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Originally Posted by robtex
Seems to be timeline oriented. There are no mythologies practiced today but religions are. Many if not all mythologies are currently "dead religions". So I would say mythology is a religion that is no longer actively practiced.
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That's not what religion is at all. Mythologies are stories which are supposed to carry spiritual and cultural wisdom. There is no difference between myths about Jesus rising from the dead, Mohammed being illiterate and writing the Koran and Odin gaining wisdom at Mimers Well. Timeline has nothing to do with it. Myths are stories passed along to cary the wisdom of a religion. So much of religion is the creation of myths, of stories, of ideas concerning what the divine is really like. There is no knowledge, no proof, no certainty. So saying that "myths" only belong to religions you think are dead is incorrect. Almost all the religions still practiced today have myths and stories. Some people place different levels of faith, or belief in the myths. Some people really believe that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose from the dead, then rose up through the clouds into the sky. Some people may really believe that Loki's pain causes Earthquakes; but I think most people recognize that their religion is based on myths.