Things change a bit once we get into the details of the story. The Kebra Negast is unique in its suggestion that the queen bore a child by Solomon. It adds Solomon's dream: "...a sun had risen upon Israel, but it snatched itself away and flew off and lighted up the country of Ethiopia;..." (Chpt. 31). The text establishes that ultimately, Ethiopia is more important than Israel.
Our assignment was to find some "aspect of religion" that we observed in the Kebra Nagast. I noticed - quite simply - a claim to truth, what Geertz calls unique realism. ("...and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."). The text is a justification or explanation for what its followers believe. While we in our class attempt to view many religions as legitimate in their own context and justified by their cultural functions, we also realize full well that the religions themselves do not consider cultural usefulness sufficient justification for their existence.
While it may seem self-evident that a religion makes a claim to truth, I find it worth pointing out - I have yet to discover the worldview and religion that justifies itself by saying that it "just happens to work" or something.
Benny - You definitely bring up a good point. That religions need as way to justify themselves and that they often do by proving their worth with their own word. I guess you aren't going to see many religions saying that they simply came about because of human psychological development and/or a usefulness to society.
ReplyDeleteFair enough. If religious people stepped outside the system then they would cease acting as they do. Buying into a system means belief and acceptance of the ideas. We see things from the outside and emphasize the usefulness of the belief, but it is not the usefulness that is primary in the mind of a believer. But it is interesting, right, that cultures always arrive at useful stories that explain their world. And PERHAPS there is a way to come back to religion even after one knows it is not true, which brings us to a lot of modern thought about religion.. "demythologization" etc..
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