Humanity's Deep Roots

Preamble:

In our world society today we face the need to be tolerant and preserve our identity as we seek to meet these challenges with which our human diversity presents us. We value bio-diversity, but feel challenged when it comes to cultural diversity. In seeking to protect our own social identity we increase the experience of intolerance in word and deed.

In this talk cum essay I suggest a solution from this dilemma by finding a shared identity that is based on our common origin that is rooted back in our human past. We will start this search in the present and in leaps and bounds trace our human journey back to a point 60k years ago, finding Deep Roots in other words!

Stage 1:Present time: Challenges of diversity and identity, 2017-1990.

Today's diversity is part awareness and part experience. Since about 2000 the internet has made us increasingly aware of the global neighbourhood we live in. This availability of news from anywhere has become unrelenting resulting in a feeling of disquiet and a need to be sheltered from this information onslaught. This internet phenomenon was preceded ca 1990 by an opening up of our political world community by the 'fall of the wall' in Berlin City. Until that time the world was divided into the camp of communism and the camp of capitalism, each with their hangers on and some neutrals. This global political arrangement hid within its boundaries much inherent diversity that remained hidden and prevented much natural human social interaction.

Political diversity is evident in varies forms ranging from democracy, through dictatorship to theocracy, which intermixes religion and statecraft. In daily street scenes too diversity is much in evidence as people travel, visit and move from one part of the world to another, bringing with them differing customs, foods and lifestyles. And as the new comers try to adapt in various ways, so the local population struggles to accommodate the changes each is faced with.

The challenges we face on our globalised planet are numerous and complex. While the mentioned demographic changes, tensions and conflicts can be contained within the structure of a functioning national state, the same cannot be said about the interaction between many states themselves. Power interests and influence spheres are the most difficult to modify, because these all are defined by perceived status and the positioning for dominance by each participating party separately. Cooperation rests on mutual recognition of common interests, but when those are defined by outdated values and perceptions conflicts tends to escalate into violence, with the civilians becoming the victims.

Though only about 3&percent; of the seven billion humans live in war zones, the suffering and losses from such conflicts are a blemish on our political states which also spend much money and effort on space sciences and colliding stars. Why not turn our attention to colliding societies on our home planet? A change of perspective is called for considering the evidence at hand. This could start with the acknowledgement of each other's rights and legitimacy and our common interest as humans.

Stage 2:'Modern times': Enlightenment, Sciences and Secularity. 1990-1800

The cultural and political markers for this period are the fall of Berlin's Wall in 1990 and the French Revolution and its aftermath ca 1800. The twentieth century is marked by its two devastating world wars and a frozen international political situation that lasted until 1990. The high optimism from its preceding century had been shattered as a consequence of the First World War and in its aftermath initiated a search for different values, while the Second war lead to a re-examination of religious values and the questioning of their relevance. This showed in a temporary increase in secularity until about 2000 and by a growing and continuing interest in other religions and general spirituality.

Major events in the 19th century were the change from a rural to an industrial economy, inventions that changed society's infrastructure and the discovery of theories that put into question many handed down religious teachings. These developments were seen as evidence of human progress towards the close of the nineteenth century. This in turn affected the traditional churches which were losing members as secularity became more accepted and was expected to grow as traditional beliefs lost ground.

This now dominant secular trend was rooted in the central ideals of the Enlightenment (1600-1800) which valued individualism, rational thought and questioned religious traditions. Individualism and rational thought became the foundation for the new sciences, enabling them to construct a new secular world view. This led in the world of theology to what is called 'higher criticism' of the Bible books as these were now tested for consistency with the new scientific findings, resulting in the questioning the historical truth and therefore authority of the many bible stories.

Stage 3:Reorientations: Reformation, Explorations and Renaissance. 1800-1400

We begin this period is marked by the French Revolution in 1789 and the start of Washington's presidency of the USA in 1788. These new national states are now based on new ideas about human society and government as advocated in the philosophies of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Locke, thinkers of the Enlightenment period (1800-1600). Up until that time the head of state and its authority had been based on religion and its highest authority. Hence, the formation of these two states marked the beginning of our modern state and its democratic character eventually, separating state and religious authority. During the Enlightenment period the scientific method of investigating nature continued to mature with Newton and Huygens analysing the optics and telescopes.

The Reformation preceded this change in political authority by teaching that the Bible as God's word was the source of authority for the individual believer and not the Roman Catholic Church with the Pope at its head. Luther became the dominant spokesman for this religious reform, besides the Calvin, Knox and Bruno, when he posted his theses on the chapel doors of Wittenberg, Saxony in 1517. His bible interpretations spread rapidly through pamphlets, facilitated by the mobile printing presses that had become available. This process was further supported by bibles translated into vernacular languages from Latin, circumventing Rome's monopoly of old. A paper based internet had sprung up, you might say!

