Today we are dominated by the Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. These religions have been at odds since they were created and have worked tirelessly to erase each other from the map. Even today our most heated conflicts are often born of the same god and philosophy. From an outside historic context it is pretty clear to see the development of these religions from their forebears to their modern influence and conflicts. Incorporating elements of Zoroastrianism, Greek and Egyptian beliefs Christianity rose to dominate Western culture through domination, coercion and idol replacement. Just as things were going well for Christians, another faith, Islam, arose. In their efforts to dominate the world, these religions have also managed to erase much of the rest of human culture. Today missionaries around the world lure the ‘heathen’ to their religion with celestial promises, knick knacks and modern goods. The gain for the missionaries is somewhat selfish as they gather souls to secure their own place in Heaven.

Among the lost religions are much of the Native American faiths, Polynesian, African and even European religions. Despite what its believers think, all religions spread by word of mouth, a massive meme traveling the globe on the minds of missionaries. As a young man I visited Papua New Guinea where I encountered tribes and missionaries. One family of missionaries used Snickers bars and Band-Aids to lure tribesmen to church. After listening to a sermon in English, the missionaries would hand out the bandages and chocolate. Mystified and impressed aborigines wandered away from the sermon with more images of chocolate dancing through their minds than religious fervor. The main problem with missionary work, besides the fact that people live just fine without Christianity, is that it erases culture and native knowledge. Thousands of years of herbal medicine knowledge can be lost in a moment because Band-Aids have sticky stuff. Languages and traditions are also erased as a ‘better way’ is introduced. I will examine a few of the religions that were overrun by modern faith, and that surely will be overrun by the next trend in human spirituality.