Letters to the Editor
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The birth of religion
I'm reminded of what my Humanities professor told me in college when I asked him if he thought don Juan was real. He said "what difference does it make?" I didn't like that answer at the time, but I have come to appreciate it. And as I read this article I'm struck by how the events it describes represent the primordial origin of religion. The great king or holy man surrounds himself with followers, subjects, family, and he lives his life like an object lesson. He practices what he preaches, performs miracles, journey's into the underworld, wins the great prize. Then he dies. But he doesn't die. His legacy is so great, the love of his people lives on, and his authority outlives his body. He rises again. Maybe his inner circle of priests embalm his body and prop him back up on his throne, and he continues to rule. We continue to worship him. We remember his words. Perhaps we await his second coming. We pray to him, our most wise & honored ancestor. I think Carlos Casteneda understood this. And I actually think Jesus understood it too. It's an anthropology object lesson. One wonders what mundane and sordid details a good fact-checker might have uncovered about the life of Jesus? I suppose inquiring minds want to know, but does that prove the meek will not inherit the Earth?