Explorations before the Reformation had brought disruptive changes with the discovery of new continents and culture by Columbus in 1492 on his quest to sail to the Indies for spices and by the rounding of the African continent by Vasco Da Gama finding the route to India. These surprising discoveries up ended the long established world view that had been inherited from the Greeks and Romans of Antiquity. In the span of a few decades this familiar age old world had been shattered, making a rearranged and much enlarged world the new reality.

Cultural changes of the Renaissance (1400-1640) stimulated a change in attitudes and thinking. Central in its philosophy is 'humanism', which puts the human experience and reasoning ability as measure. Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536) posits: "Also in matters of belief, it is not authority, but conscience that is critical." Later on, Galileo too no longer recognises the authority of the early philosophers as he says that in the matter of nature's laws, "Even one thousand Aristotle-s cannot stubbornly hold for true, what is untrue." At the close of this stage we find Nicolas de Cusa, who is born in 1401 at the very transition of Renaissance and the preceding Middle Ages. De Cusa as a philosopher and church man leaves us an interesting definition of god. "God is like a circle with its center everywhere and its perimeter nowhere." He defines in mathematical terms that god is present everywhere yet infinite in essence, a worthy new thought.

Stage 4:Europe forms: Papal Power, Christian culture and Roman legacy, 1415-51.

Two events mark this stage and time period. We start in 1415 when the 'Great Papal Schism' ends and we close this stage with the year 51, when St. Paul wrote his first letter. The 'Great Schism' started in 1378 when besides the Pope in Rome a second Pope in France (Avignon) laid claim to the same function and title. This was a political battle and signalled the decline of the Papal office as the reformatory currents were forming.

Papal Power: Pope Innocent III, (1198-1216) is considered the most powerful of all the Popes. He intervenes in Germany by deposing Otto IV as rival emperor and excommunicates King John of England in a bishop's dispute. The appointment of bishops also was a dispute with Henry IV of Germany (1077) and is currently with China.

The Pope showed his power also in the crowning of five heads of state in the years from 1155 down to 754 with Pepin crowned as king of France, as he recognized 'Papal States'. Pepin's father Charles Martel famously defeated a Muslim advance into France in 732. Some of these new heads of state were named 'Rulers of the Holy Roman Empire', as reminder of the Pope's political powers at that time. Even Charlemagne in 800 had to travel all the way from Aachen Germany to Rome to be crowned by Pope Leo III.

The power of the Roman Catholic Church also showed in the ability of several Popes to call for crusades at various times. The first one was called in 1095 by Pope Urban II against the Turks. This in reaction to the Turks interrupting the pilgrim routes to Jerusalem since 1080, which was probably affecting the church's income. This crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099 with more to follow to protect 'The Holy Land'. In 1179 the crusade against the apostate Albigensians (Cathars) in France, was sanctioned. These people lived in Southern France ignoring the king of the land and adhering to gnostic teachings in defiance of the Churches Christian teachings. A monument in memory of a related massacre in Montsegur, Southern France, can be visited today. The most disastrous was the 'Children's Crusade' (1212) with most of its members ending up in slavery and took place during the tenure of the most powerful Pope, Innocent III !

Christian Culture: Around 1150 the Toledo School of Translators in Spain was very active with the translation of 'Arab knowledge' into the various European languages. This 'knowledge' was the treasure the Muslims had gathered by translating old Greek texts and adding much of their own -algebra, trigonometry, medicine, optics, poems and literature. This was happening at the time of the famous tolerance that existed under Muslim rule at that time and disappeared in later centuries when the Castilians (1236 fall of Cordoba) drove the Muslims out of Spain (1492)i. That same year (1150) Europe's first University was founded in Bologna, Italy. It was followed by as many as 50 Universities across Europe in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, often initiated by the Roman Catholic Church.

Monasticism at first was resisted by the Church, but had to be allowed on the grounds of its popularity and later recognised usefulness. St. Anthony is regarded as the founder (253) of this style of life and devotion. During that time hundreds of people had withdrawn from society, living in the Eastern dessert of Egypt and in Syria. The 'Sayings of the Dessert Fathers' bear witness to this phenomenon on my book shelf today, which includes number of women who choose this unique life style. In 910 the famous monastery of Cluny, France was established, with members of the Benedictine order already spread widely throughout Europe. Around 1100 the Cluny monastery called for and set out rules for reformation of the church. German Dominican monks were instrumental in the reforming of the Papacy when it has lost its way in later times.

Monasteries became centers of learning and teaching within the community and they contributed also with manufacturing and agricultural methods. As a late example I recall the Monrovian monk Mendel who is named the father of genetics (ca 1822), because of his experimentation with the growth of beans. The brewing of beer was of course an oft practiced skill throughout the many 'refractories' of the monasteries. It was after Constantine became the first Christian emperor of the Roman empire (315) that monasticism became more important. Its importance is reflected in the saying by an Eastern Orthodox monk that 'monasteries are the sinews of the church'.

