, Cyclades, is made.
• 4,775 years ago: Second Dynasty wars in Ancient Egypt.
• 4,773 years ago: the 365-day calendar is introduced in Egypt.
• 4,750 years ago: End of the Early Dynastic I Period, and the beginning of the Early Dynastic II Period in Mesopotamia.
• 4,750 years ago: Estimated ending of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture in the region of modern-day Romania, Moldova, and southwestern Ukraine
• 4,700 years ago: Germination of the Bristlecone pine tree “Methuselah“, one of the oldest known trees still living now.
• 4,700 years ago: Merit-Ptah is world’s first female physician mentioned by name.
• 4,700 years ago: Old Kingdom of Egypt begins. 3rd–6th Dynasties.
• 4,700 years ago: Mesoamericans begin to plant and domesticate maize.
• 4,697 years ago: The Yellow Emperor starts to reign in China.
• 4,685 years ago: Bull lyre from the tomb of Queen Puabi, Ur (modern Muqaiyir, Iraq) was made.
• 4,640 years ago: The cultivation and weaving of silk starts to be a closely guarded secret in China.
• 4,630 years ago: Imhotep, Vizier of Egypt, constructs the Pyramid of Djoser The Djoser pyramid is a step pyramid (or proto-pyramid) is considered to be the earliest large-scale cut stone construction and was thought to function in both life and the afterlife, which was sealed with a 3.5 ton block after the burial. The symbolism of the step pyramid form, which did not survive the 3rd Dynasty, is unknown, but it has been suggested that it may be a monumental symbol of the crown, especially the royal mortuary cult, since seven small step pyramids (not tombs) were built in the provinces.
• 4,627 years ago: Construction of the Caral metropolis in Peru
• 4,600 years ago: Mature Harappan phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation begins. The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro become large metropolises and the civilization expands to over 2,500 cities and settlements across the whole of Pakistan, much of northern India, and parts of Afghanistan and Iran, covering a region of around one million square miles, which was larger than the land area of its contemporaries Egypt and Mesopotamia combined, and also had superior urban planning and sewage systems. The civilization began using the mature Indus script for its writing system.
• 4,600 years ago: End of the Early Dynastic II Period and the beginning of the Early Dynastic IIIa Period in Mesopotamia.
• 4,600 years ago: Founding of the Chalcolithic Iberian civilizations of Los Millares and Zambujal.
• 4,600 years ago: the Indus Valley Civilisation rises to become a powerful civilization.
• 4,600 years ago: Pre-Palace Period, phase I, in Crete
• 4,600 years ago: Wild horses still provide hunting feasts in Denmark. (Clutton-Brock)
• 4,600 years ago: Large water tank, possibly a public or ritual bathing area, Mohenjo-daro, Indus Valley Civilisation, is made.
• 4,600 years ago: Butmir culture existed in Butmir, near Ilidža, Bosnia and Herzegovina, dating from the Neolithic. It is characterized by its unique pottery, and is one of the best researched European cultures from 2600-2400 BC.
• 4,600 years ago: Unified Indus Valley Civilisation.
• 4,550 years ago: Estimated date of completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
• 4,550 years ago: Mesannepada is king of Ur (followed by his son, A-annepadda) who founds the First Dynasty of Ur and overthrows the last king of Uruk, as well as Mesilim of Kish.
• 4,550 years ago:: Great Lyre with bull’s head, from the tomb of King Meskalamdug, Ur (modern Muqaiyir, Iraq) is made.
• 4,500 years ago: Excavation and development of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni at Paola, Malta, a subterranean temple complex subsequently used as a necropolis.
• 4,500 years ago: The legendary line of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of China is founded by the Yellow Emperor.
• 4,500 years ago: the construction of the stone circle at Stonehenge begins and continues for the next five hundred years.
• 4,500 years ago: Rice was first introduced to Malaysia
• 4,500 years ago: Scribal schools flourish throughout Sumer.
• 4,500 years ago: Assyria is established.
• 4,500 years ago: Cylinder seal from Sumer and its impression are made. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• 4,500 years ago: Excavation and development of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni at Paola, Malta, a subterranean temple complex subsequently used as a necropolis.
• 4,500 years ago: Valley Temple of Khafra, Giza, is built.
• 4,500 years ago: Khafra from Giza Valley, Temple of Khafra is made. Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. Discovered by Auguste Mariette. It is now kept in Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
• 4,500 years ago: Mohenjo-daro is about 7 square miles (18 km2) in size and has a population of c. 20,000 to 50,000.
• 4, 500 years ago: Incised panel “Frying pan”, from Syros, Cyclades is made.
• 4,500 years ago: Two figures of women, from the Cyclades, are made.
• 4,494 years ago: End of Fourth Dynasty, start of Fifth Dynasty in Egypt. Construction of the Pyramids begins.
• 4,494 years ago:  “Sculptors at work”, relief from Saqqara, Fifth Dynasty. It is now at Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt.
• 4,494 years ago: The Seated Scribe, a sculpture found at Saqqara, Fifth Dynasty of Egypt is made.
• 4,494 years ago: The first of the oldest surviving religious texts, the Pyramid Texts, was composed in Ancient Egypt.
• 4,492 years ago: Traditional date for the legendary foundation of Armenia by Hayk.
• 4,492 years ago: The Armenian patriarch Hayk defeats the Babylonian king Bel (legendary account) and Hayk founds Armenia.
• 4,474 years ago: Golden age of Ur in Mesopotamia.
• 4,450 years ago: End of the Early Dynastic IIIa Period and beginning of the Early Dynastic IIIb Period in Sumer.
• 4,450 years ago: Kish is lost to Hamazi tribesmen of the Kurdistan mountains; Elam under the Awan dynasty occupies parts of Sumer.
• 4,419 years ago: Neferefre is pharaoh
• 4,410 years ago: By this time, kings in Sumer have ceased to be automatically high priests of the city deity. Infiltration and conquest of Mesopotamia by ancient Semitic-speaking peoples begins.
• 4,400 years ago: Construction of Stonehenge
• 4,400 years ago: Megalithic culture begins to spread through Europe and the western Mediterranean.
• 4,400 years ago: Earliest signs of Corded Ware culture from the Caucasus.
• 4,400 years ago: Southeastern Spain is settled from the Mediterranean, by people using Prehistoric Egyptian-style pottery.
• 4,400 years ago: Amorites and Canaanites occupy Syria and Lebanon.
• 4,334 years ago: Sargon of Akkad conquers Mesopotamia, establishing the Akkadian Empire.
• 4,334 years ago: City of Lothal was founded under the Indus Valley Civilisation.
• 4,333 years ago: According to the Korean creation story, Dangun Wanggeom established the first Korean Empire, Gojoseon
• 4,300 years ago:  C-Group pastoralists arrive in Nubia.
• 4,300 years ago: Megalithic, Corded Ware culture, and the Beaker flourish in Europe.
• 4,300 years ago: Sumerian poetry, lamenting the death of Tammuz, the shepherd god.
• 4,300 years ago: Sumerian cuneiform writing reduces pictographs still in use to about 550 BC.
• 4,300 years ago: Major religious festival in Sumeria celebrates the victory of god of spring over goddess of chaos.
• 4,300 years ago: Earliest Trojan culture.
• 4,300 years ago: Beginning of the Pengtoushan culture in China.
• 4,300 years ago: Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan) flourishing in modern-day eastern Pakistan – western India.
• 4,300 years ago: Metals start to be used in Northern Europe.
• 4,300 years ago: Unetice culture emerges in the modern-day Czech Republic.
• 4,300 years ago: Disk of Enheduanna, from Ur, (modern Muqaiyir, Iraq) is made.
• 4,300 years ago: “Head of a man from Nineveh” (modern Kuyunjik, Iraq) is made.
• 4,285 years ago: Enheduanna, high priestess of the moon god Nanna in Ur, was born.
• 4,254 years ago: Stela of Naram-Sin, probably from Sippar, discovered in Susa (modern Shush, Iran), is made.
• 4,250 years ago: Earliest evidence of maize cultivation in Central America.
• 4,240 years ago: Akkad, capital of the Akkadian Empire, becomes the largest city in the world, surpassing Memphis, capital of Egypt.
• 4,220 years ago: Scord of Brouster farmstead established in Shetland, Scotland
• 4.2 kiloyear event– a severe aridification event that probably lasted the entire 22nd century BC and caused the collapse of several Old World civilizations.
• 4,217 years ago: Nomadic invasions of Akkad.
• 4,200 years ago: The Minoan Civilization developed in Crete. Citizens worshipped a variety of goddesses.
• 4,150 years ago: The earliest surviving versions of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh—originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba īmuru) or Surpassing All Other Kings (Shūtur eli sharrī)—were written.
• 4,104 years ago: Approximate date of the Biblical flood according to the Hebrew Calendar.
• 4,070 years ago: Xia Dynasty, first Chinese dynasty, and government system established.
• 4,000 years ago: Kultepe? An archaeological site with a 4,000 years old women’s rights document.
• 3,700 years ago: The oldest of the Hindu Vedas (scriptures), the Rig Veda was composed.
• 3,600 years ago: The ancient development of Stonehenge came to an end.
• 3,500 years ago: The Vedic Age began in India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
• 3,450 years ago: This is the traditionally accepted period in which, according to legend, the Israelite lawgiver Moses gave the Ten Commandments.
• 3,351 years ago: The reign of Akhenaten, sometimes credited with starting the earliest known recorded monotheistic religion, in Ancient Egypt
• 3,300 years ago: The “standard” Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh was edited by Sin-liqe-unninni.
• 3,250 years ago: The Upanishads (Vedic texts) were composed, containing the earliest emergence of some of the central religious concepts of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

