Society, Behavior, Belief and Philosophy Today
By David Flick
ã1997 DFF Online Publishing
Any reproduction or public use is prohibited unless permission is given by the author.

Chapter One:  	SOCIETY AND BELIEF.

	Our planet's history is littered with cultures and societies dedicated to serving 
or believing in God (singular or multiple).  Since the dawn of recorded time, these 
societies have come up with ways to explain our existance, the existance of our planet, 
and the existance of life itself.  The most widely known ancient belief system is that 
of the Egyptians, Romans, Vikings and Greeks.  The mythology of these cultures were 
almost identical, except, of course, the names of their deities.  They explained all 
natural occurance as being controlled by one deity or another, with one Deity being the 
all powerful one that overlooks the rest of the deities (Zeus, Jupiter, and Thor).  With
time came modern religion, and instead of being based on polydeicism, they turned to one 
God, whom is still all powerful, but overlooks everything instead of other deities.  
Modern religion began in East Asia (Buddhism, Hinduism), and the Hebrews soon began the 
Jewish religion, which would set off a chain of religions to come.  The Jewish believe in 
one God, and his son (a messiah) whom is still to come.  This inspired Christianity, the 
belief in one God, and his son, yet another messiah, whom has already come, but will come 
again at the apocalypse.  Now this inspired Islam, which believes that Jesus was a false 
prophet, and Mohammed is actually the son of God.  Many other religions and beliefs are 
existant in our world today, but to avoid complication, at this point I will only focus 
on these that I have mentioned.
	To give you an example of just how belief has worked throughout recorded time here 
on Earth, I give you this scenario:

	I.	Recorded time begins, and 10 cultures are founded:  I will call them A, B, 
		C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.

		A.	Culture A believes that a singular God controls all that occurs.
		B.	B believes that 7 deities control all happenings.
		C.	C believes that 8 deities are controlling all events, and that 
			reincarnation does occur.
		D.	Society D has faith that there is a singular God, and that he will 
			extend himself into their culture by way of a messiah.
		E.	E believes that there are 100 deities in control.
		F.	F believes that there are 100 deities in control and that these deities
			will be kind to them if human sacrifice is practiced.
		G.	Culture G believes that a singular God exists, and they believe that
			this God believes them to be the superior culture.
		H.	H believes that there is no God.
		I.	I believes that all of the other societies are evil, because their 			
			singular God has told them so.
		J.	J believes that there is no God, just elements (fire, earth, wind 			
			and water), and reincarnation does occur.

	II.	The cultures begin exploring, and hence interacting with the other cultures.

		1.	A joins culture D in their beliefs.
		2.	B joins culture C in their beliefs.
		3.	E conquers culture H, and forces them to believe what they believe.
		4.	F and J remain untouched.
		5.	G and I unite in belief.

	III.	The cultures, as their populations expand, interact more and more.

		1.	A/D interact with G/I, and mix their beliefs.
		2.	E/H unite with F, using H as their sacrifices, and slaves.
		3.	J, and B/C remain untouched.

	IV.	More interaction occurs, and philosophy is introduced.

		1.	A/D/G/I  splits into 2 distinct groups, AA and BB, AA believing 			
			that if you do not believe in their God, you will not go to a pleasant
			place when you die, BB believing that if you are not of their race,
			you will not go to a pleasant place when you die.
		2.	B/C conquers J, and J willingly accepts their beliefs.  I will now 			
			refer to them as CC.
		3.	H revolts, and conquers E/F, then accepts AA's beliefs.  E/F 
			eventually die off.
		
	V.	The final stage...

		1.	AA, BB, and CC now form the major religions.

	Societies have a tendency to believe whatever makes them seem to be superior, often 
only in their own eyes.  I will expain that further in Chapter Three: Society and Behavior.
	
		End of Chapter One.

		Please, tell me what you think. E-Mail me at Tauschend@aol.com.  If you would 
like a copy of the entire book, I will be happy to E-Mail it to you free of charge.  I
really need to know what you think!!!