Roman Legacy: Constantine grew up in England as son of the Roman ruler of the Roman Western provinces. His mother was a Christian and advised him to choose that faith. At that time already about 15&percent; of the population were Christians. His choice to follow his mother`s suggestion no doubt helped Constantine to prevail over his rival from the East Roman provinces, when that inevitable battle came in 312 at Mulvian Bridge and he consequently went on to become sole emperor from 315 on. Constantine's reign as Christian Roman emperor began in303 and lasted till 337. However, the Roman Empire had reached its maximum (Pax Romana) in 100 and was in decline since 235. This decline was one of the reasons that Constantine moved his seat of government and power from Rome to the newly built and much more defensible location of Constantinople.

Christianity was already spreading in 98 only 47 years after St. Paul wrote his first letter in 51. He wrote, traveled and taught well before the first gospel (Mark) was written just after 70 the time Jerusalem fell in the Jewish revolt against the Romans. Paul was already far away from that battle, as he had been martyred in 64 in Rome during Nero's reign.

Stage 5:Shared Heritage: Agriculture 00-12 000BC:

The Roman Empire's economy depended on agriculture for food for its population, as did other civilisations that we know from Antiquity (500 - 1500BC) such as Mesopotamia and Egypt. The same was true for five other civilisations that existed at the time, the China's Yangtze River, the Dravidian Indus Valley (Pakistan) and the Inca's, Mayan and Aztec civilisations. They all had script and only the Dravidian and Inca records remain to be deciphered.

It is essential for planters to know at what time to plant or seed the next crop. This may have taken some time to figure out as using the hunter's moon cycles led to crop failures for the farmers. But as we can see from our studies of these cultures, they all figured out how to use the star and sun cycles to help predict the seasons and planting times. In particular the Mayan astronomers made very accurate predictions relating to their famous calendar. These agriculture based societies are sometimes called 'cosmological' for their reliance on the heavenly bodies.ii)

This cosmology was interwoven with the way these civilisations were governed, because the powers that ruled the seasons were also considered to be applicable in the daily affairs of kings, governments and the population. All events had their explanation in terms of this known cosmological order that proved so effective in producing good harvests. Even in case of misfortune the explanation was often understood in terms of cosmological powers. What was much feared in such societies were accidents or events that appeared to disrupt this cosmological order - lack of seasonal rains - maybe. On such occasions extra offerings had to be made to restore the understood order of the cosmos iii).

As we know from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian records and mythologies, societies at that time were what we would call 'theocracies', meaning that the Gods were active in the governance, statecraft of country and people lives through the priests and their temples. We must understand this as a discovered construct by means of which those societies ordered their experience world. This is how they understood their particular world, enabling them to act in it to good effect, which was considered to be the outcome of right action and worship.

The mythologies of these societies also defined the place and origins of its people and defined their special identities. From the stories of these myths we can learn that they all relate to the agricultural stage of development. For example in the book Genesis of the Bible, Adam has to go and work the fields, while the Mesopotamian gods create humans since they themselves are tired of working the irrigation ditches. These myths do not refer back to the earlier hunting and gathering stages, nor are these passed on in the agricultural civilisations. The origin of the people concerned is defined as being agriculturalists and so is their land and identity. And even today this is regarded at the start of that particular tradition handed down today.

That start of agriculture became feasible by a change in the earth's climate around 12 000BC. The temperature swings during the hundreds of thousands of preceding years settled to what they are today and in conjunction sea levels rose by about one hundred (100) meters in the Mediterranean, creating the Black sea and taming the 'Wild Nile', making it suitable for agricultural exploitation by around 4000BC.

Stage 6:Human Beginnings. 12 000 to 60 000 BC.

The human societies from before agriculture and animal domestication was hunting and gathering in nature, but were not all of the same type. The hunting of the large animals required special techniques since it had to be done on foot and with great cunning in order to lure large animals like Auroches (oxen) or Bisons to places where they could be killed safely. Most likely such techniques were taught iv) in the painted Caves found in France at Lascaux and Chavet, in Spain and other, such as Sulawesi in Indonesia. The paintings in France are dated at 25 and 35 thousand BC respectively.

Then, in around 40 000 BC new types of tools were invented using 'microlith' technology. A sadder date is 28 000 BC when the fire of the last known living Neanderthaler died at the shore near Gibraltar. This species preceded our species out of Africa by about 300 000 years, but did not survive the encounter with our own.
Our species left the African continent about 60 000 years BC, but of course continued to live there as well. Those that left spread over the planet form one end to the other in a time span of about 20 000 years.

This is our common beginning as based on modern findings and is shared by all humans regardless of their handed down narrative. I suggest that we extend those handed down narratives to include our newly discovered common human heritage from which our various traditions and identities emerged. Let us celebrate our diversity so deeply rooted in this common ground!

References:

1. i) Read 'The Moor's Last Sigh' by Salman Rushdie.
2. ii) "The Sacred Canopy", Berger, P.
3. iii) Id. ii
4. iv) Based on this author`s own studies.
5. v) From the meditation: The year of Saul's conversion, Acts 9.