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Comment by _7acn | Hacker News Reader

Where the Christian spirit fades, superstition grows.

A different superstition, you mean.

I mean exactly what I say. I'm simply pointing out an interesting observation: Western countries abandoning their roots do not transition into pure "atheism"; instead, they exchange their spirituality for something else. Rather than Christianity, what's popular now are horoscopes, tarot cards, meditation, and various practices derived from Buddhism, among other things.

You are holding Christianity in higher regard. It is as equally (in)valid as horoscopes and Buddhism.

Humans are pattern matchers and will identify patterns where there are none. Faces in clouds, mountain outcrops, etc. this lends itself to superstition. Nothing is special about Christianity aside from being regionally popular.

Western countries abandoned their roots when they accepted abrahamic religions.

Mindfulness, like meditation itself, is not exclusive to dharmic religions and does exist in the Christian tradition.

https://ianvanheusen.com/mindfulness-in-st-ignatius-of-loyol...

You'd think if we were returning to western roots there would be a lot more slavery and reading of bird livers on live tv. And just an astounding amount of male-on-male competitive anal sex (which, tbf, you can definitely still find if you look in the right place).

Your implication is that there is more superstition post-christianity, and I just don't see it, unless you define Christianity to not be superstition. There appears to be less superstition now, since there are now actual atheists, which were rare when Christianity ruled the roost.

Paradoxically, it might be the other way round. The Biblical folks were always very superstitious, and this is clearly documented in the Bible even before Christ.

Now, what Jesus taught is one thing, but what people created is another one. What Luter revolted against, for example, were not the teachings of Jesus, but all superstitions that were created by Christians and deemed to be Christianity.

Even today, when you talk to Christians, many of them believe in various superstitions. So, frankly, the opposite of your statement might be true.

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