4,150–4,000 years ago or so: The earliest surviving versions of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh—originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba īmuru) or Surpassing All Other Kings (Shūtur eli sharrī)—were written. ref

3,700–3,100 years ago or so: The oldest of the Hindu Vedas (scriptures), the Rig Veda was composed. ref

3,600 years ago or so: The ancient development of Stonehenge came to an end. ref

3,500 years ago or so: The Vedic Age began in India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation. ref

3,450 or 3,250 years ago or so: This is the traditionally accepted period in which, according to legend, the Israelite lawgiver Moses gave the Ten Commandments ref The Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament (abbreviated OT) is the first part of Christian Bibles based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh), a collection of ancient religious writings by the Israelites dates to around 2,500/2,400 or less. The most accepted hypothesis, the canon formed in stages, first the Pentateuch by around 400 BC, then the Prophets during the Hasmonean dynasty (140-116 BC), and finally the remaining books. Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into four sections: (1) the first five books or Pentateuch (Torah); (2) the history books telling the history of the Israelites, from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon; (3) the poetic and “Wisdom books” dealing, in various forms, with questions of good and evil in the world; and (4) the books of the biblical prophets, warning of the consequences of turning away from God. ref  The bible inspired religion was not one thing but many:

(Henotheism Exodus 20:23 “You shall not make other gods besides Me (not saying there are no other gods just not to worship hem); gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.”

(Polytheism: Judges 10:6 “Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. 1 Corinthians 8:5 “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.”)

