So I thought since some might think religion to be a silly topic, I wanted to include some interesting information, and perhaps it could spark some discussion. Religion reveals a great deal about a culture, and I love learning about others’ beliefs. Here are three interesting Western Religions you may not know much about. Perhaps such chit chat could spark some discussion.
Samaritans are an ethnic group related to Jews. They mixed with non-Israelites following the conquering of the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrian Empire. The religion was also changed, with their holy mountain no longer being the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, but Mt. Gerizim in the region called Samaria. There has historically been a great deal of mutual antagonism between the Jews and Samaritans, making the story of the Good Samaritan of greater significance than many realize. Now the clincher: there are around 700 Samaritans still in existence!
Many think of Judaism in its earliest form was the first monotheistic religion. However, many are unaware that another monotheistic religion likely developed sooner, called Zoroastrianism after the Greek name of its founder/prophet, Zoroaster, but usually called now Zarathustra. There are around 210,000 adherents today. Some believe that many concepts central to Judaism, such as resurrection and angels, are attributable to influence from Zoroastrianism. The Wise Men who visited baby Jesus were likely Zoroastrians. The religion began in the Persian Empire and remained the state religion until Islam took over. In spite of present day Persia’s (Iran’s) suppression of most non-Shia Islam, they are more tolerant of Zoroastrianism due to its cultural and historical significance.
The Bahai Faith is one of the most recent monotheistic religions that could potentially be listed among the “Great Religions” (based on population). It also began in Iran when a man who called himself the Bab (which means gateway) began preaching that a new prophet would come after him, much in the same way John the Baptist preached. He was martyred, and shortly thereafter another man who called himself Baha’u’llah preached that he was this prophet. The teachings of this group are interesting in that they validate the other great religions, teaching that they are true, but that the message with each succeeding prophet is more complete. So Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all are steps to what is now considered the most complete revelation from God, the Bahai faith. Unlike Zoroastrianism, this faith is heavily persecuted in Iran. There are about 6 million believers in the world today.