Why are the major world religions seen as valid and acceptable whereas things such as Satanism, Scientology - and even Paganism to a lesser extent - are ridiculed? They aren't any less valid or realistic so why is this the case? Discuss.

all religions should just disappear tbh

I honestly think religion is just a fandom gone WRONG like put it like this say the harry potter fandom for example say we had some war that wiped everyone out and randomly the only thing left was a harry potter book that got discovered in the ground people would most likely think that harry potter is a form of god and voldemort is the form of the devil and witchcraft is seen as a gift from god e.t.c e.t.c e.t.c

because they've been around for thousands of years and are deeply ingrained into a lot of people's minds long before they even know it. Satanism just point black is a joke, even real satanists don't "worship" the Devil. Scientology is more of a cult, created by a science fiction author and paganism is guesswork that mostly dates back to the 1800s, NOT before Christianity.

You could say that about any religion.

Pagnism is not guesswork. It came long before Christianity and many other religions and these religions - including Christianity - stole from it and then decided to turn around and persecute everyone who was a Pagan. Paganism is slightly different than the major world religions though, in that it isn't organized and it has LOTS of different branches.

Have you seen a real Satanic mass? I had no words after seeing one on youtube. My conscious simply doesn't allow me to take them seriously.

I didn't say I agreed with it . Especially the branches that deal with animal sacrifice considering I'm vegan. But it doesn't make it any less valid...

I've studied the origins of modern-day paganism and it really isn't close to what people were doing before the spread of Christianity. We just do not have enough historical evidence to say with accuracy how people worshiped, what Wiccans and other pagan branches do today comes from what Gerald Gardner either made up or copied and pasted from Victorian writers.

It's true that Christianity absorbed many rituals and that's why people accepted it but that's also how we know what very little cold hard facts we do about paganism, because Christianity is the last surviving part of it to exist today.

The difference is that Harry Potter is not a philosophy. Religion is basically the expression of philosophical views on morals and beliefs that have practical ramifications .

Paganism is one of the oldest forms of religion. Your Christmas came from Pope Julius I who wanted the people at the time to breakaway from the Roman Festival of Saturnalia and the Pagan Winter Solstice. This was in like 345 AD. All religious ceremonies are attached to the festivals of other religions to convert people.

Well you asked why it's not taken seriously? I gave you my reason, well sort of.

You clearly have not studied it at all.

Religion or a belief in god or a deity for instance is natural. Since the dawn if time man has validated the world around us through the presence of a god.

I understand that it was different and I know modern-day Wiccans definitely aren't the same as ones centuries ago, but I believe the basic principles and beliefs remain the same. Some of the Gods they worship are the same, the festivals are the same, the ideologies they share are the same. It's obviously advanced and become more modernised as time has went on, but I'm pretty sure most religions have done that even in small ways, not just Paganism.

Yes, but Christianity also took from Paganism, changed things it to suit themselves then persecuted those who wouldn't convert to their religion.

Isn't paganism just secularism now?

I'm not here for religion (agnostic atheist) but I'd say Buddhism might be the 'best' or most valid form.

Agnostic atheist, how does that work? My assumption is that they would be contradictory, either you're agnostic or atheist, not both.

ok lol.. modern paganism is just an attempt to incorporate historical elements of ancient religion into what they're doing today. Of course it follows the basics of nature but ancient paganism is full of things that would frankly be illegal today. But before you attack me, if you knew anything about it you'd know even most practicing pagans today do not claim their religion is the same as what it once was. It's just an umbrella term.

Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity and agnostic because they claim that the existence of a deity is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact.

the difference is that Christianity has existed since it's creation, it has never vanished. It's developed and modernised and dropped some of its odder aspects but paganism did at some point in history just stop and it simply did not have any adherents who kept it alive and carried its traditions on. Modern day paganism is a rebirth but it is just not the same thing.