Religion Creating 101?

Question

I'm tiring to come up with my own religion, so I'm tiring to come up with a set up steps to help me though it. Does anyone know any really good websites on steps for coming up with your own religion?

Most of the sites that I've googled, are either joke sites, they want money, or they simply market it as a get rich quick scheme. That I don't really want, I just want to share a belief system with the world. Mine would be based off computer programming logic (algorithms) to help and teach people to think logically and to find the answers they need to have a better life though an algorithm.

Actually books would be a good source as well, even articles!

Answer 1

http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/meme.html is a serious article about religion creation.

http://www.churchofreality.org/wisdom/welcome_home/ is the "Church of Reality;" they may have ideas you can use.

You might want to look at the articles at religioustolerance.org-- http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_theory1.htm is one about religious theory & history.

Articles on interfaith language like the one at http://www.paganpride.org/lc/press/pressinterviewtips.html may help you sort out how to describe your religion to people who aren't familiar with it.

http://www.angelfire.com/ri/flamingeggplant/Disorganized.html is mostly funny, but might have some useful thoughts; it's not as flippant like some of the articles are, and it's got a different perspective. However, as you've noticed, most "build a religion" articles are about the outward trappings, not about creating an internally-consistent cosmology.

http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v28/__show_article/_a000028-000006.htm is about St. Silicon, a high-tech, computer-based "funny" religion. He's got a book, the Silicon Bible--I don't think it'd be directly useful to you except that it does have prayers and hymns written about computer programming. And funny or not, a religion needs a way to connect to one's artistic side.

Answer 2

1: To formulate the beliefs

I've forgotten the title, but the early history of _The Church of All Worlds_ is illuminating, in how the followers and the author of the sacred text treated each other. Also review books that chronicle the history of Scientology. Two religions created by science fiction writers. One did so inadvertently, the other intentionally did so.

_The Aquarian Conspiracy_ covers the rise of the New Age Movement.

Spend time studying the history and development of religions. Focus on religions that have seen major growth within the last century.
* Pentacostalism (_The Asuza Street Revival_ for a pro-Pentacostal history);
* Wicca. (Modern Wicca dates to Gerald Gardner's books from the nineteen-forties.)
* The Bahai (numerically small, but regardless of where in the world you are, the only other religion that is likely to have a house of worship near you, is the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church. );

Go to _The Advanced Bonewits’ Cult Danger Evaluation Frame_
http://www.neopagan.net/ABCDEF.html
and decide where your religion should score, for each question.

Study comprtive religion. Focus on what beliefs the different religions have in common.

2: To make converts
Studying Marketing, or Sales, would probably be the best way to learn how to most effectively reach your potential converts.

In terms of practical steps, in spreading your religion, very little is orientated for a generic religion.

The only non-Christian group I know of, that actively proselytizes, modified material published by The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania ( better known as The Jehovah's Witnesses) and Moody Press (A Christian publishing house, that is affiliated with Moody Bible College.)

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The usual thing is reformulating an existing religion, within a new framework:
* Bahai, for example, is nothing more than Islam, stripped of violence as a religious requirement.
* Scientology is Crowley rewritten, with a mythical history that hides QBL formula within it.
* Wicca is nothing more than Crowley rewritten from a feminist POV;
* Crowley is nothing more than a synthesis of all of the mystical practices of religious experience;

Note: for all of the influence that Crowley has had on contemporary religion, his own religion has never attracted many adherents, and retains only a smattering of people as adherants.

Answer 3

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Developing_A_Universal_Religion

This is a free web-book that outlines what a worldwide, universal religion might look like. It could be a great start for what you are trying to do.