why does a religion have to be ancient for people to follow it?

[nazz]

there might be hashish cookies. :beach:

I'm in. Sign me up!

 

[Sand Dancer]

there might be hashish cookies. :beach:

Exotic. I'm interested.

 

[Galen.Iksnudnard]

because at one point all religions were new obviously.
so how old does a religion have to be to follow it for your standards?
or do you follow according to how popular the religion is already?

would you still follow the religion you follow now if it had just been brought to the worlds attention most recently? hypothetically speaking.
who's to say a higher being or whatever isn't starting a movement now? or next week?

i appreciate any feed back on this subject, especially if it's in my favor for wanting to join my religion...if i decide to start one. thanks.

It doesn't. All religions were new at one point. Just because your ancestors believed a certain way, doesn't necessarily mean it is right for you. Remember you don't choose where you're born or who your parents are but you CAN choose your faith!

Also, traditions CAN be wrong, morally and spiritually speaking. For thousands of years people thought that a married woman was her husband's literal property, and that slave-ownership was morally sanctioned by God. Thankfully we've gotten over that.

Also, see: Appeal to tradition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kloth]

Also, traditions CAN be wrong, morally and spiritually speaking. For thousands of years people thought that a married woman was her husband's literal property, and that slave-ownership was morally sanctioned by God. Thankfully we've gotten over that.

they got over that? i don't know about some people, even in the states. how many people still have a woman at home (i.e. housewife) who has certain chores? etc. doesn't seem that much different in many cases these days to me.

 

[Whiterain]

It takes some convincing to sway the trust of a person under a new foreign belief.

It makes Christianity amazing as well, what people must of thought. It was spread through the Roman military
first from what I learned.

The Lamb over the Ram.

 

[desideraht]

I believe it is held by the false idea that because it is older it is closer to "Creation". However... none of the ancient world religions are nearly old enough to be near "Creation" itself. Why would God wait for thousands of years before appearing and writing Scripture? To me, this makes no sense.

I don't think people need religion. I think what the need is a philosophy. Man loves the dramatic dogma, but he needn't for his beliefs based on what another is telling him. A philosophy gives people something to hold onto—because Man's true nature is to be a Sheeple and mentally and intellectually lazy—so it helps to give him a "system" to go by. Still, he should form his on beliefs beyond his philosophy. After all, we get but one Life to evaluate our Purpose. I will never understand why some people simply accept a pre-written, prescribed Purpose given to them by some religious authority. I feel that defeats the Journey.

 

[chinu]

@ why does a religion have to be ancient for people to follow it?

Just because they like them to follow due to several reasons

 

[illykitty]

I think I feel more comfortable with the idea of following a religion that is old, because it survived the tests of time and persecutions. It's that simple really. Sanatana Dharma / Hinduism being an example of that, still strong after thousands of years!

But I do like some modern ones like Neopaganism that take ideas from old religions and/or more relevant things to these times. Of course being new doesn't mean it isn't true or full of wisdom, for example, the connection to nature which is relevant no matter the age and always a good thing to remember.

I'm just weary of new movements because of people wanting to exploit others for money or worse, with what happens in strange cults.

 

[Galen.Iksnudnard]

they got over that? i don't know about some people, even in the states. how many people still have a woman at home (i.e. housewife) who has certain chores? etc. doesn't seem that much different in many cases these days to me.

I wasn't talking about old religions necessarily, I was talking about modern society in general. Of course it has largely meant that humanity has had to shed its religious belief for something more rational.

 

[kloth]

I believe it is held by the false idea that because it is older it is closer to "Creation". However... none of the ancient world religions are nearly old enough to be near "Creation" itself. Why would God wait for thousands of years before appearing and writing Scripture? To me, this makes no sense.