In the Hebrew Bible, there are multiple descriptions of Yahweh presiding over a great assembly of Heavenly Hosts. Some interpret these assemblies as examples of Divine Council: “The Old Testament description of the ‘divine assembly’ all suggest that this metaphor for the organization of the divine world was consistent with that of Mesopotamia and Canaan. One difference, however, should be noted. In the Old Testament, the identities of the members of the assembly are far more obscure than those found in other descriptions of these groups, as in their polytheistic environment. Israelite writers sought to express both the uniqueness and the superiority of their God Yahweh.” The Book of Psalms (Psalm 82:1), states “God (אֱלֹהִ֔ים elohim) stands in the divine assembly (בַּעֲדַת-אֵל ); He judges among the gods (אֱלֹהִ֔ים elohim)” (אֱלֹהִים נִצָּב בַּעֲדַת־אֵל בְּקֶרֶב אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁפֹּט). The meaning of the two occurrences of “elohim” has been debated by scholars, with some suggesting both words refer to Yahweh, while others propose that the God of Israel rules over a divine assembly of other Gods or angels. Some translations of the passage render “God (elohim) stands in the congregation of the mighty to judge the heart as God (elohim)” (the Hebrew is “beqerev elohim”, “in the midst of gods”, and the word “qerev” if it were in the plural would mean “internal organs”). Later in this Psalm, the word “gods” is used (in the KJV): Psalm 82:6 – “I have said, Ye [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High.” Instead of “gods”, another version has “godlike beings”, but here again, the word is elohim/elohiym (Strong’s H430). This passage is quoted in the New Testament in John 10:34. In the Books of Kings (1 Kings 22:19), the prophet Micaiah has a vision of Yahweh seated among “the whole host of heaven” standing on his right and on his left. He asks who will go entice Ahab and a spirit volunteers. This has been interpreted as an example of a divine council. The first two chapters of the Book of Job describe the “Sons of God” assembling in the presence of Yahweh. Like “multitudes of heaven”, the term “Sons of God” defies certain interpretation. This assembly has been interpreted by some as another example of divine council. Others translate “Sons of God” as “angels”, and thus argue this is not a divine council because angels are God’s creation and not deities. “The role of the divine assembly as a conceptual part of the background of Hebrew prophecy is clearly displayed in two descriptions of prophetic involvement in the heavenly council. In 1 Kings 22:19-23… Micaiah is allowed to see God (elohim) in action in the heavenly decision regarding the fate of Ahab. Isaiah 6 depicts a situation in which the prophet himself takes on the role of the messenger of the assembly and the message of the prophet is thus commissioned by Yahweh. The depiction here illustrates this important aspect of the conceptual background of prophetic authority.” The concept of a divine assembly (or council) is attested in the archaic Sumerian, Akkadian, Old Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Caananite, Israelite, Celtic, Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman and Nordic pantheons. Ancient Egyptian literature reveals the existence of a “synod of the gods”. Some of our most complete descriptions of the activities of the divine assembly are found in the literature from Mesopotamia. Their assembly of the gods, headed by the high god Anu, would meet to address various concerns. The term used in Sumerian to describe this concept was Ukkin, and in later Akkadian and Aramaic was puhru. Sons of God (Heb: bənê hāʼĕlōhîm, בני האלהים) is a phrase used in the Hebrew Bible and apocrypha. The phrase is also used in Kaballah where Bene elohim are part of different Jewish angelic hierarchies. ref, ref

Genesis 6: When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. — Genesis 6:1-4

The first mention of “sons of God” in the Hebrew Bible occurs at Genesis 6:1-4. In terms of literary-historical origin, this phrase is typically associated with the Jahwist tradition. This passage has had two interpretations in Judaism.

• Offspring of Seth: The first references to the offspring of Seth rebelling from God and mingling with the daughters of Cain are found in Christian and Rabbinic literature from the second century CE onwards e.g. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Augustine of Hippo, Julius Africanus, and the Letters attributed to St. Clement. It is also the view expressed in the modern canonical Amharic Ethiopian Orthodox Bible. In Judaism “Sons of God” usually refers to the righteous, i.e. the children of Seth.
• Angels: All of the earliest sources interpret the “sons of God” as angels. From the 2,300 years ago onwards, references are found in the Enochic literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls the (Genesis Apocryphon, the Damascus Document, 4Q180), Jubilees, the Testament of Reuben, 2 Baruch, Josephus, and the book of Jude (compare with 2 Peter 2). This is also the meaning of the only two identical occurrences of bene ha elohim in the Hebrew Bible (Job 1:6 and 2:1), and of the most closely related expressions (refer to the list above). In the Septuagint, the interpretive reading “angels” is found in Codex Alexandrinus, one of four main witnesses to the Greek text. ref

Rabbinic Judaism traditionally adheres to the first interpretation, with some exceptions, and modern Jewish translations may translate bnei elohim as “sons of rulers” rather than “sons of God”. Regardless, the second interpretation (sons of angels or other divine beings) is nonexistent in modern Judaism. This is reflected by the rejection of Enoch and other Apocrypha supporting the second interpretation from the Hebrew Bible Canon. Joseph Hong believes that Genesis 6:1-4 has gone through drastic abridgment by either the original writer or later editors. Nahum M. Sarna believes that the text defies certain interpretation, based on difficulties with the text’s themes, extreme terseness, vocabulary, and syntax. Sarna postulates that such a passage cannot be other than a fragment, or bare outline, from a well-known fuller story. ref, ref

(Monotheism: Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

3,351 or 3,353 years ago or so: The reign of Akhenaten, sometimes credited with starting the earliest known recorded monotheistic or at least Henotheism a religion, in Ancient Egypt. ref

3,300 – 3,000 years ago or so: The “standard” Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh was edited by Sin-liqe-unninni. ref

3,250 – 2,600 years ago or so: The Upanishads (Vedic texts) were composed, containing the earliest emergence of some of the central religious concepts of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ref

3,200 years ago or so: The Olmecs built the earliest pyramids and temples in Central America. ref

2,800 to 2,600 years ago or so: The Chandogya Upanishad is compiled, significant for containing the earliest to date mention of Krishna. Verse 3.17.6 mentions Krishna Devakiputra as a student of the sage Ghora Angirasa. ref

2,600 – 2,500 years ago or so: The Earliest Confucian type writing, Shu Ching, incorporates ideas of harmony and heaven. ref

