So... I am fascinated about the propagation of Christianity and how it became a 'lasting' religion and I started to read about other 'long lasting' religions to see if there are corollaries to be drawn. Admittedly, I am rather naïve as to religion and thus won't attempt to define 'long lasting.' Further, I apologize if this has been discussed before as I am rather new and have mastered the thread search function. With that, I ask what are the characteristics of a lasting religion?
My attempt:
1. It is the one true god, all other are false. (easier to get behind one god, than many).
2. There is some reward whether it is in the afterlife, or this life.
3. If you don't believe, something bad will happen.
4. You must convert non-believers.
5. Love themed vs. hate themed.
6. Requires some ritual to reinforce group-think, but ritual is physically easy to perform (go to church) and non specific to geographical area (don't need a mountain, desert, or river), social group, or period specific (i.e., killing 10 goats may have been cool a long time ago, but not so now).
7. Only a chosen elite group can fully interpret it (priest-class, keeps people coming to church, keeps them on message, easier to adjust message to times).
8. Must be written down. (oral traditions get warped and change)
9. Must have specific commandments ("Do no harm!") that are capable of various interpretations (what does it mean to do harm?) which can be changed over time to fit the specific time period and/or interpreted by the "elite" (see #7) to mean whatever they want it to mean.
And... I couldn't think of a number 10.
What do you all think the characteristics of the 'long lasting' religions are?
My attempt:
1. It is the one true god, all other are false. (easier to get behind one god, than many).
2. There is some reward whether it is in the afterlife, or this life.
3. If you don't believe, something bad will happen.
4. You must convert non-believers.
5. Love themed vs. hate themed.
6. Requires some ritual to reinforce group-think, but ritual is physically easy to perform (go to church) and non specific to geographical area (don't need a mountain, desert, or river), social group, or period specific (i.e., killing 10 goats may have been cool a long time ago, but not so now).
7. Only a chosen elite group can fully interpret it (priest-class, keeps people coming to church, keeps them on message, easier to adjust message to times).
8. Must be written down. (oral traditions get warped and change)
9. Must have specific commandments ("Do no harm!") that are capable of various interpretations (what does it mean to do harm?) which can be changed over time to fit the specific time period and/or interpreted by the "elite" (see #7) to mean whatever they want it to mean.
And... I couldn't think of a number 10.
What do you all think the characteristics of the 'long lasting' religions are?
via JREF Forum http://ift.tt/1oWO9QC
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