Greatest religions that never were
- Thread starter Antiochus
- Start date
SunDeep
Banned
Not much mention of the possibilities in Africa thus far. How about the Odinani religion practised in the safe-haven anti-slavery theocracy, the Kingdom of Nri? The ruler of their kingdom, the Eze-Nri, essentially filled the same role as the Pope in Roman Catholicism; and the big reason why the kingdom eventually came to an end in the early 20th century IOTL, after having endured for almost a millennia, was its strict adherence to a pacifist philosophy. In an ATL, you could have the Kingdom of Nri developing a less pacifist, possibly even 'saint-soldier' philosophy (continuing the Sikhism-analogue theme in the last few posts) during its peak (13th>17th century CE), waging holy crusades against the slave trade across much of West and Central Africa, and expanding its territory further in the process.
Depending on how soon this happens, and how successful their efforts are, the Atlantic slave trade could be weakened, crippled, or butterflied out of existence altogether. Several European ventures in the New World in the early Colonial Era would have been far less viable, and OTL's European colonial powers would have been less prosperous, diminishing their ability to impose their influence on the rest of the world. As a result, their missionaries would have had a harder time of it ITTL than IOTL trying to convert the people of Sub-Saharan Africa to Christianity, further boosting the chances of the 'Odinani-Nri' faith. What d'you think?
Depending on how soon this happens, and how successful their efforts are, the Atlantic slave trade could be weakened, crippled, or butterflied out of existence altogether. Several European ventures in the New World in the early Colonial Era would have been far less viable, and OTL's European colonial powers would have been less prosperous, diminishing their ability to impose their influence on the rest of the world. As a result, their missionaries would have had a harder time of it ITTL than IOTL trying to convert the people of Sub-Saharan Africa to Christianity, further boosting the chances of the 'Odinani-Nri' faith. What d'you think?
Isn't this thread about religions who never existed in OTL?
Well lots of people are linking to Wikipedia so........
never mind
That's an interesting one. Maybe a stronger/long lasting Mongolian Empire could change that? I don't know much about Tengriism, but it seems that everyone always writes about the spread of Islam and Christianity to the Mongols, not Tengriism to those conquered by them. Just look at any of the Mongol invasion of Europe threads! Was it incompatible with mass conversion?[/QUOTE]
Tengriism was, similiar to other shamanistic religions, utterly inseperable from the Mongol homelands. As the worship of the sky and the earth and of the ancestors buried in their land, it made no sense to the Mongols that anyone else should participate in their worship. Its the same with the Egyptians - the power of their gods was bound to the sacred statues, which were ritualistically moved around. Anywhere outside of Egypt the Egyptians would pray to foreign gods (keep in mind that the Egyptians were pretty much the only seafaring nation without a god of the sea who could have been worshipped by sailors pretty much everywhere).
Other than that I personally would have loved Germanic paganism, however that, like others, is utterly unsuitable for larger societies, being based on tribal warfare. Perhaps it could have adapted but it would certainly have lost many of its defining characteristics.
Essentially I think that a truly "great" religion needs appeal to the masses (raising the poor over the rich) and has to have a message of peace if it is to be successful in a global society. Not to say that those religions are better, I would never judge, but those tend to be successful. Sadly.
Tengriism was, similiar to other shamanistic religions, utterly inseperable from the Mongol homelands. As the worship of the sky and the earth and of the ancestors buried in their land, it made no sense to the Mongols that anyone else should participate in their worship. Its the same with the Egyptians - the power of their gods was bound to the sacred statues, which were ritualistically moved around. Anywhere outside of Egypt the Egyptians would pray to foreign gods (keep in mind that the Egyptians were pretty much the only seafaring nation without a god of the sea who could have been worshipped by sailors pretty much everywhere).
Other than that I personally would have loved Germanic paganism, however that, like others, is utterly unsuitable for larger societies, being based on tribal warfare. Perhaps it could have adapted but it would certainly have lost many of its defining characteristics.
Essentially I think that a truly "great" religion needs appeal to the masses (raising the poor over the rich) and has to have a message of peace if it is to be successful in a global society. Not to say that those religions are better, I would never judge, but those tend to be successful. Sadly.
I feel like it could've been pretty cool if the Abrahamic faiths went the way of henotheism instead of monotheism.
That is, instead of believing that there's only one, omnipotent god, and they worship him, believing that out of all the gods they're bound by a covenant to worship one in particular, who is bound to respond to their exclusive worship.
That is, instead of believing that there's only one, omnipotent god, and they worship him, believing that out of all the gods they're bound by a covenant to worship one in particular, who is bound to respond to their exclusive worship.
An idea that I've had, and I don't know how much this makes sense or is plausible, is that all the various Hellenistic mystery religions, cults, popular deities, etc., could be merged into one, what I uncreatively call the Great Mystery. They would assert that there are really only three gods, a Father (Zeus-Ahuramazda-Sabazios-Serapis-etc.), a Mother (Demeter-Cybele-Isis-Anahita-etc.), and a Son (Dionysus-Mithra-Zalmoxis-Tammuz-etc.), and focus especially on the Son's (and to a lesser extent the Mother's) descent into and return from the underworld, something that could somehow be recreated or emulated by initiates as a means to gain eternal life or something like that. It would surely be artificially and deliberately created (in the same way that the Mithraic Mysteries and cult of Sol Invictus are theorized to be), but it could possibly catch on if it's officially encouraged and allows people to continue whatever religious practices they already had but under the framework of the larger organization, which would gradually come to shape and dominate those religious practices more and more over time. Julian the Apostate seems to have been trying something like this, maybe it's work out better if it were something other than a late-game attempt to stem the tide of Christianity.
