Why No Major Western Religions?

[RestlessSoul]

Who said "lawless"? I consider Christianity to be lawful evil.

What part of “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” do you consider evil?

 

[RestlessSoul]

Judaism blended with classical Greek thought in Christianity, Christianity then blended with the might makes right Roman state, from there power politics and the obvious advantages for leaders of having a populace who believe being humble and submissive is a good thing were some reasons behind the Christian takeover of Europe. Druidical and other pagan religions before that were pretty organised, they had their own monuments, traditions, calendars, legends etc, they just lost out to a religion backed by more military and political power.

According to the Roman Historian Tacitus, Agricola eradicated the Druids from Britain in 70 AD, hundreds of years before Rome became Christianised.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Why hasn't the West (Europe, the Americas etc.) produced any religions the likes of Islam or Zoroastrianism?

Going by both religions' published stats, Scientology is orders of magnitude larger than Zoroastrianism.

I'm not sure that Scientology is as big as they claim (~10 million adherents), but I'm sure it's larger than Zoroastrianism (~120,000 adherents, according to Wikipedia).

 

[SalixIncendium]

Why are all major religions from the East?

Even historically, Rome was full of Mirtha-worshippers and Manichaeans.

Why hasn't the West (Europe, the Americas etc.) produced any religions the likes of Islam or Zoroastrianism?

I'm not talking about small Pagan religions followed by a small amount of people who are essentially re-inventing it.

We just didn't seem to create anything on that scale and pass it along.

Great questions.

I knee-jerk guess is that any significant population of humans originated in the East.

But that's just a guess. It's probably wrong. Feel free to give it the attention it deserves.

 

[ChristineM]

What part of “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” do you consider evil?

Personally i think that if the religious people who gave out this message actually followed it then religion would be a far better thing than it is.

 

[Tomef]

According to the Roman Historian Tacitus, Agricola eradicated the Druids from Britain in 70 AD, hundreds of years before Rome became Christianised.

Eradicated may be overstating it somewhat. I’m not getting your point though, what does this have to do with the post you responded to?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

What part of “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” do you consider evil?

That's not Christianity.

It isn't even ideal Christianity in theory.

 

[PureX]

Ideologies also have to fight for their survival along with the cultures that invent them. The more successfully predatory cultures and ideologies are often the ones that survive.

The Chinese had developed flash powder a thousand years before the Europeans ever saw it. But the moment the Europeans saw it, they immediately thought to weaponize it. Something that had not occurred to the Chinese in a thousand years. The more warlike culture was better suited to using it for conquest.

And the same thing happened when the Europeans discovered the Americas. Rape, rob, murder and pillage was part of their way of life. And part of their religion. And as a result, they were very good at it.

 

[Secret Chief]

It's ****ing depressing.

Why?

 

[RestlessSoul]

Eradicated may be overstating it somewhat. I’m not getting your point though, what does this have to do with the post you responded to?

The post I responded to was full of inaccuracies and false assumptions. I just pointed out the most obvious of these.

 

[libre]

Why are all major religions from the East?

Even historically, Rome was full of Mirtha-worshippers and Manichaeans.

Why hasn't the West (Europe, the Americas etc.) produced any religions the likes of Islam or Zoroastrianism?

I'm not talking about small Pagan religions followed by a small amount of people who are essentially re-inventing it.

We just didn't seem to create anything on that scale and pass it along.

The West jacking other peoples' things seems to be a historical constant

As for the American Indigenous faiths, I think much has been done to suppress their spiritual practices and beliefs on a structural level for hundreds of years. I think the depth and appeal of such can be easy to miss if you are not embedded in those communities.

 

[RestlessSoul]

That's not Christianity.

It isn't even ideal Christianity in theory.

You mean it’s not an aspect of Christianity that sustains your personal prejudice?

It’s a piece of scripture which is central to most Christian theologies.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

You mean it’s not an aspect of Christianity that sustains your personal prejudice?

It’s a piece of scripture which is central to most Christian theologies.

It's one verse out of many, and certainly doesn't sum up Christianity as a whole.

IMO, if we were trying to sum up Christianity with one Bible passage, it would be the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20).

Christianity isn't generally a religion focused on love or kindness, but it's most certainly a religion focused on growing itself in size.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

According to the Roman Historian Tacitus, Agricola eradicated the Druids from Britain in 70 AD, hundreds of years before Rome became Christianised.

According to Pharaoh Merneptah, Israel was laid to waste at the end of the 13 century B.C.E.
According to Judges 6-8, Gideon defeated the Midianites (who were previously wiped out by Moses).

 

[Tomef]

The post I responded to was full of inaccuracies and false assumptions.

Like what?

I just pointed out the most obvious of these.

No, you didn’t. You just didn’t read it properly before responding.

 

[Kathryn]

I consider Greece to be part of the West. I also consider Rome to be part of the West. To this day, we who speak English call the days of the week after Greek and Roman gods. Many English words come from those gods as well. Oh and of course the names of the planets. So I would say they live on. And they are from the West.

Just the first thing that popped into my head reading the OP.

 

[Rival]

I consider Greece to be part of the West. I also consider Rome to be part of the West. To this day, we who speak English call the days of the week after Greek and Roman gods. Many English words come from those gods as well. So I would say they live on. And they are from the West.

Just the first thing that popped into my head reading the OP.

Hardly major religions though.

 

[Kathryn]

Hardly major religions though.

You don't think so? I do.

 

[Rival]

You don't think so? I do.

Who is worshipping in these temples today? Now?

 

[Kathryn]

Who is worshipping in these temples today? Now?

Not many people now, but the earth has been around and humans have lived in it for a very long time. At one point, these were major religions and they came from the West.