Western Civilization is based largely on the Judeo-Christian faith. But how did this come to be? And why are so many North Americans born Christian?
Before Judaism
Before Judaism, people believed in multiple Gods, with human-like personalities, most of which were mean. These Gods were highly-sexed and occasionally needed to be satisfied with human sacrifice. Back then, people also believed life was cyclical—an experience where the same things occurred over and over, across every generation. So they figured we were like hamsters on a wheel, created to serve all these crazy-assed gods.
Judaism
Then a small group of nomads changed things. The Jewish religion began around 1800 BC and developed over the years to produce the following concepts:
- belief in just one God (monotheism)
- no more human sacrifice
- God is loving and good (albeit, in the Old Testament he was also vindictive and cruel, but still better than all Gods at the time)
- we need to have faith (e.g., Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son)
- the Sabbath—a day of rest, education, and enjoyment
- the rest of the ten commandments (granted they don’t denounce slavery or discuss equality by gender, but they do promote some pretty good stuff)
- life is linear, not cyclical. (They changed the concept of time. They moved away from a perspective where one comes to inner peace by coming to terms with the wheel, to a new outlook where we’re not bound by some predetermined fate and are free to write our own future.)
Though Jews represented only a small percentage of world population, they started a new belief system. One that made more sense than what came before. And probably due to its sensibility, this religion persevered.
Christianity
Then along came Jesus, a Jew who founded Judaism 2.0. He moved away from the bad parts and made God more loving. Gone was the monster god of the Old Testament and the notion that Jews were his chosen people. Added was the idea that God is always loving and we should be the same way (e.g., love thy neighbour).
Jesus said and did a lot of great things, and his religion was more positive and sensible than multiple gods or Judaism 1.0. As a result, it grew to eventually become the Holy Catholic Church (the first Christian church).
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire existed between 27 BC and 476 AD. After years of persecuting Christians, Rome changed from its polytheistic belief system to a Christian empire. This occurred between the years 300-400 AD, with Rome declaring Christianity as its state religion. At the time, Christianity meant Catholicism and it was imposed upon all subjects, which translated into all of Europe becoming Catholic.
Protestant Reformation
During the mid-1500s, a number of movements challenged Rome’s authority over the faith. The result was the Protestant Reformation, which converted large numbers away from the Catholic Church to other Christian denominations. For example, most of England, whether willingly or by force, converted to the Church of England (what Canadians call Anglicans). Most Germans became Lutheran. And many countries, like France, remained primarily Catholic but allowed Protestants to practice (eventually).
This transition was hardly smooth and discrimination resulted everywhere. Even in 1950’s Canada, whenever a Catholic would marry a Protestant, some relative wouldn’t attend the wedding for reasons of faith.
Fundamentalism
Up until the past few generations, most people took religion seriously. The Bible was regarded as actual words of God and the clergy was seen as His messenger. So religion had great influence over culture and held huge political power.
Most people were, what we now call, fundamentalists. But thanks to education and civil liberty gains over the past 100 years, people are now encouraged to think for themselves. Resulting in today’s fundamentalists representing less than 10% of the population (at least, in Western society).
Summary
So the Jews invented a better religion, Jesus kicked it up a notch, the Roman Empire adopted it, the Protestant Reformation created multiple denominations, and, because North Americans are primarily of European descent, the majority of us were born into it. You didn’t choose your religion, nor did it choose you. It’s about geography. If your ancestors originated in the Middle East, you’d be a Muslim; if they were from India, you’d be Hindu; if they came from Japan, you’d be Buddhist; and if they were from a communist country like China, you wouldn’t have been raised with any religion at all.
You were born in North America and are probably a Christian. How seriously you take it is up to you, but now you know your heritage.