I have always imagined that Paradise would be a kind of library.
Freedom of Religion - Freedom from Religion - Freedom of Public Display of Religion and Traditions
We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief.
-- Ronald Reagan (Temple Hillel Speech, 1984)
New World - Old Culture
Inca
Few ancient civilizations are as old as the Inca in Peru, the only older ones were in Egypt and Babylonia; as far as the Americas, the Inca or Tiwantinsuya is the older than Meso-America, or the various spiritual religions of the tribes of the Native Americans in North America. The Inca historic record were recorded by oral tradition, on stone, pottery, gold and silver jewelry, and woven into the tapestry of the artisans.
The Inca of Peru were fascinated by the Western visitors of over 400 years ago, called the Spanish Conquistadors, who plundered and converted them until they all but became extinct. The treasures brought back to the Old World of Europe transformed the European economy and left the Inca civilization in ruin. The Inca had a central government over the various tribes, most who hid in obscure mountain hideaways.
Phenomenology - Religion of the Pharaohs
Chapter 3, Part A- Religion and Culture ©
To discuss Egypt’s religious history one must look at its overall history, for religion has been an intricate part of Egypt’s every day life since the forming of its magnificent ancient empire. The Greek Historian marveled at the Egyptian’s religious devotion and loyalty to his family and traditions. As Will Durant explains so well concerning the wonders of Egypt discovered through texts, tomb paintings, tablets and monument inscriptions in his book Our Oriental Heritage [1] –
The recovery of Egypt is one of the most brilliant chapters in archaeology. The Middle Ages knew of Egypt as a Roman colony and a Christian settlement; the Renaissance presumed that civilization had begun with Greece; even the Enlightenment, though it concerned itself intelligently with China and India, knew nothing of Egypt beyond the Pyramids. Egyptology was a by-product of Napoleonic imperialism. When the great Corsican led a French expedition to Egypt in 1798 he took with him a number of draughtsmen and engineers to explore and map the terrain, and made place also for certain scholars absurdly interested in Egypt for the sake of a better understanding of history. It was this corps of men who first revealed the temples of Luxor and Karnak to the modern world; and the elaborate Description de L'Egypte (1809-13) which they prepared for the French Academy was the first milestone in the scientific study of this forgotten civilization.
