Re: Conreligion

Certainly there are going to eventually be discordant voices (such as
mine) who start preaching of an apocalyptic time when the Old Eagle
Woman "gives up on us".  These people could then start acting like the
Old Eagle Woman has contacted them, with the intention that there be
many sacrifices in her honor.  I cannot envision a place where every
single person believes the same thing, and they all aren't the least
afraid that the OEW will get tired or give up.  If this comes off like a
challenge, it is not intended as such.  I just want to understand why
your conculture is so docile.  Your response?

> ----------
> From:         Matt Pearson[SMTP:mpearson@UCLA.EDU]
> Reply To:     Constructed Languages List
> Sent:         Thursday, November 05, 1998 4:32 PM
> To:   Multiple recipients of list CONLANG
> Subject:      Re: Conreligion
>
> >> The Tokana believe that before the Universe began, nothing was
> >> different
> >> from anything else, and everything was nothing.  But then Old Eagle
> >> Woman
> >> entered through a hole in the nothingness and began beating her
> drum.
> >> The beats of her drum became Light, and the silences between the
> beats
> >> became Darkness, and that's how the Heartbeat of the Universe
> started.
> >>
> >Wouldn't they worship the Old Eagle Woman as being the creator of
> >everything they know of?  Is there a reason why they don't?
>
>
> They *revere* Old Eagle Woman, but they don't *worship* her.  There's
> a difference.  They don't sacrifice to her, or pray to her, or entreat
> her to bring rain, or anything like that.  In fact, they don't view
> themselves as having a personal relationship with her at all.  Her
> existence is just a fact, something that they know (or think they
> know)
> about how the world works:  The Universe began when she started
> beating
> her drum, and it will end when she stops, and that's all there is to
> it.
> The Tokana attitude toward Old Eagle Woman is thus closer to the
> secular
> humanist's attitude toward the Big Bang than the Judeo-Christian's
> attitude to God.
>
> Matt.
>
> ------------------------------------
> Matt Pearson
> mpearson@ucla.edu
> UCLA Linguistics Department
> 405 Hilgard Avenue
> Los Angeles, CA 90095-1543
> ------------------------------------
>