>>733924Am I putting you down because I disagree with you? The OP even says debate others.
I'm just making a point. I found what you guys said to be very related to what I said previously and wanted to expound.
Religions are memes (in the REAL sense of the word "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture," not in the internet sense of jokes.) They spread and are popular for specific reasons. They have attributes that make them more likely or less likely to spread or connect with people based on their culture and the timing it comes into people's lives.
For instance, if I were to start a religion right now, I would incorporate many elements from current successful religions. For instance, many successful religions warns that the adherents will suffer some sort of persecution or criticism for their faith. This is a great tool for increasing the resiliency of belief even under scrutiny.
Normally if people around you were to criticize you for believing something and try to get you to call it into question you would be more likely to think critically about it and really question it's validity. Especially in circumstances where there were few or no other believers around you. People don't want to be an island, ideologically. That type of event is likely to lead to people losing their faith. But because you can incorporate this idea of predicted persecution you can use people being critical of you as EVIDENCE because the prediction has come true, just as the religion said it would. When you're an ideological island you can show yourself that this is part of the plan, and any discomfort you feel is a part of the expected religious experience! If you've never been persecuted then you can just chalk it up to the "well, it hasn't happened /yet/" idea. Just incorporating this one prediction or prophecy can not only /nullify/ potentially faith losing experiences, it can turn it on it's head and use it to strengthen the belief!
