MINDLESS MUSINGS

As we have seen, empires rise and fall. Some become part of a new conglomerate; some become a mere shadow of their former selves and others fade away completely. Kings, queens, czars, pharaohs, maharajas, emperors, shoguns, sheiks, Grand Poohbahs and anything else you can think of. They’re all dead and buried and the magnificent dynasties they once reigned are now relics.

There are still people who can trace their ancestors back to one of those ancient behemoths, at least on one side of their complex family tree. There would be families who still live in the same region with an even closer tie to the glorious past. They may even have rituals and traditions dating back to before the empire rose around them.

Almost every Greek I have spoken about this with feels a strong connection to those glory days before the rise of Rome. I’m sure there are many Italians who speak about the ancient empire with pride too. I won’t do a complete list around the globe; I’m sure you get my meaning.

Descendants reminiscing about a once mighty empire is well and good, but the fact remains that change is inevitable and no matter how big and strong your domain is, it will eventually go the way of the dinosaurs. Whether it be a central stronghold with tentacles reaching out for subjects and slaves, or a marauding horde sweeping across continents, it will tumble in the end. Unless…

What if your federation was not based on land, wealth and military might? What if it was simply a belief system that spread by scripture and word of mouth? In terms of religion, what if it offered answers to life’s mysteries? What if it prescribed the way to live a ‘good’ life and a way to find everlasting contentment after the curtain drops?

No borders, no territory to defend, just an organised set of principles based around a spiritual leader; or to be more precise based on the message that leader shared. The biographical stories, fables and teachings eventually get written down and a spiritual movement is formed, much like a tribe.

This tribe grows and feels the urge to build a structure in praise of the God they are devoted to. They will worship him and perform rituals inside. Now we are entering the village stage.

Fast forward through the next steps you know I’ll take, and you arrive at an empire, spanning continents and gathering subjects (AKA followers) without needing to be present on the ground. This is where the analogy gets shaky because the expansion often occurs via someone or some group starting their own congregation, with no formal ties to the ‘original’ source. Unless the religion being practiced operates like a Mafia crime family and every congregation (crew) has to kick money up the hierarchy to remain a member and retain legitimacy.

It certainly happens, but I doubt many people get thrown off a bridge wearing concrete boots for breaking away and starting their own version of worship according to a different interpretation of the scriptures and stuff. Although I get a feeling that the Muslim community don’t have much of a sense of humour when it comes to their holy text and Prophet being messed with.

Christians on the other hand…they’ve got a whole denomination just for those rebels who create their own cause (yeah, I did it). The protestant religion was formed as one man’s “protest” against the Catholic church’s flexibility with dogma, especially regarding loopholes for large ‘donations’.

“For God’s sake, we bend more rules than the Catholic Church!”

Johnny Sack (The Sopranos)

What began as Martin Luther’s attempt to find an authentic practice of the Good Book eventually became a free-for-all with every Tom, Dick and Harry kickstarting their own brand of Christianity based on their individual understanding of the readings. Now this may or may not be a cherry-picking exercise conducted to bend the bible to one’s preferences. It may just as well be the staunch conviction of a religious fanatic! Many times, it is a money-making enterprise with the added benefit of being a tax dodge, but I’m sure there are some truly righteous ones in there somewhere.

The Church of England must be one of the more blatant examples. King Henry VII sold it on the idea that Rome should not have authority over the English church. However, there was a more personal reason for this separation; the Pope had refused to annul Henry’s marriage. Probably just a coincidence.

And now we finally meet God’s right-hand man. The man at the pinnacle of the religious denomination modelled closest to the La Cosa Nostra hierarchy mentioned above. A global pyramid scheme with untold fortunes funnelling into the Vatican coffers.

I’m not well versed on the other Christian denomination – the Orthodox church; although I believe there is a hierarchical connection, I’m unsure if they are all linked officially and answer to one central power base. The word ‘orthodox’ obviously indicates a fundamental disagreement with the Catholic vision, but I do not know what it is. I always think of it in terms of the Sunni and Shia divide within Islam.

Anyway, back to the big boss man in The Apostolic Palace. The Catholic religion not only spread itself all over the world like its Christian counterparts, along with Islam and Buddhism; it tethered every new church to the homebase, both financially and hierarchically; the Vatican calls the shots, no exceptions.

The reason I left out Hinduism, despite it being a major world religion was that it seems to grow along with the huge population growth of its adherents rather than from converts. Buddhism, Islam and the non-Catholic Christian denominations spread their influence by welcoming new followers just as much as by people born into them.

The other similarity between the big religions and physical empires is the ugly one – war! Countless people have fought, killed and died under the banner of religion in the same way they do under the flag of their nation or empire.

An empire based on an idea. Millions of people spread all over the world connected by a religious doctrine. It’s pretty amazing! It’s also pretty wobbly though. This us and them game can shift very fast according to the needs of the moment. Humans can be a finnicky bunch.

“We are all Muslim!” can quickly shift to “Fuck those Afghans!”

“My Christian brother” can suddenly become “a Protestant bastard!”

Shit! Even the Buddhists disagree on nothingness for God’s sake! They don’t even have a God! Although some Chinese believe…