2,599 – 2,527 years ago or so: The life of Mahavira, 24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism. The Kalpasutra, a popular text in Jainism, cites Kundagrama as the place where he was born, Present-day Vaishali district, Bihar, India. Though it is universally accepted by scholars of Jainism that Mahavira was an actual person who lived in ancient India, the details of his biography and the year of his birth are uncertain, and continue to be a subject of considerable debate among scholars. The Jain Śvētāmbara tradition believes he was born in 599 BCE and died in 527 BCE, while the Digambara tradition believes 510 BCE was the year he died. The scholarly controversy arises from efforts to date him and the Buddha, because both are believed to be contemporaries according to Buddhist and Jain texts, and because, unlike for Jain literature, there is extensive ancient Buddhist literature that has survived. Almost all Indologists and historians, state Dundas and others, accordingly date Mahavira’s birth to about 497 BCE and his death to about 2,425 years ago. However, the Vira era tradition that started in 527 BCE and places Mahavira in the 6th century BCE is a firmly established part of the Jain community tradition. The 12th-century Jain scholar Hemachandra placed Mahavira in the 5th century BCE. According to Kailash Jain, Hemachandra made an incorrect analysis that, along with attempts to establish Buddha’s nirvana date, has been a source of confusion and controversy about Mahavira’s year of nirvana. Kailash Jain states the traditional date of 527 BCE is accurate, adding that the Buddha was a junior contemporary of the Mahavira and that the Buddha “might have attained nirvana a few years later”. The place of his death, Pavapuri (now in Bihar), is a pilgrimage site for Jains. According to the Digambara Jains, Mahavira was born in 582 BCE. According to the Svetambara Jain texts, he was born in 599 BCE. Mahavira’s birthday, in the traditional calendar, falls on the thirteenth day of the rising moon in the month of Chaitra in the Vira Nirvana Samvat calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, this date falls in March or April and is celebrated by Jains as Mahavir Jayanti. ref, ref

2,563/2,480 – 2,483/2,400 years ago or so: Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism was born. ref

2,551 years ago or so: Confucius, founder of Confucianism, was born. ref2,440 years ago or so: Zoroastrianism entered recorded history. ref

2,399 years ago or so: Socrates was tried for impiety.2,300 years ago or so: The oldest known version of the Tao Te Ching was written on bamboo tablets. ref

2,300 years ago or so: Theravada Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Venerable Mahinda. ref

2,250 years ago or so: The Third Buddhist council was convened. ref

2,140 years ago or so: The earliest grammar of Sanskrit literature was composed by Pāṇini. ref

2,100 – 1,517 years ago or so: The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, constituting the foundational texts of Yoga, were composed. ref

The Common Era

Around years 30/33: The reported death of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity. ref

Around years 31-36: The death of John the Baptist. refAround years 50–62: The first Christian Council was convened in Jerusalem. refAround years 70: The Siege of Jerusalem, the Destruction of the Temple, and the rise of Rabbinic Judaism. refAround years 220: Manichaean Gnosticism was formed by the prophet Mani. ref

Around years 250–900: Classic Mayan step pyramids were constructed. ref

Around years 313: The Edict of Milan decreed religious toleration in the Roman empire. ref

Around years 325: The first ecumenical council (the Council of Nicaea) was convened to attain a consensus on doctrine through an assembly representing all Christendom. It established the original Nicene Creed and fixed the date of Easter. It also confirmed the primacy of the Sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, and granted the See of Jerusalem a position of honor. ref

Around years 350: The oldest record of the complete biblical texts (the Codex Sinaiticus) survives in a Greek translation called the Septuagint, dating to the 4th century CE. ref

Around years 380: Theodosius I declared Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. refAround years 381: The second ecumenical council (the First Council of Constantinople) reaffirmed and revised the Nicene Creed, repudiating Arianism and Macedonianism. ref

Around years 381–391: Theodosius proscribed paganism within the Roman Empire. ref

Around years 393: A council of early Christian bishops listed and approved a biblical canon for the first time at the Synod of Hippo. ref

Around years 405: St. Jerome completed the Vulgate, the first Latin translation of the Bible. ref

Around years 410: The Western Roman Empire began to decline, signaling the onset of the Dark Ages. ref

Around years 424: The Assyrian Church of the East formally separated from the See of Antioch and the western Syrian Church. refAround years 431: The third ecumenical council (the First Council of Ephesus) was convened as a result of the controversial teachings of Nestorius of Constantinople. It repudiated Nestorianism, proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos (the God-bearer or Mother of God). It also repudiated Pelagianism and again reaffirmed the Nicene Creed. ref

Around years 449: The Second Council of Ephesus declared support for Eutyches and attacked his opponents. Originally convened as an ecumenical council, its ecumenical nature was rejected by the Chalcedonians, who denounced the council as latrocinium. ref

Around years 451: The fourth ecumenical council (the Council of Chalcedon) rejected the Eutychian doctrine of monophysitism, adopting instead the Chalcedonian Creed. It reinstated those deposed in 449, deposed Dioscorus of Alexandria and elevated the bishoprics of Constantinople and Jerusalem to the status of patriarchates. ref

Around years 451: The Oriental Orthodox Church rejected the christological view put forth by the Council of Chalcedon and was excommunicated. ref

Around years 480–547: Benedict of Nursia wrote his Rule, laying the foundation of Western Christian monasticism. ref

Around years 553: The fifth ecumenical council (the Second Council of Constantinople) repudiated the Three Chapters as Nestorian and condemned Origen of Alexandria. ref

Around years 570–632: The life of Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh, the Prophet of Islam. refAround years 632–661: The Rashidun Caliphate heralded the Arab conquest of Persia, Egypt, and Iraq, bringing Islam to those regions. ref

Around years 610 –632: Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God through the archangel Gabriel (Jibrīl) on many occasions between 610 CE until his death on June 8, 632. While Muhammad was alive, all of these revelations were written down by his companions (sahabah), although the prime method of transmission was orally through memorization. ref ref

Around year 650: The verses of the Qur’an were compiled in the form of a book in the era of Uthman, the third Caliph of Islam. The Quran is divided into 114 suras, or chapters, which combined, contain 6,236 āyāt, or verses. The chronologically earlier suras, revealed at Mecca, are primarily concerned with ethical and spiritual topics. The later Medinan suras mostly discuss social and moral issues relevant to the Muslim community. ref ref

