The way religion spread in the past makes me wonder what is so different about our world now that it doesn't appear to be spreading the same way. Are things really that different? Are we really that different?

(July 9, 2015 at 3:56 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: The way religion spread in the past makes me wonder what is so different about our world now that it doesn't appear to be spreading the same way.  Are things really that different?  Are we really that different?

If I had to guess, I'd say it's the combination of:

1. Religious saturation/inertia.  It'll take more of an effort to change colors now than before because of the cultural inertia those areas have.  It's easier to spread a religion when there isn't an entrenched idea that has the support of the people and (indirectly, at least) government standing in the way.

2. The way combat works.  Religion was mostly transferred/spread at the tip of a sword.  Problem is, swords are now F-22s.  The world is also a lot smaller, and anyone attempting to spread their religion in that way is viewed as a terrorist.  Combine the two, and no one will look to invite reprisal, as reprisal nowadays generally means extinction.  The most that they'll get away with is what ISIS is doing, largely fighting among the various sects in a localized region of the world which has become more Mad Max than not thanks to our constant meddling.  So long as the fighting doesn't spread past Thunderdome, no one really cares.

I am not sure religion is indeed spreading in a different way now then before. When time span of significant evolution of an phenomenon is substantially longer than one human life span, human tends to perceive that event as being nearly static in his or her time. But when he or she reviews it's history and sees how much it had changed over the span of several life times in the distant past, he or she perceive its past rate of change as rapid, even though the actual rate of change may have been the same in the distant past as in the present.

Well at least here in the US, it is in clear decline. It's been in decline for a long time in most of Europe.

I credit education in whatever form.

(July 9, 2015 at 3:56 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: The way religion spread in the past makes me wonder what is so different about our world now that it doesn't appear to be spreading the same way.  Are things really that different?  Are we really that different?

I'd say yes, we are really that different.

(July 9, 2015 at 4:27 pm)AFTT47 Wrote: Well at least here in the US, it is in clear decline. It's been in decline for a long time in most of Europe.

I credit education in whatever form.

I also credit religions' universal and incorrigible tendency to stupid overreach, and the innate and repulsive bad grace they inevitably show when their overreach is shown up by accumulating human knowledge.

(July 8, 2015 at 3:53 pm)Napoléon Wrote: This is pretty mindblowing:

http://uk.businessinsider.com/map-shows-...uffer?r=US

(it's a link to a vid, I'd just post the vid but can't seem to get it to paste straight in here)

Normally when someone says something is mind blowing it isn't but I definitely feel mind blown after that

I was not actually aware Hinduism was that ancient. Wow. A fascinating and rather foreboding video.

This is how I imagine religion spreading early on:

Religious group A turns up in religious group B's territory.

A: Stop believing all that stuff you believe. Believe what we believe.

Options:

B: OK.

Or

B: No.

A: Then we will keep killing you until you either change your mind or you're all dead.

You can't stop the truth.

(July 9, 2015 at 3:56 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: The way religion spread in the past makes me wonder what is so different about our world now that it doesn't appear to be spreading the same way.  Are things really that different?  Are we really that different?

The vid doesn't take into account that the wave retreats for about a century now. At least where Europe or China is concerned.

And yes, we are different. More educated, at least in the first world where schools are readily available. And that makes it harder for religion to get a foot hold.