I know the word 'God' does not show up in the article, "Palaeolithic art and religion", at all, nor do all religions have a 'God' in the western religion sense and religions can have more than one 'God' as well. The definition of God that I am using is "a being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by a people" (dictionary.com). From my knowledge, experiences, and from reading the article, I believe that with this definition of 'God,' it is safe to say that all religions have a 'God' and therefore it is the primary element.
Much of the article discusses the connection between the art created and religion (which is obvious due to the title), but there is more beneath. The people of Upper Palaeolithic Europe didn't just create art to create art. It was an integral part of their culture and life because it corresponded to their religion. And because of this, "Religion was not a 'free floating' optional extra to society; it was embedded in the social fabric" ( "Palaeolithic art and religion"). I feel that today religion is an optional extra in our society, which is not wrong but also not ideal. Having a unifying religion can be a positive aspect, not because I want everyone to join whatever religion I am in, but because it has a "glueing" effect. Just like art and religion were connected and probably many other aspects of the Upper Palesolithic European society, the connection of important parts in society/life make those aspects even more significant than they already are. One example of this keeps popping up in my mind and although it doesn't relate to the article, it still has some relevance.
In Cuba, music ( conga or bata drumming along with dancing and singing) is very related to religion ( although there is definitely popular music in Cuba). Because the music is connected and necessary to the religion ( songs are religious, dancing can bring out the deities, etc), it brings a greater importance to the music. When there are connections between many different aspects of people's lives because of religion, 'God' or the spiritual being(s) has a very significant impact.
As I said before, 'God' is the primary element of religion. Although 'God' is not mentioned in the article, references to spiritual beliefs are; "belief in a supernatural world to which the dead go can be safely assumed for the Upper Palaeolithic" which is very similar to many religions ( having a heaven vs hell idea). The authors of the article eventually come to the conclusion that this region of people were shamanistic. A shaman connects people to the supernatural world and therefore to 'God.' Overall, all the art that the people were creating was in order to bring them closer to a spiritual being.
Your point on religion being "an optional extra in our society" ties in with the ideas I was discussing in my blog (I basically said that religion arises from whatever it is we need in life). I think what might be behind this is the idea that today less things are truly essential to our lives that aren't provided. Before religion was based on something truly essential to survival whereas today it is based on spiritual ideas and the way we feel.
ReplyDeleteNot all religions have 'God' as an element in their faith. For example, I'm a Unitarian Universalist. We don't have a creed that applies to all people who identify as UU, and not everyone who is UU believes in God - many identify as agnostic or atheist.
ReplyDeleteBuddhism could be used as an example of a major world religion without a belief in a higher power as a central tenet.