An Accident of History.

Those who know me or have been reading my Blog for a while should be aware of my long relationship with Science Fiction. I’ve been reading it since I was about 14 and that’s a very long time in Cyberkitten years. Those who know me will also be aware of my particular interest in Alternate History – a subject I have mentioned here on more that one occasion. This idea postulates that not only could things have been different but they could have been radically different. Not only are their innumerable turning points in the greater History of the world but there are also innumerable turning points in our personal Histories too.

Consider if battles that had been won or lost where instead lost or won. Consider what would have happened if Winston Churchill had been born a woman. It is unlikely that she would have become Prime Minister of England at a time of national crisis. Would the outcome of the Second World War have been different? Consider if the 300 Spartans have not marched to Thermopylae and died heroically to save Greece. Would the Western World be speaking Persian now? Consider if the rock that finished off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago had missed. Would we humans even be here discussing philosophical questions or would we be mere mammalian snacks for dinosaur descendents?

The point I’m making is that History is more fluid than we give it credit for and that this idea has an impact on all of our ideas and beliefs as well as historical events. Personally I am as passionate about my atheism as some of my Blog buddies are about their Christianity and I have already discussed how, if our personal Histories had been different, our beliefs would have been different too. But what about global beliefs, could they have been different? I certainly think so.

The content of the New Testament was decided in the 4th Century. The books within that document formed Orthodox Christianity. The many, many Gospels that also existed at that time became heretical were sought out and, where possible, destroyed. How might Christianity have changed if different Gospels had been incorporated into the Bible? What if the Council that decided such things had been Gnostics and so those Gospels had become the Orthodox teachings of the Church? What would have happened in Constantine had not converted to Christianity and it had not become the religion of the Roman Empire? Would it have remained one religious sect amongst many? Would it have died out and faded from the history books? Would we all be pagan polytheists now?

You see, I hope, what I’m getting at here? The worlds various belief systems are contingent on accidents of History. If things had turned out differently then billions of people would believe very different things than they do now. They would believe them equally passionately and would, knowing humans, be killing each other over the various interpretations of their beliefs. Or maybe not? If Christianity had died during the Roman Empire would we have had Islam? Did practitioners of pagan religions kill each other over their beliefs? Did they wage war on each other claiming that their God(s) superior to that of their enemies? I don’t know but its not ringing any bells.

All of our beliefs are based on Historical Accidents both personal and global. They could very easily have been very different. The passion that we feel for them could quite easily have been a passion for something quite different. Those of us who are certain of our views on such things should ponder this. We are what we are thanks to the fluidity of Time itself. There is no firm ground beneath our feet.