Tradition of New Year Resolutions have religious roots in Babylon, Ancient Rome and modern West
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Anonymous
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The modern tradition of New Year’s resolutions has deeply religious roots, though New Year’s resolutions today are mostly secular practices, it is interesting to remember the history and religious beliefs they grew out of.
It is remarkable to me how much religion has influenced every part of our lives, even the parts we think of as secular such as justice and law, growth of scientific reasoning and fun cultural traditions like NY resolutions. https://www.history.com/.amp/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year—though for them the year began not in January but in mid-March, when the crops were planted. During a massive 12-day religious festival known as Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. These promises could be considered the forerunners of our New Year’s resolutions. If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favor—a place no one wanted to be. A similar practice occurred in ancient Rome, after the reform-minded emperor Julius Caesar tinkered with the calendar and established January 1 as the beginning of the new year circa 46 B.C. Named for Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches, January had special significance for the Romans. Believing that Janus symbolically looked backwards into the previous year and ahead into the future, the Romans offered sacrifices to the deity and made promises of good conduct for the coming year. Modern NY resolutions were based on Bible verses. For early Christians, the first day of the new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future. In 1740, the English clergyman John Wesley, founder of Methodism, created the Covenant Renewal Service, most commonly held on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Also known as known as watch night services, they included readings from Scriptures and hymn singing, and served as a spiritual alternative to the raucous celebrations normally held to celebrate the coming of the new year. Now popular within evangelical Protestant churches, especially African American denominations and congregations, watch night services held on New Year’s Eve are often spent praying and making resolutions for the coming year. |
Anonymous
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Does the Golden Rule represent a transcendent moral code and universal principal, which is rooted in religious beliefs? Is this a moral code for everyone that even atheists/ agnostics can agree with? What would it mean for everyday life if we all took this moral code very seriously?
The Golden Rule across the World's Religions Thirteen Sacred Texts Bahá'í Faith “Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.” Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings Buddhism “Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.18 Christianity “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” Jesus, Matthew 7:12 Confucianism “One word which sums up the basis of all good conduct....loving-kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”Confucius, Analects 15.23 Hinduism “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” Mahabharata 5:1517 Islam “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.” The Prophet Muhammad, Hadith Jainism “One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.” Mahavira, Sutrakritanga 1.11.33 Judaism “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.” Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath 31a Native Spirituality “We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.” Chief Dan George Sikhism “I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.” Guru Granth Sahib, p.1299 Taoism “Regard your neighbour's gain as your own gain and your neighbour's loss as your own loss.” Lao Tzu, T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien, 213-218 Unitarianism “We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” Unitarian principle Zoroastrianism “Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.” Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29 |
Anonymous
Sorry this was meant for new post But since it is here - I resolve to try and follow the Golden Rule more often in 2023 |
Anonymous
| I don’t think the Golden Rule is transcendental because it is rooted in religious beliefs. Rather, it got rooted in religious beliefs because it is transcendental. There have been studies to show that very young children and some animals understand concepts of fair play, and neither know anything about religion. It was a pro-social trait that served early hominids well and got bred into us more and more over time. Local religions adopted it to reinforce it in the social order. |
Anonymous
This has been hashed out in the Golden Rule universal thread / but I’ll relay some of that here. I agree on some level that the Golden Rule probably predates organized world religions because there are many versions of it in traditional oral histories or non western peoples as well. Whether it can be reduced to a self-serving pro-social survival mechanism, I am not so sure. I agree that is highly adaptive but think there is more to it that connects us to fuller human experience and identity. It is ironic that the closest thing we have to objective truth is so utterly subjective. The way one person would like to be treated is often not the same as the next person. Hence the negative version of the Golden Rule (don’t do to others what you would not have them do to you) is equally important for avoiding intentional mistreatment. That said, My understanding is that The earliest versions of empathetic reciprocity were rooted in religious beliefs. They were developed far earlier than concepts of secular thought and western rationalism/ dual reality objectivism articulated during the Enlightenment. The earliest affirmation of the maxim of reciprocity, reflecting the ancient Egyptian goddess Ma'at, appears in the story of "The Eloquent Peasant", which dates to the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040–1650 BCE): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to make him do."[9][10] This proverb embodies the do ut des principle.[11] A Late Period (c. 664–323 BCE) papyrus contains an early negative affirmation of the Golden Rule: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another."[12] The modern term "Golden Rule", or "Golden law", began to be used widely in the early 17th century in Britain by Anglican theologians and preachers; the earliest known usage is that of Anglicans Charles Gibbon and Thomas Jackson in 1604. Karen Armstrong’s (British scholar and author) books and compassion.com website have a lot more info in this subject. She started out as a devout Catholic nun and journeyed towards ethical humanist monotheism drawing from different faiths. She has done extensive historical research around all religions sharing some version of the Golden Rule. She founded The Council of Conscience, a multi-faith, multi-national group of religious thinkers and leaders to create the Charter for Compassion. The Councilors sorted and reviewed the thousands of written submissions, considered the meaning of compassion, determined key ideas to include in the Charter and created a plan for how the Charter will live in the world. https://charterforcompassion.org However religion certainly has no monopoly on the GR. Atheists and agnostics certainly often act with great integrity and empathy. |