Where are the Almean nutball religions?

[Khvaragh]

Ummm, neither Buddhism or Jainism have anything to do with nihilism unless you're employing an idiosyncratic definition of the term, and atheism is not a religion -- it's a feature of various belief systems.

I would have to agree. Buddhism (Theravada anyway) and Jainism are non-theistic religions, not nihilistic ones. The difference is quite sharp.

I suppose you might call Doomsday Cults nihilistic, but even them, they usually think they're ascending to some higher level by offing themselves...

[imploder]

Doomsday is a gun in Liero.

[schwhatever]

I don't mean to restart this conversation and everything, but I just wanted to say that I think Brel's got it right: larger religions have bigger lunatic fringes. Runner-up number two for most violent religion is probably Hinduism (have you seen the Tamil Tigers, people? And then there's the mainland extremists that target people wearing crosses... damn) which is also the third largest religion in terms of population.

[Cypresstwo]

Is there a sect that is the equivalent of Mormonism in our world? By this I mean, is there any new religious movement that branched off of a more established faith in Almea in order to "purify" it, while nevertheless possessing unique a arguably novel practices of it's own?

Was there any Reformation-esque events in Almean religious history?


...it was either a threadjack or a new thread... I figured that this was relevant enough to keep from adding a new topic. I like things nice and neat...

[zompist]

Was there any Reformation-esque events in Almean religious history?

Sure-- Revaudo and Bezuxau, notably, and the Staji division of Jippirasti.

There are various reform movements within Cadhinorian paganism, but as it isn't as centralized, the movements tend to be local as well.

[Salmoneus]

Ummm, neither Buddhism or Jainism have anything to do with nihilism unless you're employing an idiosyncratic definition of the term, and atheism is not a religion -- it's a feature of various belief systems.

I would have to agree. Buddhism (Theravada anyway) and Jainism are non-theistic religions, not nihilistic ones. The difference is quite sharp.

I suppose you might call Doomsday Cults nihilistic, but even them, they usually think they're ascending to some higher level by offing themselves...

I thought I'd addressed this, but maybe it was elsewhere.

Anyway, belief systems like Buddhism (and Stoicism, and to an extent Christianity) are sometimes called 'nihilist' because they:
a) address suffering from the demand-side, not from the supply-side;
b) advocate reducing demand
c) do this through metaphysical systems that reduce the significance of the individual as a discrete entity

These demand-reduction systems can be contrasted with supply-side systems (eg utilitarianism) and demand-reconfiguration systems (eg Cynicism, where demand was redirected to 'natural' things and away from artificial or manmade things).

Here, it's meant to be the individual who is reduced to nihil, and likewise their desires/demands/etc, rather than, in the normal usage, the value in the world itself.

[Yiuel Raumbesrairc]

Is there a sect that is the equivalent of Mormonism in our world? By this I mean, is there any new religious movement that branched off of a more established faith in Almea in order to "purify" it, while nevertheless possessing unique a arguably novel practices of it's own?

I would see that happening in Qaraumia with Eled'e.

[Cypresstwo]

Is there a sect that is the equivalent of Mormonism in our world? By this I mean, is there any new religious movement that branched off of a more established faith in Almea in order to "purify" it, while nevertheless possessing unique a arguably novel practices of it's own?

I would see that happening in Qaraumia with Eled'e.

Additionally, I'd like to see a religion that is based upon a conculture (Almean Lamanites?) that is believed by the adherents to be historical. Like the Mormons.

[rotting bones]

I thought I'd addressed this, but maybe it was elsewhere.

Anyway, belief systems like Buddhism (and Stoicism, and to an extent Christianity) are sometimes called 'nihilist' because they:
a) address suffering from the demand-side, not from the supply-side;
b) advocate reducing demand
c) do this through metaphysical systems that reduce the significance of the individual as a discrete entity

These demand-reduction systems can be contrasted with supply-side systems (eg utilitarianism) and demand-reconfiguration systems (eg Cynicism, where demand was redirected to 'natural' things and away from artificial or manmade things).

Here, it's meant to be the individual who is reduced to nihil, and likewise their desires/demands/etc, rather than, in the normal usage, the value in the world itself.

I don't know. Modern Buddhists on the internet seem to advocate voluntarily reducing one's own demand and increasing supply to others at the same time. They call it moderation, something resembling voluntary communism on a strictly individual basis. They often point to charity organizations in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where old millionaire businessmen (apparently) surreptitiously donate all their wealth to charity without much media attention or fanfare and spend the rest of their lives as monks. What Buddhists in general don't seem to like is large scale, missionary type charity work.

Like I said, I don't know. They showed me some news articles about this phenomenon, but they also showed me articles about Japanese "monks" who run multi-million dollar businesses and like to show off their talent in moonwalking, an Australian millionaire-turned-monk who was arrested for growing marijuana in the backyard, etc.

[jmcd]

Runner-up number two for most violent religion is probably Hinduism

A contest or what?

(have you seen the Tamil Tigers, people?

So? Pointing at the most violent members of a group isn't enough to tar all of them with the same brush.

Anyway, that's probably more to do with how much you hear about it. The terrorist activity in South Asia as strong in Jammu/Kashmir and Maoist insurrections in Nepal as Tamil Tigers used to be.

And then there's the mainland extremists that target people wearing crosses... damn)

Are you sure you just hear more about these people because you're living in a Christian country? I'm sure this is really just as common.

And in some cases, it's simply the Hindus word against the Christians with the newspaper screwing it to the Christian side. I don't see any reason to believe one over the other.

which is also the third largest religion in terms of population.

That depends on whether you think Buddhism is a religion and which figures you take.