Around years 661–750: The Umayyad Caliphate brought the Arab conquest of North Africa, Spain, and Central Asia, marking the greatest extent of the Arab conquests and bringing Islam to those regions. ref

Around years 680–681: The sixth ecumenical council (the Third Council of Constantinople) rejected Monothelitism and Monoenergism. ref

Around years 680: The division between Sunni and Shiites Muslims developed. ref

Around years 712: Kojiki, the oldest Shinto text, was written. ref

Around years 716–936: The migration of Zoroastrian (Parsi) communities from Persia to India began, caused by Muslim conquest of their lands and the ensuing persecution. ref

Around years 788–820: The life of Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara, who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedānta. ref

Around year 850: The oldest extant manuscripts of the vocalized Masoretic text, upon which modern editions are based, date to 9th century CE. ref

Around year 1054: The Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches was formalized. ref

Around years 1095–1099: The First Crusade led to the capture of Jerusalem. ref

Around years 1107–1110: Sigurd I of Norway led the Norwegian Crusade against Muslims in Spain, the Balearic Islands and in Palestine. ref

Around years 1147–1149: The Second Crusade was waged in response to the fall of the County of Edessa. ref

Around years 1189–1192: In the Third Crusade European leaders attempted to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin. ref

Around years 1202–1204: The Fourth Crusade, originally intended to recapture Jerusalem, instead led to the sack of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. ref

Around years 1209–1229: The Albigensian Crusade was conducted to eliminate Catharism in Occitania, Europe. ref

Around years 1217–1221: With the Fifth Crusade, Christian leaders again attempted (but failed) to recapture Jerusalem. ref

Around years 1222−1282: The life of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law and founder of Nichiren Buddhism. Based at the Nichiren Shoshu Head Temple Taisekiji (Japan), this branch of Buddhism teaches the importance of chanting the mantra Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō. ref

Around years 1228–1229: The Sixth Crusade won control of large areas of the Holy Land for Christian rulers, more through diplomacy than through fighting. ref

Year 1244: Jerusalem was sacked again, instigating the Seventh Crusade. ref

Around year 1270: The Eighth Crusade was launched by Louis IX of France but largely petered out when Louis died shortly after reaching Tunis. ref

Around years 1271–1272: The Ninth Crusade failed. ref

Around year 1320: Pope John XXII laid the groundwork for future witch-hunts with the formalization of the persecution of witchcraft. ref

Around years 1378–1417: The Roman Catholic Church split during the Western Schism. ref

Around years 1469–1539: The life of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism. ref

Around year 1484: Pope Innocent VIII marked the beginning of the classical European witch-hunts with his papal bull Summis desiderantes. ref

Around years 1486-1534: Chaitanya Mahaprabhu popularized the chanting of the Hare Krishna and composed the Siksastakam (eight devotional prayers) in Sanskrit. His followers, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, revere him as a spiritual reformer, a Hindu revivalist, and an avatar of Krishna. ref

Around year 1500: African religious systems were introduced to the Americas, with the commencement of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In the Spanish Empire, Catholicism was spread and encouraged through such institutions as the missions and the Inquisition. ref

Around year 1517: Martin Luther posted The Ninety-Five Theses on the door of All Saints’ Church, Wittenberg, launching the Protestant Reformation. ref

Around year 1534: Henry VIII separated the English Church from Rome and made himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. ref

Around year 1555: [Atlantic Slave Trade begins]. ref

Around year 1562: The Massacre of Vassy sparked the first of a series of French Wars of Religion. ref

Around year 1699: Guru Gobind Singh Ji created the Khalsa in Sikhism. ref

Around year 1708: Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the last Sikh guru, died after instituting the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, as the eternal Guru. ref

Around year 1770: Baron d’Holbach published The System of Nature said to be the first positive, unambiguous statement of atheism in the West. ref

Around year 1781: Ghanshyam, later known as Sahajanand Swami/Swaminarayan, was born in Chhapaiya at the house of Dharmadev and Bhaktimata. ref

Around years 1789–1799: In the Dechristianisation of France the Revolutionary Government confiscated Church properties, banned monastic vows and, with the passage of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, removed control of the Church from the Pope and subordinated it as a department of the Government. The Republic also replaced the traditional Gregorian Calendar and abolished Christian holidays. ref

Around year 1791: Freedom of religion, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, was added as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, forming an early and influential secular government. ref

Around year 1801: The French Revolutionary Government and Pope Pius VII entered into the Concordat of 1801. While Roman Catholicism regained some powers and became recognized as “the religion of the great majority of the French”, it was not afforded the latitude it had enjoyed prior to the Revolution and was not re-established as the official state religion. The Church relinquished all claims to estate seized after 1790, the clergy was state salaried and was obliged to swear allegiance to the State. Religious freedom was restored. ref

Around years 1819–1850: The life of Siyyid ‘Alí Muḥammad Shírází Bab, the founder of Bábism. refAround years 1817–1892: The life of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith. ref

Around years 1823: September 21, The Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith saw the Angel Moroni and prophesied of what is now the Book Of Mormon. ref

Around year 1830: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith. ref

Around years 1835–1908: The life of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the messianic Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam. ref

Around years 1836–1886: The life of Ramakrishna, saint, and mystic of Bengal. ref

Around year 1841: Satguru Ram Singh Ji created the Namdhari sect within the Sikh religion. ref

Around year 1879: Christian Science was granted its charter in Boston, Massachusetts. ref

Around year 1889: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established. ref

Around year 1893: Swami Vivekananda‘s first speech at The Parliament of World Religions, Chicago, brought the ancient philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world. ref

Around year 1899: Aradia (aka The Gospel of the Witches), one of the earliest books describing post witchhunt European religious Witchcraft, was published by Charles Godfrey Leland. ref

Around year 1901: The incorporation of the Spiritualists’ National Union legally representing Spiritualism in the United Kingdom. ref

