>> As an aside (and hopefully not to affend anyone), what does "western
>> religions" mean?
>> Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all come from the Middle East.
Hinduism,
>> Buddhism, and Taoism all come from the East. "western religion" must
mean
>> Paganism, Animism, and Shamanism?
>
>Actually, Shamanism dates back to the aryan migration, which originated
in
>central asia... Aminism / paganism are probably the only original
pan-religions
>(of course Pan is a cool guy, I'd practice any religion he was in),
which are
>east west and new world
>
In that case, I think we can dispense with the term "western religion" since the West holds no legitimate claim to the birth of any text-based religion (discounting any cult spin-offs and sub-religions). As the Aussies say, "Good on you!" Instead of religion, the West has blessed (I mean it) the world with science.
-zen