I don't think people need religion. I think what the need is a philosophy. Man loves the dramatic dogma, but he needn't for his beliefs based on what another is telling him. A philosophy gives people something to hold onto—because Man's true nature is to be a Sheeple and mentally and intellectually lazy—so it helps to give him a "system" to go by. Still, he should form his on beliefs beyond his philosophy. After all, we get but one Life to evaluate our Purpose. I will never understand why some people simply accept a pre-written, prescribed Purpose given to them by some religious authority. I feel that defeats the Journey.

well if i start my new religion, then i would think people would follow it because it's a year closer to creation than any new religion that comes after mine. or even a new denomination that belongs to another faith.

 

[kloth]

Just because they like them to follow due to several reasons

uh...okay.

I think I feel more comfortable with the idea of following a religion that is old, because it survived the tests of time and persecutions. It's that simple really. Sanatana Dharma / Hinduism being an example of that, still strong after thousands of years!

But I do like some modern ones like Neopaganism that take ideas from old religions and/or more relevant things to these times. Of course being new doesn't mean it isn't true or full of wisdom, for example, the connection to nature which is relevant no matter the age and always a good thing to remember.

I'm just weary of new movements because of people wanting to exploit others for money or worse, with what happens in strange cults.

i hear about people being expoilted all the time in ancient religions myself. i also hear about a lot of strange things that go on in ancient religions, not just today but from the past. in which it seems to make many people resentful about religion or that particular faith.
the thing i see about ancient religions is that they stood the test of time because they were started when people were much more vulnerable. they didn't have any source of media to make them wonder anything else. times were more simple and steady perhaps. by the time people started evolving with a more modern world people were already following a religion by the 1000's, due to social culture status, family tradition, etc.
the way i see it, people don't think about what might be real or best for them, but they like a safe nest. like people who are afraid to leave home or a home town, even if it's not good to live in either one.

 

[The Adept]

Sikhism is not ancient.
Nor was Akbar's Din e ilahi.

 

[Immanuel Teuffel]

Some people don't follow New Religious Movements because they think those are just inventions of the founders of them. A funny thing considering that most religions are just creations of the human brain including ancient religions.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

All real religions are the product of religious experience, but experience is always interpreted. One the one hand, you have those which have grown over millennia, incorporating the experience of the many and filtering out the eccentricities of the few, like Hellenism or Hinduism. On the other, you have something launched by one person, or a small group, who may well have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, like Muhammad or Joseph Smith. I want a tried and tested product!

 

[Desert Snake]

This is not how I view religion. Religion for me is not set of rituals which depend on when they were invented.

 

[Blackmarch]

because at one point all religions were new obviously.
so how old does a religion have to be to follow it for your standards?
or do you follow according to how popular the religion is already?

would you still follow the religion you follow now if it had just been brought to the worlds attention most recently? hypothetically speaking.
who's to say a higher being or whatever isn't starting a movement now? or next week?

i appreciate any feed back on this subject, especially if it's in my favor for wanting to join my religion...if i decide to start one. thanks.

I both do and don't follow an ancient religion(s). I've had answers to prayers and various events in life and which is why I am where I am, that's how I got in, that will be the way I go out (unless I really go of the deep end I suppose). Wouldn't matter to me if its a day old or 6000 years old.

A higher being repeatedly has to restart his movement- It's human nature to wander, and eventually someone/something new has to be brought to the front.

 

[paragon]

Man's natural inclination for argumentum ad antiquitatem. The stereotype is, when it comes to knowledge, older is better.

The archetype that we follow is that of the wise old man, not the wise green child.

 

[roger1440]

why does a religion have to be ancient for people to follow it? Simple. There is a certain romance about the good ole days.

 

[Jeff Strehlow]

A religion doesn't have to be old to be worthwhile following. There are people in the past who had realizations and started new religions and the same thing can happen today. A new religion that has recently started or has evolved from an older religion can be more taylored to today's people, which is a good thing.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I have no interest in following any religion. I don't think God has any part in starting religions. That is man's doing.

I guess one of the reasons people follow well established religions is that they have stood the test of time. Sometimes new religions end up being flashes in the pan.

That sums up fairly with what I had to say for the most part.

One thing though is noting that most, if not all older religions typically become mixed in with modern progressive changes making them essentially a hybrid.