Ever wondered who, or even what, the true god is... or if there's one at all? I think just about everyone has, and I'm not excluded. I used to be a member of a church, and they have not just the Bible, but the Book of Mormon. I'll be looking around in the future to see all of the religions possible, and experience as many first hand as I can.
I'm going from Buddhism to Scientology to the Egyptian gods in my search for the practical purpose of religion in the time period, the believability of their statements, how the religion affects the people it influences, and overall it's impact on society as we know it. Let's start somewhere basic... How about Catholics?
Catholics have been common the royalty and because of that, all of the common folk (I bet the peasants were doubting the existence of god) followed suit. Heard of Muhammad, Prophet Of God? Well if you haven't you're not alone, but if I asked if you've heard of Jesus would anyone bar third world hermits not have heard that name somewhere ("Jesus is the bartender down the street..." NOT THAT ONE!!). Christian or not, no one can argue against the impact that man caused to the world... god or no god... and religion or not, that's a hell of an example to follow.
It might surprise you to know that Islam (Muslims) is very similar to Christianity in it's core beliefs. Including prophets such as Abraham, Moses, Noah, and even Jesus. They've copped a lot of flak lately for the people who've misunderstood the meanings of the Quran, their dreams... prayers.. or all three. Another interesting thing I've learned is that the one hundred virgins thing (that I found incredibly disturbing and sexist at the same time) isn't played up and that women are treated with respect as far as the religion is concerned. Terrorism definitely isn't condoned, well at least according to
http://www.islamreligion.com and probably any sane Muslim. Racism is not allowed in Islam, the Quran speaks of human equality. Animals are also valued as living beings, a woman was condoned to hell for imprisoning a cat until it died (no food and water, and no delicious mice). Humane deaths of animals is also a pretty big thing. I'll leave Islam with this:
“There is a reward for kindness to every living animal or human.” - Saying Of Muhammad
Buddhism is not a religion per-se. They don't have a god, they don't pray, they don't go on pilgrimages to convert people to Buddhism, and as crazy as it seems they are tolerant of other religions because they are happy with the moral teachings they offer. Buddhism has a very well known Karma---