[dawg-]

I think you betray your lack of understanding by categorizing any religious belief aside from fundamentalism as "cherry picking whatever pieces of the bible...". There is a 2,000 year old tradition of hermeneutic interpretation of the bible, resulting in dozens of different, more nuanced approaches to reading and thinking about the book. But you've brushed all that aside as "cherry picking" so that your criticism can still be coherent without having to make any effort to learn more than you already know. You must maintain a narrow, simplistic definition of religion in order to retain confidence in your belief system. Isn't that a bit backwards?

One individual making up a story about a turtle is not a religion. Religions emerge from thousands of years of collective human consciousness. The stories are told and retold from millions of mouths to millions of ears. You understand that input to a human's cognitive system can shape their perception, consciousness, behavior, of course? These stories and characters have accompanied us through every technological revolution from agriculture to smartphones. Repeated through countless generations, they have literally shaped us as a species. With that suggestion in mind, can you really confront the idea that God is "The Word", and that we are "made in his image", without even a tiny amount of awe and wonder?

[kongolongo]

Ok ignoring the appeal to tradition, how would you argue for hinduism over christianity or vice versa? Both are 2k+ years old with very different beliefs at their core. Reincarnation vs an afterlife, single vs many gods.

Nothing about having a long history and nuanced approaches over the years answers my question of necessitation.

[Grieving]

It's easy to see parallels if you really want to look. The cycle of reincarnation is the thing that Hindus want to escape from (both seek unity with god), and it can be described as monotheistic as well.

Just different approaches to the same divine.

[dawg-]

Why ignore the main point of my comment? I directly addressed one reason why a random turtle god and an actual religion are very different.

I was talking about traditions, yes, but to write it off as simply an "appeal to tradition" falls very short

[kongolongo]

No that is the entirety of your comment. Without the appeal to tradition there is nothing separating a random turtle god from an actual religion.

If there is more than an appeal to tradition how would you argue for or against different religions? Religions with as much tradition as Christianity - Hinduism, Buddhism, and even some monarchies and dynasties also have the same stories that are told by millions of mouths to millions of years over generations as you say.