I wonder

If I began to practice some ancient religion, would people see in it how absurd and nonsensical I regard mainstream religions as being?

Consider many of the pagan religions:

Egyptian. The priests alone go into the holy of holies, where the god is kept. They bathe often and shave their whole bodies to maintain the required degree of purity to approach the gods. See, the statue of Anubis or Ist or Osiris inside the temple isn't a statue. It is the god himself, or herself. Anyway, people carry offerings to the temple and the priests make the offerings to the god. On very special occasions, such as major festivals or rites involving the pharaoh (like the Hebsed festival where the pharaoh rejuvenates), the gods may be brought out of the temples.

Greek. There are services, of a sort, but more than prayer the rituals involve the sacrifice of animals at the altar of the god. The temples, and the gods, are beautiful. But rituals also involve surprising things, like plays performed as part of religious festivals.

Roman. Well, the Romans were a law of nature, almost, or had the force of one. Their regular worship was much like that of the Greeks. their festivals, and they had plenty, were rather odd. One involved costumes. Another involved all the male inhabitants of a city running around it naked (for free! Imagine that!)

Those are about the ones I know a bit about. I really haven't studied them in detail, more in passing when and as needed for context.

It would seem to me like you were trying to go backwards in the evolution of religion. Some people really like to write with a goose feather and ink. They think it special, but there have been vast improvements that are much less messy. To practice one of these ancient religions would be trying to go back to something that everyone else has already moved past because there is something better.

Quote: FrGamble

It would seem to me like you were trying to go backwards in the evolution of religion.

Not in the slightest. It just happens the cult of the Egyptian gods, the Book of the Dead, Resurrection in the Next World Complete with Material Possessions and Magical Servants is real. How else do you explain the fact the Hidden Gods created the world, and the Resurrection of Osiris by Ist? Do you seriously think millions of Egyptians would have believed that for 3,200 years if it weren't true?

Why do you think Egypt was the most prosperous nation of tis time? Sure, because the Nile runs through it and it floods predictably twice a year. Who made it so? Amun and the other Hidden Gods, of course.

Sounds like there was a reason only Egyptians believed this and why it had no universal appeal. Do Egyptians still believe it today?

Quote: FrGamble

Sounds like there was a reason only Egyptians believed this and why it had no universal appeal.

Yes. The belief is you have to be buried properly in Egypt, in the west bank of the Nile. You can imagine how eager the Egyptians were to make their country a dumping ground for foreign mummies.

Quote:

Do Egyptians still believe it today?

No. But that's because Seth brought down Christianity upon the world to defeat his good brother Osiris.

Without the need for facts or proof, I can make a good case for this :)

Yeah, that is why you should really have facts and proof to believe in a religion.

Quote: FrGamble

Yeah, that is why you should really have facts and proof to believe in a religion.

Why would we need that so late in the game?

Quote: Nareed

Why would we need that so late in the game?

Because these facts and real historical proofs put an end to these pagan myths and ancient religions and led to Judaism and Christianity.

Quote: FrGamble

Because these facts and real historical proofs put an end to these pagan myths and ancient religions and led to Judaism and Christianity.

I thought low-key persecution and the favoritism shown Christians by Constantine led to Christianity.

Judaism was a pagan religion with an unusual deity and a holy book. It's tempting to say it was influenced by Akhenaton, but it seems more likely the heretic pharaoh never influenced anyone past his own time.

Quote: Nareed

I thought low-key persecution and the favoritism shown Christians by Constantine led to Christianity.

Judaism was a pagan religion with an unusual deity and a holy book. It's tempting to say it was influenced by Akhenaton, but it seems more likely the heretic pharaoh never influenced anyone past his own time.

Considering the brutal persecution of Christians under three centuries of Roman Emperors during the fledgling stage of this young religion before Constantine, it is clear through history that your theory holds no water.

Isn't Akhenaton interesting?