Religion vs. Magic

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Beejazz]And that's why you'll find evil, religion, and persecution of arcane magic hanging out together in many fantasy settings. 'Cause it works.[/blockquote]
Sure, didn't mention any of those as a problem.   My problem is Evil mainstream religions.

[blockquote=Beejazz]Maybe the problem is calling it an evil religion. Would you accept a religion that wages holy wars, executes anyone accused of being a heretic without fair trial, practices periodic human sacrifice, endorses slavery, and is run by a guy who can rule with an iron fist because his buddy is a god of war? As opposed to one that proposes killing, stealing, and rape as its virtues and kindness, love, and selflessness as its vices?[/blockquote]

You hit the nail on the head, or at least the right board.
The problem is worship/adherence to a credo/faith.  I don't merely accept said conditions as above, I expect them.  I personally think organized religion has caused more harm than good in our real history than almost anything.  I'm certainly not defending organized religion.
I'm defending psychology of worship and self-image.  As I mentioned above with the dictators and the ancient god-kings, they present a fair face, controlling as much as they can of their image.  There is also the question of alternatives.  I have a little less problem with people working against cultural imperative psychology if they know nothing else.  It gets really stupid if you expect people to worship the god of rape and pain over the god of health and help, except for a few really desperate individuals.

[Kindling]

I suppose it depends how well the priests of pain and rape have convinced them that pain and rape are the true essence of holiness. I mean, there his been plenty of spiritual movements towards the rejection of luxury as a path to enlightenment, so why not take that a (huge) step further and say that only by enduring the very worst of hardships can one achieve true self-knowledge and ascend into a state of true spirituality.

[Ghostman]

Verily this thread has drifted away from it's original subject. It now seems to be about the viability of exclusivist and "evil" religions.

Regarding exclusiveness in religion: It is not at all fair to assume that any and all major religions should be unexclusive or expansionistic. Judaism and Hinduism for example don't actively seek converts. People generally become "members" by being born to a family that adheres to the religion.

We should acknowledge, too, that religion can be a lot more than just faith. It can be intimately (even inseparably) tied to ethnic/tribal identity. If tribe X make service to god Y because "god Y is the god of tribe X, as has always been", then being part of the religion can be seen as the same thing as being part of the tribe - an outsider might not be accepted to be of that religion no matter how much he may believe and mimic the rituals.

Regarding viability of "evil" religions: Firstly, there should be made no such assumption that religion in general (and deities in particular) must always promote specific sets of moral norms. They can simply be models exploring/explaining the workings of the universe to find the means to a better life. If a religion says that by acting in a certain way, you will find greater prosperity and safety, then that is not a moral statement. It's not telling you what is right and wrong, rather what is advantageous and disadvantageous. A religion that encourages particular actions by promising mundane or spiritual rewards isn't necessarily stating that these actions are morally good.

It's also worth considering whether entities found within a religion that are identified as "evil" (whether stated to be so by the religion, or interpreted as such by its adherents) are viewed as things to which the believer must form a meaningful relationship (ie. actively opposing them, submitting to their domination, etc) or whether they are seen more as forces of nature; something that simply "is" without much rhyme or reason.

A god of rape and pain doesn't necessarily advise/command such actions, or any actions at all, amongst those who worship him. He might simply be the metaphysical origin of rape and pain, causing these things to happen. If by worshiping him one could redirect these things away from oneself/family/people, and toward one's foes, then I could see such a god receiving plenty of followers. He might even be more popular than the god of health and help, if he is believed to be much more influential (ie. turning to the latter is less likely to benefit you than placating the former).