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document updated 15 years ago, on Mar 12, 2009

One important way that newer religions are able to grow quickly is by enunciating the spiritual truths of the day. This is particularly effective because 1) the memetic transmission of religion mandates that established religions slow down change (orthodoxy good, heresy bad), which eventually means they're well out-of-touch with modern life, which allows any religions who "catch up" to be seen very positively, and 2) it serves as a very effective way to initiate recruiting someone into the religion, because it 2a) instantly develops rapport with the recruitee, because these statements tend to be fairly obviously true, and 2b) it makes you seem much more authoritative in their eyes, opening them up for any other "truths" you want to share shortly afterwards.

Religion isn't flawed, people are.

1) It appeals to people's romantic notion that there actually is a really good religion out there. The reason they haven't found it yet isn't that none exists, it's that all the ones they've tried so far have been screwed up by humans. This "restoration of the recruitee's hopes that an all-powerful guiding hand exists"... that's very very useful, because the euphoria they feel from this makes them more pliable.

2) It suggests that scriptural inerancy may be wrong. (that is, it takes a universalist view, which means that the various texts that exist, which directly contradict each other.... those contradictions were added by humans) People who are searching for a "more modern" religion are likely to have come to this conclusion already, and the fact that Late Antiquity religions still heavily suggest that their religious texts are inerrant allows you to present a refreshing change.