Ecology and Religion

Running Head: ECOLOGY AND RELIGION
Ecology and Religion
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This paper discusses about the First Nations community in Australian the Misassini Cree. Other neighboring Cree were hunting sets like Nitchequon, Neoskweskaau and people of Nemaska joined in 1930 to structure the Mistissini populace. The community depended much on hunting, although it was seasonal. They lived around Mistassini Lake for quite some times now. They respected nature trees and rocks being amongst them, since it gave them their livelihood. They also used to perform rituals in order to bring luck to their hunting practice CITATION Fol03 \p 284 \l 1033 (Foltz, 2003, p. 284). They not only offered purification rituals, but their rituals were closely associated with their hunting practice CITATION Cow00 \p 56 \l 1033 (Coward, 2000, p. 56).
Although majority still thinks that Chinese people are not deeply rooted in religion, their culture was among the first to develop some intellectual incredulity for their gods. The community has therefore continued to dismiss religion terming it as superstition. However, their religion is mainly concerned with nature and society. The dynamic in the Chinese religion has been high throughout, with Buddhism remaining the most widely accepted religion in China. Until today Buddhism continues to exhibit great force in the various parts of the country. And although their influence is still unclear, their view and perception on rocks and trees still remain evident CITATION JCa83 \p 73 \l 1033 (Carmody, 1983, p. 73). They view them as holy and sacred just as their Buddhist counterparts across the world.
The main idea behind Buddhism is that one should limit his or her own consumption and reproduction for the well-being of the entire matrix of life CITATION Cow00 \l 1033 (Coward, 2000). Buddha gave the Four Noble Truths for the followers to adopt as ethics for the well-being of the matrix of life. The first two Noble Truths state that CITATION Cow00 \p 153 \l 1033 (Coward, 2000, p. 153):
1 Conventional lifestyle leads to suffering that cant be avoided
2 Ignoring the matrix of life and indulging in desires "results in the misery of an environmentally degraded and overpopulated planet"
The second Noble Trust is perhaps the most important as it talks about greed and desires as they lead to misery and suffering of the plant. In a way, Buddha suggested that the desired object has a certain control on the desiring subject who is willing to do anything to get it. That could be the main cause of misery. Two terms used by Buddha are "over consumption" and "overpopulation" CITATION Cow00 \p 152 \l 1033 (Coward, 2000, p. 152). This may refer to wealth and the ancient desire to have a male child. These two desires have long been present in all the societies of the world. In certain parts of the world, a male child is still more desirable than a female child and it is in these parts of the world where poverty is on the rise and there is overpopulation, for instance India and China itself (Yahya, 2010).
It should also be noted that there is a modernist turn which has restructured the Confucian humanism in China. As a result the Daoism and the Folk religions have greatly liberated the Chinese religious values and beliefs. They have continued to instill some western values to the Chinese people which have consequently boosted their wealth accumulation and dependency. Daoism, also known as Taoism, is quite similar to Buddhism as it promotes nature and encourages its followers to maintain a balance between understanding the nature and carefully treating it (Yahya, 2010). Similarly, it also promotes simple life in order to reduce the pressure of human waste on biodiversity.
The Cree Indians of James Bay then occupied the forests in northern Quebec for many years where they engaged in hunting and gathering practice. Conventionally, tiny sets of families lived together in the bushes during months of winter months surviving on beaver, moose, wild geese, caribou and deer. A movie crew linked with three families in 1973 during their yearly shift to the north and their movie helps us be acquainted with Jollys, Voyageurs and Blacksmiths constructing single roomed cottage with pine boughs on the floor, trapping, getting food and skins ready, hunting, and staying together in the shrub CITATION Str67 \p 53 \l 1033 (Streng, 1967, p. 53).
The earliest Australians are approximated to have existed no less than 50,000 years before. At once there could be approximately 500 sets of indigenous Australians named by their languages and territory and lived as huntsmen and gatherers. The theme of trees and rocks was not common to the community, but it was very significant to the Buddhist followers. They considered them sacred and holy. Clusters were created down the matrilineal dive and two families or two were involved in each. They focused their lives on a particular spot inhabited by the ancestors of the cluster. Men were wardens of the ritual, sites, mythology and signs stirred up in dreams CITATION Fol03 \p 28 \l 1033 (Foltz, 2003, p. 28). Australian Aborigines are thought to be between 300 thousand and to a million when Europe was colonized, however they were spoilt by diseases that began and by the gory rule of "pacification by force" that began in 19th-century. Most features of their customary traditions have been relentlessly adapted. All Aboriginal peoples mingled with modern Australian people and all are currently Australian residents. In early 21st century Aboriginal attention in cultural revitalization was strong.
Initially, Australian Aboriginals lived in sacred societies where they shared similar beliefs about religion (Laudine, 2009). Just like Tibetans, the Australian Aboriginal sacred societies had developed detailed and rigorous ritual practices which they regularly performed (Laudine, 2009). They spent a lot of time, for years, practicing for these rituals which show the importance that they gave to these rituals. They believed that practicing for these rituals had a strong impact on the personality of the individual and gave much importance to the teachings of music (Laudine, 2009). These practices were taught by the tribal teacher who also played the music for the participants. According to Rose CITATION Ros52 \p 23 \n \t \l 1033 (1952, p. 23), "Their whole outlook on life is patterned on concepts of rigid mental discipline, Their outlook...