Origin and Death of Man - Term Paper Example

Origin of Man Thesis Origin and Death of man, as one compounded topic, has been very interesting as well as controversial. This topic has sparingly marred with myths, beliefs, theology and conflicting philosophical ideologies. The world is divided along religious and cultural lines in the argument about the origin of man. Christians believe in the Creation theory while the Aboriginals have their own myths that explicitly explain how man came to being. Amidst these debates, Charles Darwin intervened with a neutral approach that neither leaned on culture nor religion. He called it the Evolution theory. While he thought that the theory would reconcile religions and cultures, they all turned against such civilization in unity; no religion has ever embraced Evolution. There still exists a rift in the theories and myths of origin of man and death. Aim and Objectives The aim of this paper shall be to critically discuss the topic origin and death of man from the various aforementioned perspectives. By so doing, a clear comparison or contrast among different ideologies and myths shall be exposed. One of the objectives is to compare how the topic has also been discussed by Benton Banai (The Mishomis Book), Rainey Gaywish, Dr. Brian Rice (Seeing the World with Aboriginal Eyes), and Vine Deloria Jr. (God is Red). Another objective would be to approve or disapprove the mythology and theories on the origin of man. Introduction The origin of man has usually been discussed on the platforms of Creation and Evolution theories. The beliefs and myths of the Aboriginals have always been sidelined by many philosophers and scientists. In as much creation and evolution seems to be the most universalized and civilized approaches, the Aboriginals are quite rich cultures and myths that need to be understood, as Benton Banai and Vine Deloria describe in their books. Discussions Evolution Theory Evolution, offers that all living organisms originated from a common ancestor. Evolution has been defined as the gradual genetic change that the species usually undergo due to the environmental pressures. The DNA, a vital element of the animal cell, has taken all the living creatures to a single common ancestor. Most animals share the patterns of their DNA. This was before the evolution took place. The evolution eventually took place and the organisms have been biologically and geographically separated from each other. Evolution took place in three different forms. These are: Gradualism, Speciation and the Natural selection. In gradualism, the species take several generations to attain the desired change that will enhance their survival. Thus, evolution takes many years to be fully achieved. Speciation is the process whereby organisms split into different species. It is the evolution of different species that cannot easily interbreed. Natural selection, according to Coyne, is just but a ‘tinkerer’. This means that natural selection does not yield any original perfection in a species but, only improves on what has already been established. In evolution, the human beings have a common ancestry with chimpanzees and other several primates like gorillas and monkeys. The evolution of human being dates back to the early ages of the apes. It is said that the human being and other primates were once tetra pods before they could learn the process of bipedalism. The bipedality came with the advanced species called the homoerectus. The homoerectus were the ape species that could walk uprightly. The apes had to stand uprightly so as to gather food above his head. It is, therefore, said that the major cause of the evolution of man that triggered the bipedality was the adverse drought. However, some studies have shown that there are several genetic differences between man and the chimpanzees. However, the DNA test has proved that these genetic differences are very minimal in the human population. Human beings are said to be mammals that had the same origin as the rest but with time, successfully evolved to a more advanced form in the past billion years. The human beings have evolved from the homoerectus to homosapiens. The speciation to homosapiens made man the most intelligent among the rest of the species (Coyne, 245). Creation Theory Even though Coyne has tried his best by supporting the Darwinian theories and verifying these theories further, there is still controversy of the evolution theory. Philosophical and theological arguments have dabbed the evolution theory as evil. The creationists have insisted that the evolution theory has been based on two world views; the naturalism and the materialism. Naturalism assumes that Science is the only way to explain and understand the whole universe and the processes that happen therein. The creationists think that there are more better and godly concepts of explaining the universe. The world, they think, has relied so much on the misleading science. Materialism, on the other hand, is the concept that the only reality in the world is in the physical matter and that all other things, including life, come from this physical matter. The creationists say that this also a wrong idea held by the scientist. According to the creationists, who solely believe in the creation theory, the whole universe and all living things were created by God. Any other theory, according to this theological reflection, is not plausible at all and is termed as evil (Hull, 96). The philosophical reflection, in particular, holds the argument that evolution is just a mere theory of life pattern but not an ultimate philosophical scheme about the origin of life. Sociologists, like the philosophers, think that evolution, however valid it may look, can only be used to explain the origin other animals but not the human beings. In Christianity, particularly, there is end of life and it is called death. However, there is life after death. The second life is eternal and is only found in heaven where, the streets are made of gold. Others, referred to as sinners, end up in Hell. Aboriginal Myths The aforementioned scholars, Benton Banai, Rainey Gaywish, Dr. Brian Rice and Vine Deloria, have described the origin of life according to the perception of the Aboriginals. They have also been at the forefront in advocating for the acceptance and appreciation of the Aboriginal cultures. Vine Deloria, in his book called God is Red has narrated and discussed the origin of man and death in the view of Hindu Creationism. Hindu mythology on creation is one of the oldest creationism on earth. According to Hindu Creationism, all things, including man, devolved from a higher state of consciousness. The Hindu Creationists have always believed that all beings are in a constant cycle of life that involves consistent births and rebirths. In the Rigveda myth, all beings on earth were known as Prusha. These beings, including man, were born out of Viraj. The Viraj was a mundane egg of male and female. The ancient gods then did some sacrifice with the Prusha. From the sacrifice, many more beings were established. These included the directions, the earth, animals and many more. According the Hindu creationists and Vine Deloria, there is nothing like death. Every being is on continuous cycle of birth and rebirth (Delria, 72). Benton Banai also describes how the Ojibway people believe they had come to being. In the Mishomis book, the Grandfathers cautions the people on the need to respect the past and culture of the Ojibway. The ancient grandfathers of Ojibway had described perceived the world as a woman who was surrounded by her life blood; the water. The Creator is said to have sent birds carrying seeds in four different directions. Later, he placed animals on land and fish into the seas. After establish the earth with all the animals, he decided to make man. He, therefore, blew a breath of life into the sacred Shell and man was born (Banai, 13). Conclusion The myths and theories of life discussed above have their strengths and weakness. Some are partially acceptable while others have ignited hot debates and criticisms. The topic of evolution has considerably attempted to explain the origin of life and the emergence of new species. Most of these explanations are easily understood. However, a few concepts and facts do not seem to add up. Some facts even contradict each other while a few lack clear links. The Aboriginal myths are not universal and greatly vary with various cultural groups. There still exists a rift in the theories and myths of origin of man and death. Work Cited Banai, Benton. The Mishomis Book. Minnesota. Red School House. 1988. Print Coyne, Johns. Why Evolution is true. New Orleans. Penguins. 2009. Deloria, Vine. God is Red. Fulcrum Publishing. 1972. Hull, Dewn. The Metaphysics of Evolution: The British Journal for the History of Science. London. 1967. Print. Rice, Brian. Seeing the World with Aboriginal Eyes. Manitoba. Native Studies Press. 2005. Print Read More