Around year 1904: Thelema was founded by Aleister Crowley. ref

Around year 1905: In France, the law on the Separation of the Churches and the State was passed, officially establishing state secularism and putting an end to the funding of religious groups by the state. Becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and other pagans, the Ancient Order of Druids organized the first recorded reconstructionist ceremony in Stonehenge. ref

Around year 1908: The Khalifatul Masih was established in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as the “Second Manifestation of God’s Power”. ref

Around year 1915: The Ottoman Empire committed the Armenian Genocide killing 1.5 million. ref

Around year 1917: The October Revolution in Russia led to the annexation of all church properties and subsequent religious suppression. The 1917 Constitution of Mexico made Mexico a secular state. ref

Around year 1920: The Self Realization Fellowship Church of all Religions with its headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda. ref

Around year 1926: Cao Dai founded. ref

Around year 1929: The Cristero War, fought between the secular government and religious Christian rebels in Mexico, ended. ref

Around year 1930: The Rastafari movement began following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia. The Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit, Michigan. ref

Around year 1932: A neo-Hindu religious movement, the Brahma Kumaris or “Daughters of Brahma”, started. Its origin can be traced to the group “Om Mandali”, founded by Lekhraj Kripalani(1884–1969). ref

Around years 1939–1945: Millions of Jews were relocated and murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. ref

Around year 1947: First nation in the name of Islam was created called Pakistan. British India was partitioned into the Islamic nation of Pakistan and the secular nation of India with a Hindu majority. ref

Around year 1948: The modern state of Israel was established as a homeland for the Jews. ref

Around year 1952: Scientology was created. ref

Around year 1954: Wicca was publicised by Gerald Gardner. ref

Around year 1956: B. R. Ambedkar was founded by Navayana Buddhism (Neo-Buddhism). And Ambedkar converted to Navayana with his more than 500,000 followers. ref

Around years 1960s: Various Neopagan and New Age movements gained momentum. ref

Around year 1961: Unitarian Universalism was formed from the merger of Unitarianism and Universalism. ref

Around year 1962: The Church of All Worlds, the first American neo-pagan church, was formed by a group including Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, and Richard Lance Christie. ref

Around years 1962–1965: The Second Vatican Council was convened. ref

Around year 1965: Srila Prabhupada established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and introduced translations of the Bhagavad-Gita and Vedic Scriptures in mass production all over the world. ref

Around year 1966: Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan. ref

Around years 1972–1984: The Stonehenge free festivals started. ref

Around years 1972–2004: Germanic Neopaganism (aka Heathenism, Heathenry, Ásatrú, Odinism, Forn Siðr, Vor Siðr, and Theodism) began to experience a second wave of revival. ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

People don’t commonly teach religious history, even that of their own claimed religion. No, rather they teach a limited “pro their religion” history of their religion from a religious perspective favorable to the religion of choice. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Do you truly think “Religious Belief” is only a matter of some personal choice?

Do you not see how coercive one’s world of choice is limited to the obvious hereditary belief, in most religious choices available to the child of religious parents or caregivers? Religion is more commonly like a family, culture, society, etc. available belief that limits the belief choices of the child and that is when “Religious Belief” is not only a matter of some personal choice and when it becomes hereditary faith, not because of the quality of its alleged facts or proposed truths but because everyone else important to the child believes similarly so they do as well simply mimicking authority beliefs handed to them. Because children are raised in religion rather than being presented all possible choices but rather one limited dogmatic brand of “Religious Belief” where children only have a choice of following the belief as instructed, and then personally claim the faith hereditary belief seen in the confirming to the belief they have held themselves all their lives. This is obvious in statements asked and answered by children claiming a faith they barely understand but they do understand that their family believes “this or that” faith, so they feel obligated to believe it too. While I do agree that “Religious Belief” should only be a matter of some personal choice, it rarely is… End Hereditary Religion!

Opposition to Imposed Hereditary Religion

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref 

Animism: Respecting the Living World by Graham Harvey 

“How have human cultures engaged with and thought about animals, plants, rocks, clouds, and other elements in their natural surroundings? Do animals and other natural objects have a spirit or soul? What is their relationship to humans? In this new study, Graham Harvey explores current and past animistic beliefs and practices of Native Americans, Maori, Aboriginal Australians, and eco-pagans. He considers the varieties of animism found in these cultures as well as their shared desire to live respectfully within larger natural communities. Drawing on his extensive casework, Harvey also considers the linguistic, performative, ecological, and activist implications of these different animisms.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

We are like believing machines we vacuum up ideas, like Velcro sticks to almost everything. We accumulate beliefs that we allow to negatively influence our lives, often without realizing it. Our willingness must be to alter skewed beliefs that impend our balance or reason, which allows us to achieve new positive thinking and accurate outcomes.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Low Gods “Earth” or Tutelary deity and High Gods “Sky” or Supreme deity

“An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the “chthonic” deities of the underworld. Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corresponding to Roman Terra, Indic Prithvi/Bhūmi, etc. traced to an “Earth Mother” complementary to the “Sky Father” in Proto-Indo-European religion. Egyptian mythology exceptionally has a sky goddess and an Earth god.” ref

“A mother goddess is a goddess who represents or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. In some religious traditions or movements, Heavenly Mother (also referred to as Mother in Heaven or Sky Mother) is the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky father or God the Father.” ref

“Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as “sky father” deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a “sky father” god with an “earth mother” goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent). A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with “sky” not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven. Neopagans often apply it with impunity to sky goddesses from other regions who were never associated with the term historically. The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky.” ref

“In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a “father”, often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The concept of “sky father” may also be taken to include Sun gods with similar characteristics, such as Ra. The concept is complementary to an “earth mother“. “Sky Father” is a direct translation of the Vedic Dyaus Pita, etymologically descended from the same Proto-Indo-European deity name as the Greek Zeûs Pater and Roman Jupiter and Germanic Týr, Tir or Tiwaz, all of which are reflexes of the same Proto-Indo-European deity’s name, *Dyēus Ph₂tḗr. While there are numerous parallels adduced from outside of Indo-European mythology, there are exceptions (e.g. In Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father).” ref

