almostaugust

Im interested to know what people's opinions are about why, and what happend in the Israel area, to be the birth place of three of the worlds biggest religions.
Yeah, i guess this is a pretty open-ended question, but its just that about half the stuff we discuss on this board has its origin there. Im really interested by it.

__________________
'And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass'

Master_Shake

That's just where all the people were back in the day.
HA!
But really, I think it is a population/geography thing. There weren't a lot of people on the Australian subcontinent 2000-4000 years ago, so nothing developed there. People were in the mid-eastern area, so that's where the religions developed. Sure, there were people elsewhere, and religions developed in those places too.
Also, those three religions are probably offshoots of the Zoroastrian religion
http://www.religioustolerance.org/zoroastr.htm

For information on religion diffusion see:
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html
and
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm

Both of these sites indicate that Judaism is actually much further down the list than expected, and the non-religious numbers are gaining.

__________________
-------------
You know something, I don't think the sun even... exists... in this place. 'Cause I've been up for hours, and hours, and hours, and the night never ends here.

JJRousseau

Well, if you are talking about Judaism, Christianity and Islam, they are all children of Abraham... who lived in the area.

(I think actually Hinduism is the world's third largest religion)

asaris

JJRousseau makes a good point. Also, consider its central location. Right at the intersection of three continents. If you're a skeptic, that makes for great cultural fermentation; religions can borrow from the east, west, and south. If you're a believer, it's a great place for God to start a religion so that it can spread everywhere.

__________________
"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."

"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche