How would you go about creating a religion?

Post by **_Scottie** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:44 pm

If you were to make up a religion, how would you go about it? What kind of things would you do and say to get converts to follow your religion?

Here are a couple that I thought of.

1. Claim that God had approached me and given me personal instruction to create this new religion.
2. Get some family and/or friends to vouch for me. Perhaps claim that God had visited them and told them to support me as leader of this new religion.
3. Look at the current problems of the day that a lot of people seem to be struggling with in regards to mainstream religion. Come up with some alternate ways of dealing with these problems.
4. When approaching potential converts, make sure to appeal to emotion. Have a fantastic story about the method that God had approached me with. Tell the potential convert that if they join my religion, in due time, God will visit them and declare the truth of it. "Visit" can be such a subjective term.
5. Have some religious artifacts that the members can pray to. Say, a simple piece of weathered wood that was personally given to me by God himself that is a remnant of the cross Jesus was crucified on. Or maybe an old, rusty nail that was one of the nails driven in Jesus hands. If you kneel before this and pray with faith, your prayers will be answered. I'm sure MANY would testify of the power of the wood/nail when their prayers were answered. It might help to make them dress up in symbolic, sacred clothing before praying to this.
6. Teach the followers that this is the only true church. That by even thinking about leaving this church, they put their entire family at risk of damnation.
7. Make sure to point out any persecution, be it perceived or real. Make sure they know that the enemies of the religion will stop at nothing to tear down God's one true church.

Any others?

Post by **_Moniker** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:46 pm

Free love and ecstasy for all

Post by **_Scottie** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:47 pm

Moniker wrote:Free love and ecstasy for all

Yeah, that could be part of the secret...err...sacred temple rituals.

Post by **_The Nehor** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:50 pm

Create mind-control satellites to broadcast the Holy Ghost into people's minds to keep them strong in the faith.

Post by **_Scottie** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:56 pm

The Nehor wrote:Create mind-control satellites to broadcast the Holy Ghost into people's minds to keep them strong in the faith.

Naw...no need for that.

The Spirit is felt to a very high degree of conviction in almost all faiths. Mine shouldn't be any different. Especially if they pray to the nail. The spirit will BURN in them.

Post by **_The Nehor** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:40 pm

Scottie wrote:
The Nehor wrote:Create mind-control satellites to broadcast the Holy Ghost into people's minds to keep them strong in the faith.

Naw...no need for that.

The Spirit is felt to a very high degree of conviction in almost all faiths. Mine shouldn't be any different. Especially if they pray to the nail. The spirit will BURN in them.

Are you saying those satellites are already in place.......anyone have any tinfoil?

Post by **_Scottie** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:49 pm

The Nehor wrote:
Scottie wrote:
The Nehor wrote:Create mind-control satellites to broadcast the Holy Ghost into people's minds to keep them strong in the faith.

Naw...no need for that.

The Spirit is felt to a very high degree of conviction in almost all faiths. Mine shouldn't be any different. Especially if they pray to the nail. The spirit will BURN in them.

Are you saying those satellites are already in place.......anyone have any tinfoil?

It's as good a theory as a ghost that can manipulate our emotions.

Post by **_The Nehor** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:54 pm

Scottie wrote:
The Nehor wrote:
Scottie wrote:
The Nehor wrote:Create mind-control satellites to broadcast the Holy Ghost into people's minds to keep them strong in the faith.

Naw...no need for that.

The Spirit is felt to a very high degree of conviction in almost all faiths. Mine shouldn't be any different. Especially if they pray to the nail. The spirit will BURN in them.

Are you saying those satellites are already in place.......anyone have any tinfoil?

It's as good a theory as a ghost that can manipulate our emotions.

Here I will apply Occam's Razor. If the voices tell me that they're a ghost talking to me I think it's more likely that then mind-control satellites.

Post by **_Scottie** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 9:26 pm

The Nehor wrote:Here I will apply Occam's Razor. If the voices tell me that they're a ghost talking to me I think it's more likely that then mind-control satellites.

And I'll apply it again...

If it could possibly just be my own brain trying to convince myself that a deeply held belief is true by generating intense feelings vs a ghost is talking to me, I'll take the former...

Post by **_The Nehor** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:19 pm

Scottie wrote:
The Nehor wrote:Here I will apply Occam's Razor. If the voices tell me that they're a ghost talking to me I think it's more likely that then mind-control satellites.

And I'll apply it again...

If it could possibly just be my own brain trying to convince myself that a deeply held belief is true by generating intense feelings vs a ghost is talking to me, I'll take the former...

I'll take the latter. If my brain is routinely lying to me on that scale then I can believe nothing.