Tutelary deity

“A tutelary (also tutelar) is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of “tutelary” expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the genius, functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Korean shamanism, jangseung and sotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities. Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the Seonangdang. In Philippine animism, Diwata or Lambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians. Such as: Maria Makiling is the deity who guards Mt. Makiling and Maria Cacao and Maria Sinukuan. In Shinto, the spirits, or kami, which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped. And similarly, Native American beliefs such as Tonás, tutelary animal spirit among the Zapotec and Totems, familial or clan spirits among the Ojibwe, can be animals.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Austronesian beliefs such as: Atua (gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians), Hanitu (Bunun of Taiwan‘s term for spirit), Hyang (Kawi, Sundanese, Javanese, and Balinese Supreme Being, in ancient Java and Bali mythology and this spiritual entity, can be either divine or ancestral), Kaitiaki (New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land), Kawas (mythology) (divided into 6 groups: gods, ancestors, souls of the living, spirits of living things, spirits of lifeless objects, and ghosts), Tiki (Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne and represents deified ancestors found in most Polynesian cultures). ” ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Mesopotamian Tutelary Deities can be seen as ones related to City-States 

“Historical city-states included Sumerian cities such as Uruk and Ur; Ancient Egyptian city-states, such as Thebes and Memphis; the Phoenician cities (such as Tyre and Sidon); the five Philistine city-states; the Berber city-states of the Garamantes; the city-states of ancient Greece (the poleis such as Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth); the Roman Republic (which grew from a city-state into a vast empire); the Italian city-states from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, such as Florence, Siena, Ferrara, Milan (which as they grew in power began to dominate neighboring cities) and Genoa and Venice, which became powerful thalassocracies; the Mayan and other cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (including cities such as Chichen Itza, Tikal, Copán and Monte Albán); the central Asian cities along the Silk Road; the city-states of the Swahili coast; Ragusa; states of the medieval Russian lands such as Novgorod and Pskov; and many others.” ref

“The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BCE; also known as Protoliterate period) of Mesopotamia, named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization. City-States like Uruk and others had a patron tutelary City Deity along with a Priest-King.” ref

“Chinese folk religion, both past, and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death. Lord Guan is the patron of military personnel and police, while Mazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors. Such as Tu Di Gong (Earth Deity) is the tutelary deity of a locality, and each individual locality has its own Earth Deity and Cheng Huang Gong (City God) is the guardian deity of an individual city, worshipped by local officials and locals since imperial times.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) in Hinduism, personal tutelary deities are known as ishta-devata, while family tutelary deities are known as Kuladevata. Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages. Devas can also be seen as tutelary. Shiva is the patron of yogis and renunciants. City goddesses include: Mumbadevi (Mumbai), Sachchika (Osian); Kuladevis include: Ambika (Porwad), and Mahalakshmi. In NorthEast India Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) of Manipur, there are various types of tutelary deities, among which Lam Lais are the most predominant ones. Tibetan Buddhism has Yidam as a tutelary deity. Dakini is the patron of those who seek knowledge.” ref

“A tutelary (also tutelar) The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or daimonion:

You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician.” ref

“Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion. The tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult. An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo. Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the Republican era, when for instance the Roman dictator Sulla advertised the goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games (ludi) in her honor.” ref

“Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see Quintus Valerius Soranus). The Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome. The Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii, and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the arx (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna, whose oracle was renowned.” ref

“The Roman ritual of evocatio was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside the city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the Magna Mater (Great Mother, or Cybele) as “tower-crowned” represents their capacity to preserve the city. A town in the provinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or syncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within the civitas of the Remi in Gaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day Rheims), the tutelary was Mars Camulus.” ref 

Household deity (a kind of or related to a Tutelary deity)

“A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit into two types; firstly, a specific deity – typically a goddess – often referred to as a hearth goddess or domestic goddess who is associated with the home and hearth, such as the ancient Greek Hestia.” ref

“The second type of household deities are those that are not one singular deity, but a type, or species of animistic deity, who usually have lesser powers than major deities. This type was common in the religions of antiquity, such as the Lares of ancient Roman religion, the Gashin of Korean shamanism, and Cofgodas of Anglo-Saxon paganism. These survived Christianisation as fairy-like creatures existing in folklore, such as the Anglo-Scottish Brownie and Slavic Domovoy.” ref

“Household deities were usually worshipped not in temples but in the home, where they would be represented by small idols (such as the teraphim of the Bible, often translated as “household gods” in Genesis 31:19 for example), amulets, paintings, or reliefs. They could also be found on domestic objects, such as cosmetic articles in the case of Tawaret. The more prosperous houses might have a small shrine to the household god(s); the lararium served this purpose in the case of the Romans. The gods would be treated as members of the family and invited to join in meals, or be given offerings of food and drink.” ref

“In many religions, both ancient and modern, a god would preside over the home. Certain species, or types, of household deities, existed. An example of this was the Roman Lares. Many European cultures retained house spirits into the modern period. Some examples of these include:

• Brownie (Scotland and England) or Hob (England) / Kobold (Germany) / Goblin / Hobgoblin
• Domovoy (Slavic)
• Nisse (Norwegian or Danish) / Tomte (Swedish) / Tonttu (Finnish)
• Húsvættir (Norse)” ref

“Although the cosmic status of household deities was not as lofty as that of the Twelve Olympians or the Aesir, they were also jealous of their dignity and also had to be appeased with shrines and offerings, however humble. Because of their immediacy they had arguably more influence on the day-to-day affairs of men than the remote gods did. Vestiges of their worship persisted long after Christianity and other major religions extirpated nearly every trace of the major pagan pantheons. Elements of the practice can be seen even today, with Christian accretions, where statues to various saints (such as St. Francis) protect gardens and grottos. Even the gargoyles found on older churches, could be viewed as guardians partitioning a sacred space.” ref

