What happened to ancestor worship in Western civilization?
First, it is important to understand what "ancestor worship" in this context means. In this context to worship someone means to give worth to and value that person. Such worship may or may not be a religious activity.
Pre-Christian Practice
Prior to Christianity's rise to dominance, we Westerners worshiped our ancestors; that is, we gave them worth. We valued our ancestors. We remembered their names, told their stories, sang their songs on winter nights, and cherished the possessions they handed down to us.
Chrisitan Practice
But Christianity values faith over family ties. Instead of giving worth to family members, Christianity directs the faithful to give worth primarily to God and secondarily to exemplars of the faith. Catholics and Protestants alike give worth to God. They also give worth to the prophets, apostles, saints, holy ones, reformers, great theologians, and evangelists of the faith. They remember them, honor and praise them, tell their stories, and sing their songs.
So, under the dominance of Christianity we Westerners replaced giving worth to our ancestors with giving worth to exemplars of the faith.
Post-Christian Idols
Later, when Christianity's dominance waned and nationalism waxed, we Westerners replaced idolizing exemplars of the faith with national heroes: kings and queens, patriots and war heroes.
Now, in our capitalist economy, our idols are the rich, sports stars, and other entertainment icons. We give great worth to them. We tell their stories in our media, consume their product, and give them great wealth.
Part Two
Part Two will talk about the opportunity we now have to reclaim giving worth to our ancestors and the benefits of doing so.
I very much like your definition of "ancestor worship"--the concept that we give value to and honour those in our lineage who have gone before. In a very real sense, all that I am comes from those ancestors. Each contributed to my DNA. I am also reminded that mitochondrial DNA shows us just how narrow the human lineage is, meaning how closely connected we all are to one another.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded that there are those who ARE giving value to those who have gone before and don't even realize that they are doing so. Genealogy is perhaps the fastest growing "hobby" in the US. Many are actively filling in all those blanks in the family tree. I will write more about where my own research has led me. It seems to tie better to your second blog post on the subject.
Hello Sara! Thanks for reading and commenting. Yes, we're learning so much from the study of DNA. It amazes me. And, yes, many are giving worth to themselves and their ancestors by tracing their genealogy. I look forward to your additional comments.
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