Hinduism is considered an archaic religion by many sociologists for many reasons. The word "Hinduism" isn't even the true name of the religion. Its true name is translated from ancient Sanskrit to Arya Dharma, which means "way of light." Another reason that many consider it to be an archaic religion is that it is the only major true polytheism other than Greek mythology. It dates back to 900 BC, and has at least 1158 different deities that a person could worship. On the other hand, you don't have to worship any at all if you so chose. Hinduism is an ethic based religion, not a creed based one, meaning that it is based on a way of life and not a set of beliefs. They are a very tolerant religion, believing in dharma and karma. They feel that the world is an illusion (maya), and so believe that everything going on around them is not real. Maybe they are so tolerant because they know that if you aren't Hindu then you are going to have to come back and try it again, who knows. They could be more tolerant than most for many reasons, and we may never know why they seem to excel when others fall short. If I had to choose a deity I think that I would choose Vishnu. He is the preserver, and is the one that comes down to help man out of whatever problem we have gotten ourselves into next. I also like the description of his appearance. He is "pictured as a black man with four arms; in one hand he holds a club, in another a shell; in the third a discus (used to slay his enemies); and in the fourth a lotus." While Hinduism is a very tolerant religion, and has been around for about 2900 years, I doubt that it is really going to spread across the world. Other than the fact of overpopulation I doubt that it will come out if India much at all. It is not a religion that is evangelized much at all, and the message of the religion isn't a coming happiness (which I believe is what most people really want).
