[SunkenCiv]

People at worship services. Wikimedia Commons

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The emergence of world religions, they say, was triggered by the rising standards of living in the great civilizations of Eurasia...

It was more likely the cause of rising standards of living.

Lefties always get everything backwards. That's what happens when agenda rather than logic drives your positions.

[Mrs. Don-o]

The sanctuary here looks Catholic but the vestments don't-- quite. For instance that doesn't look like the typical (Gothic or Roman) chasuble on the priest. But it doesn't seem Orthodox or Byzantine, either, because there's no iconostasis.

Do you have any idea where this photo was taken?

[1010RD]

all arose around the same time

I stopped reading right there.

[ModelBreaker]

“That changed between 500 BCE and 300 BCE — a time known as the “Axial Age” — when new doctrines appeared in three places in Eurasia. “These doctrines all emphasized the value of ‘personal transcendence,’” the researchers write, “the notion that human existence has a purpose, distinct from material success, that lies in a moral existence and the control of one’s own material desires, through moderation (in food, sex, ambition, etc.), asceticism (fasting, abstinence, detachment), and compassion (helping, suffering with others).”

I’m pretty sure the bulk of the old testament was written down before 500 BC. So it’s a little difficult to put Judaism and Jehovah on this list.

[Gay State Conservative]

Did they ever consider that Judeo Christian morality might have *preceded* affluence rather than *followed* it?

[truth_seeker]

Look at Maslow’s hierarchy, put forth in 1943 and a basic in several study disciplines since then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs

BTW I think society has lost some of its institutional memory.

We seem to be unable to do simple things, which were taken for granted not long ago.

[GeronL]

author on crack

[Cvengr]

The research flies in the face of reality.

It assumes the more materially secure one is in their physical needs, the more spiritual they become.

It’s interesting to note that each of three falls of Satan recorded in Scripture, were from the status of Perfect Environment. Perfect Environment doesn’t promote spirituality in humans. While it doesn’t pre-empt the spiritual life, it isn’t a prerequisite.

[pacific_waters]

I seriously doubt 20,000 kcal was a normal diet anywhere.