“For centuries, Christianity fought a mop-up war against these lingering minor pagan deities, but they proved tenacious. For example, Martin Luther‘s Tischreden have numerous – quite serious – references to dealing with kobolds. Eventually, rationalism and the Industrial Revolution threatened to erase most of these minor deities, until the advent of romantic nationalism rehabilitated them and embellished them into objects of literary curiosity in the 19th century. Since the 20th century this literature has been mined for characters for role-playing games, video games, and other fantasy personae, not infrequently invested with invented traits and hierarchies somewhat different from their mythological and folkloric roots.” ref

“In contradistinction to both Herbert Spencer and Edward Burnett Tylor, who defended theories of animistic origins of ancestor worship, Émile Durkheim saw its origin in totemism. In reality, this distinction is somewhat academic, since totemism may be regarded as a particularized manifestation of animism, and something of a synthesis of the two positions was attempted by Sigmund Freud. In Freud’s Totem and Taboo, both totem and taboo are outward expressions or manifestations of the same psychological tendency, a concept which is complementary to, or which rather reconciles, the apparent conflict. Freud preferred to emphasize the psychoanalytic implications of the reification of metaphysical forces, but with particular emphasis on its familial nature. This emphasis underscores, rather than weakens, the ancestral component.” ref

“William Edward Hearn, a noted classicist, and jurist, traced the origin of domestic deities from the earliest stages as an expression of animism, a belief system thought to have existed also in the neolithic, and the forerunner of Indo-European religion. In his analysis of the Indo-European household, in Chapter II “The House Spirit”, Section 1, he states:

The belief which guided the conduct of our forefathers was … the spirit rule of dead ancestors.” ref

“In Section 2 he proceeds to elaborate:

It is thus certain that the worship of deceased ancestors is a vera causa, and not a mere hypothesis. …

In the other European nations, the Slavs, the Teutons, and the Kelts, the House Spirit appears with no less distinctness. … [T]he existence of that worship does not admit of doubt. … The House Spirits had a multitude of other names which it is needless here to enumerate, but all of which are more or less expressive of their friendly relations with man. … In [England] … [h]e is the Brownie. … In Scotland this same Brownie is well known. He is usually described as attached to particular families, with whom he has been known to reside for centuries, threshing the corn, cleaning the house, and performing similar household tasks. His favorite gratification was milk and honey.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Hinduism around 3,700 to 3,500 years old. ref

 Judaism around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (The first writing in the bible was “Paleo-Hebrew” dated to around 3,000 years ago Khirbet Qeiyafa is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley. And many believe the religious Jewish texts were completed around 2,500) ref, ref

Judaism is around 3,450 or 3,250 years old. (“Paleo-Hebrew” 3,000 years ago and Torah 2,500 years ago)

“Judaism is an Abrahamic, its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Some scholars argue that modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions.” ref

“Yahwism is the name given by modern scholars to the religion of ancient Israel, essentially polytheistic, with a plethora of gods and goddesses. Heading the pantheon was Yahweh, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with his consort, the goddess Asherah; below them were second-tier gods and goddesses such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, all of whom had their own priests and prophets and numbered royalty among their devotees, and a third and fourth tier of minor divine beings, including the mal’ak, the messengers of the higher gods, who in later times became the angels of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Yahweh, however, was not the ‘original’ god of Israel “Isra-El”; it is El, the head of the Canaanite pantheon, whose name forms the basis of the name “Israel”, and none of the Old Testament patriarchs, the tribes of Israel, the Judges, or the earliest monarchs, have a Yahwistic theophoric name (i.e., one incorporating the name of Yahweh).” ref

“El is a Northwest Semitic word meaning “god” or “deity“, or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ‘ila, represents the predicate form in Old Akkadian and in Amorite. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-, meaning “god”. Specific deities known as ‘El or ‘Il include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Mesopotamia’s Early Dynastic Period. ʼĒl is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, ʼĒl played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean “ʼĒl the King” but ʾil hd as “the god Hadad“. The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning “gods” is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾelōhîm “powers”. In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for “god” by biblical commentators. However the documentary hypothesis for the Old Testament (corresponds to the Jewish Torah) developed originally in the 1870s, identifies these that different authors – the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and the Priestly source – were responsible for editing stories from a polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis.” ref

Jainism around 2,599 – 2,527 years old. ref

Confucianism around 2,600 – 2,551 years old. ref

Buddhism around 2,563/2,480 – 2,483/2,400 years old. ref

Christianity around 2,o00 years old. ref

Shinto around 1,305 years old. ref

Islam around 1407–1385 years old. ref

Sikhism around 548–478 years old. ref

Bahá’í around 200–125 years old. ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Expressions of Atheistic Thinking:

• Around 2,600 years ago, Ajita Kesakambali, ancient Indian philosopher, who is the first known proponent of Indian materialism. ref
• Around 2,535 to 2,475 years ago, Heraclitus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor or modern Turkey. ref
• Around 2,500 to 2,400 years ago, according to The Story of Civilization book series certain African pygmy tribes have no identifiable gods, spirits, or religious beliefs or rituals, and even what burials accrue are without ceremony. ref
• Around 2,490 to 2,430 years ago, Empedocles, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. ref
• Around 2,460 to 2,370 years ago, Democritus, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher considered to be the “father of modern science” possibly had some disbelief amounting to atheism. ref
• Around 2,399 years ago or so, Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher was tried for sinfulness by teaching doubt of state gods. ref
• Around 2,341 to 2,270 years ago, Epicurus, a Greek philosopher known for composing atheistic critics and famously stated, “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?” ref

This last expression by Epicurus, seems to be an expression of Axiological Atheism. To understand and utilize value or actually possess “Value Conscious/Consciousness” to both give a strong moral “axiological” argument (the problem of evil) as well as use it to fortify humanism and positive ethical persuasion of human helping and care responsibilities. Because value-blindness gives rise to sociopathic/psychopathic evil.

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):

Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism

My Website, My Blog, & Short-writing or Quotes, My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com