“Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.” Hah. One of Churchill’s finest.

I’m a bit disappointed by the whole statue of Rhodes myth.

How far is comparison of “religion” plausible if the concept of “religion” was invented in the west based on their history (conflicts between catholism and Protestantism? ).

How far is it plausible when the concept of “religion” was born out from this conflict and basically became a projection of “Protestantism?( a “cult” based on individual faith but not in ritual or accepting the intermediate role of the “church”).

As many historians and religious scholar argue in current Japan. Shinto is rather a modern invention, accompanying modernization.

It is amazing how consolidated the religious marketplace is. I know there are innumerable small religions, but the big 4 so dominate in market share it’s like the car industry.

Of course, Christianity has many brands to appeal to all different market segments (as do the others).

I am fascinated to see if Environmentalism really becomes more of a religion. Right now it is mainly a veneer of Nature worship covering the secular remains of Protestantism. Not much in the way of ritual (except the state mandated recycling!).

Environmentalism clearly is a passion arousing ideology (and political ideology and religion clearly use the same mental machinery in humans.) but … well, maybe it is a religion.

I do imagine John Calvin would admire Environmentalism’s complete contempt for humanity. The eviros do have the self-loathing hatred of the flesh common to many religions.

Religions follow a power law distribution.

What if you were to add “atheists” to the mix?

Where is Mormonism? Clearly it is not Christian and its adherents number approximately 12 million. It is one of the fastest growing religions in the world.