Out of the Cocoon

You and I live in the most exciting moment in history. It hs taken many thousands of years for us to gain the capability to shape our own evolution. Today, we are entering the first truly self-conscious century. When population in teh fertile valleys of the Indus, Tigris, and Euphrates had expanded sufficiently, the people began to congregate in larger andlarger villages which eventually became the cocoon of Western civilization. In this cocoon Homo sapiens began building culture in earnest. Their common granaries became what we know as the citadel stretching high above the alluvial plains. It was the nexus of forces in which persons given authority by the people began to accumulate riches. The citadels provided secure centers for rulers who accumulated power. Different patterns around the world produced the slavery which engulfed humanity for several thousand years. The mentality of subservience overpowered the natural independence and creativity of humans. Out of the Cocoon identifies critical components of the evolution of our culture. From under the thumb of oligarchy, people achieved freedom progressively. This book provides the backgroudn for understanding the emergence of the Judeo-Christian faith, the context of its beginning in Abram and the turmoil of the biblical period. That background includes the oldest known architecture at Gobekli Tepe (about 11,000 BCE) and the burials of Neanderthals (perhaps 25,000 BCE). Abram left the perverted religion of Sumer and its successors, but his progeny soon fell back into slavery during a long drought. The rest of the Mediterranean world was enslaved, but Moses led these people out of slavery and they incorporated this into their lives as an act of God. Entering Europe in the emergent Christianity their refusal to be slaves, and their creative initiative spread like wildfire. When the Greek culture adopted by Rome and the Jewish heritage came together at the beginning of the Common Era the three of them, all strong and identifiable influences, created the amalgum we know as Europe. The unity of Europe is a hard-won miracle itself. But culture carries forward the unfortunate as well as the progressive. While the combination of these three cultures worked wonders culturally, the people were recovering their sense of independence and hope. They had become like sheep, following rather than using their creative initiative. Progress is marked by the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment. But shades of autocracy hung on until the American Fathers proved that people have the capacity to work together to govern themselves. You and I live in the most exciting moment in history. It has taken many thousands of years for us to gain the capability to shape our own evolution. Today, we are entering the first truly self-conscious century. When population in the fertile valleys of the Indus, Tigris, and Euphrates had expanded sufficiently, the people began to congregate in larger and larger villages which eventually became the cocoon of Western civilization -- the first cities. In this cocoon Homo sapiens began building culture in earnest. Their common granaries became what we know as the citadel stretching high above the alluvial plains. It was the nexus of forces in which persons given authority by the people began to accumulate riches. The citadels provided secure centers for rulers who accumulated power. Different patterns around the world produced the slavery which engulfed humanity for several thousand years. The mentality of subservience overpowered the natural independence and creativity of humans. Out of the Cocoon identifies critical components of the evolution of our culture. From under the thumb of oligarchy, people achieved freedom progressively. This book provides the backgroudn for understanding the emergence of the Judeo-Christian faith, the context of its beginning in Abram and the turmoil of the biblical period. That background includes the oldest known architecture at Gobekli Tepe (about 11,000 BCE) and the burials of Neanderthals (perhaps 25,000 BCE). Abram left the perverted religion of Sumer and its successors, but his progeny soon fell back into slavery during a long drought. The rest of the Mediterranean world was enslaved, but Moses led these people out of slavery and they incorporated this into their lives as an act of God. Entering Europe in the emergent Christianity their refusal to be slaves, and their creative initiative spread like wildfire. When the Greek culture adopted by Rome and the Jewish heritage came together at the beginning of the Common Era the three of them, all strong and identifiable influences, created the amalgum we know as Europe. The unity of Europe is a hard-won miracle itself. But culture carries forward the unfortunate as well as the progressive. While the combination of these three cultures worked wonders culturally, the people were recovering their sense of independence and hope. They had become like sheep, following rather than using their creative initiative. Progress is marked by the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment. But shades of autocracy hung on until the American Fathers proved that people have the capacity to work together to govern themselves.