Why No Major Western Religions?

[The Hammer]

This is what makes me mad; it's as though they didn't care or lived in a naïve world.

The Jews, Christians, Muslims, Dharmics, Daoists, Confucians, Zoroastrians and others have their holy writings. These are compounded by great works like the Talmud, Church Fathers, Hadith, and other such traditions.

And we have some longbarrows.

If they would have been allowed to pass on their oral traditions some of that wisdom would still be around, writing is not necessary.

But there is also a lot of spiritual wisdom left from the indigenous populations of Europe by reading through the myths, folklore/takes, and of the various Gods/Goddesses and pantheons. We just have to look harder for that info and do a lot more inner work with it. It's not directly spelled out with a "holy writing" which isn't really a bad thing either.

 

[Rival]

Still can't deny the influence.

My mistake then, I assumed you meant in general.

For reference, I have a set of Wicca inspired Tarot-cards, so I'm not opposed, but this isn't the nature of this particular discussion.

 

[PureX]

The Chinese were using it as a weapon as soon as it was discovered as well.

They only used it for celebrations and rituals.

 

[RestlessSoul]

This is what makes me mad; it's as though they didn't care or lived in a naïve world.

The Jews, Christians, Muslims, Dharmics, Daoists, Confucians, Zoroastrians and others have their holy writings. These are compounded by great works like the Talmud, Church Fathers, Hadith, and other such traditions.

And we have some longbarrows.

But we have Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Dryden, Blake, Keats and Shelley, all in the English language. Not to mention Isaac Newton, David Hume, James Clark Maxwell, Arthur Eddington, Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose.

We got started late, but have arguably made up for it since.

I like longbarrows btw

 

[crossfire]

They may have a lot of wisdom, but I'm in Europe. That kind of thing isn't as known here.

Have they temples? Books? etc. Has it spread across the globe to become the dominant culture of non-Americans?

I mean those kinds of religions.

You might not like this, but here it is:

Age of Enlightenment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The central doctrines of the Enlightenment were individual liberty and religious tolerance, in opposition to an absolute monarchy and the power of religious authorities. The Enlightenment was marked by an increasing awareness of the relationship between the mind and the everyday media of the world,[12] and by an emphasis on the scientific method and reductionism, along with increased questioning of religious orthodoxy—an attitude captured by Kant's essay Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?, where the phrase sapere aude ('dare to know') can be found.[13]​

 

[Rival]

But we have Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Dryden, Blake, Keats and Shelley, all in the English language. Not to mention Isaac Newton, David Hume, James Clark Maxwell, Arthur Eddington, Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose.

We got started late, but have arguably made up for it since.

I like longbarrows btw

They're not ancient. Not pre Roman.

 

[Rival]

You might not like this, but here it is:

Age of Enlightenment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The central doctrines of the Enlightenment were individual liberty and religious tolerance, in opposition to an absolute monarchy and the power of religious authorities. The Enlightenment was marked by an increasing awareness of the relationship between the mind and the everyday media of the world,[12] and by an emphasis on the scientific method and reductionism, along with increased questioning of religious orthodoxy—an attitude captured by Kant's essay Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?, where the phrase sapere aude ('dare to know') can be found.[13]​

Not ancient.

 

[Rival]

Need something pre Christian.

 

[The Hammer]

They only used it for celebrations and rituals.

Absolutely wrong.

"Many western history books over the years have stated that the Chinese used this discovery only for fireworks, but that is not true. Song Dynasty military forces as early as 904 A.D. used gunpowder devices against their primary enemy, the Mongols. These weapons included "flying fire" (fei huo), an arrow with a burning tube of gunpowder attached to the shaft. Flying fire arrows were miniature rockets, which propelled themselves into enemy ranks and inspired terror among both men and horses. It must have seemed like fearsome magic to the first warriors who were confronted with the power of gunpowder."

How China Invented Gunpowder

The invention of gunpowder by Tang Dynasty Chinese alchemists, around 850 A.D. led to military applications in China and eventually around the world.

www.thoughtco.com

 

[crossfire]

Not ancient.

The Greeks were so misogynist that even the patriarchial Romans pushed back against their intense misogyny. Alexander the Great spread Hellenistic culture around through his conquests. Do you want that back again?

 

[The Hammer]

The Greeks were so misogynist that even the patriarchial Romans pushed back against their intense misogyny. Do you want that back again?

Everyone in history sucked in some way. And we suck now. Stop with the BS who was worse games.

 

[crossfire]

Everyone in history sucked in some way. And we suck now. Stop with the BS who was worse games.

I was asking if she wanted Greek Hellenistic culture back. Some things really deserve to fade away.

 

[PearlSeeker]

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.

It is "the greatest commandment" in gospels anyway. Maybe you are just not familiar with the bright side of Christianity.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

It is "the greatest commandment" in gospels anyway. Maybe you are just not familiar with the bright side of Christianity.

I think that Christianity is a mix of good and bad, but there's enough bad that I don't think that "love" is the religion's defining characteristic.

 

[Bear Wild]

You think pre-Christian Europe was tolerant and peaceful?

They were tolerant of other religions and would incorporate religious aspects from other coulters so yes the view towards religion was tolerant. This is even documented in the Celtic text. It was a colonial Christianization that committed cultural genocide on anyone who would not convert to the "one" religion.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

They were tolerant of other religions and would incorporate religious aspects from other coulters so yes the view towards religion was tolerant. This is even documented in the Celtic text. It was a colonial Christianization that committed cultural genocide on anyone who would not convert to the "one" religion.

The pre-Christian Romans were not tolerant. They wiped out the Druids, for one, and banned various cults and festivals if they didn't like them for one reason or another.

 

[The Hammer]

I was asking if she wanted Greek Hellenistic culture back. Some things really deserve to fade away.

I disagree. Obviously

 

[PearlSeeker]

I think that Christianity is a mix of good and bad, but there's enough bad that I don't think that "love" is the religion's defining characteristic.

Hard to say. Those who took it seriously have done much good in this world but it isn't shouted from the rooftops.

 

[Rival]

I was asking if she wanted Greek Hellenistic culture back. Some things really deserve to fade away.

If it's your culture it's your culture. It's not for others to judge and try changing it. I don't like Hellenism one bit and regularly disparage it, but it was their culture for thousands of years, it didn't deserve to be eradicated in the name of a foreign religion with a scripture that had nothing to do with Greek history.

 

[Bear Wild]

The pre-Christian Romans were not tolerant. They wiped out the Druids, for one, and banned various cults and festivals if they didn't like them for one reason or another.

The roman were the colonizers and they destroyed anything that did not serve Rome but they were not interested in destroying religions as long as that religion did not stop you from serving Rome. They got rid of the druids because they were the primary social leaders and a threat to roman allegiance. Kill the druids and you can destroy the social order quickly. The felt that the Celtic gods were just variations on their gods. Then Rome adopted the Christian religion and then the colonizers would no longer tolerate any other religion. The united states was also almost as successful and wiping out the religions of the Native Americans but thankfully they failed.