Yes Hinduism is the largest active religion. This is because Buddhism is
not allowed in China and no longer practiced much in Japan. However,
Hinduism has a metaphysical component (sort 0f like the Trinity idea) in
which all of the Hindu pantheon of gods are aspects or manifestations of one
deity called Brahman which includes Brahma (spelled similar huh?), Shiva,
and Vishnu as well as all the other avatars and incarnations that are in the
pantheon. Interestingly, Buddhism at least in the old school called
Theravada does not believe in any gods at all but anicca or "nothingness".
Something like 95% believe in a religion of some sort but that includes
animism, shamanism, pantheism and other types of theological positions that
are not monotheism. Therefore, that comment is not accurate at least in
what it was implying.
Also, in the movie the extraterrestrial creature from Vega himself never
said that he was any deity nor was he her father. He said that his
appearance was because "we thought it would be easier for you" thus the
experience was not of Heaven.
I agree a religiously neutral person would be more objective.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: postmaster@extropy.com [mailto:postmaster@extropy.com]On Behalf Of
> Yak Wax
> Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 1998 12:14 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.com
> Subject: Contacting God
>
>
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>
> I recently watched "Contact" (I'm probably the last to do so on this
> list) and something's been annoying me ever since. In the movie it is
> claimed that 95% of the worlds population believe in a "Supreme Being"
> and therefore anyone who doesn't believe in God shouldn't represent
> Earth. Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't Hinduism the most
> 'popular' religion? Even if it's not, my point is that many religions
> have more than one god, so I would presume that 95% of the worlds
> population don't believe in a "Supreme Being" or "God" (which I take
> to mean one Supreme Being, after all how many Supreme Beings can you
> have?) Added to this, it's a well know fact that religious groups
> don't exactly appreciate each other's views. Anyone advocating the
> Christian God isn't likely to go down well with other religions that
> make up the majority of that 95% (I'm certain 95% of the world aren't
> Christians, despite what some of them would like to think). So
> clearly a religiously neutral candidate would have been the best choice.
>
> Is it any different in the book? And does anyone have figures on the
> numbers that make up different religious beliefs, just in case I'm
> ever a candidate for first contact and find myself in need of a good
> defense?
>
> --Wax
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