Re: Constructed Religions

Nik Taylor wrote:

>Indeed, most early Scientists saw their inquiries as a form of
>worship. Know the Creation, Know the Creator.  Also, religions like
>Christianity were influential in the early study of languages.  The
>Greeks and the Romans couldn't've cared less about "barbarian"
>tongues, but the Christians, commanded to "make disciples of all
>nations", had to first translate the Word, and so they had to study
>other langauges.  *Many* languages are known only thru
>missionaries' studies of them.
>
When the Spaniards first came to the Philippines, they discovered a
people that were more literate than back home in Spain. Seeing this
as an advantage, they published the Bible in the ancient Filipino
scripts (two of which are still intact today). Spanish missionaries
even tried (through these bibles) to promote a revision of the
script so that Spanish words could be written. This is quite UNlike
what the Spaniards did in S.America where there were supposedly
numerous text burnings sanctioned by Spain - with no respect for the
local culture. Unfortunately, for reasons that have nothing to do
with religion, most of the ancient Filipino scripts were soon
forgotten.

Boreanesia shares a hispanic history similar to the Philippines in
that they both have had extensive contacts with Spain via the crown
colony of Mexico. The main differences are that in Boreanesia, the
scripts were not forgotten, the Catholic religion did not really get
a strong a foothold as in the Philippines, and Boreanesia was never
colonized. But I digress... sorry...

Another example of missionaries promoting the study of foreign
languages would be when Denmark sent Egede and his missionary
expedition to find any heathen Nordics still left in Greenland back
in the 18th century. Egede did not find any surviving Nordics, but
found a whole lot of Greenland Inuits. These were heathens too so to
promote the word of God, he changed from studying Old Norse to
studying Inuit instead. Together with his son, he developed a
Romanized orthography which has influenced the Romanization that is
widely used among the Inuits today from Alaska to Greenland.

Hmmm... I have related this like a true Boreanesian/Dane/Filipino.
:-)

Regards,
-Kristian- 8-)