AgNoStiC MuSliM
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My knowledge of Vedic culture/religion and Hinduism is rudimentary, mostly picked up through debates such as these, so I will leave it, hopefully, to individuals like Joe Shearer to clarify and correct - this excerpt from Wiki reflects my interpretation of Vedic Religious beliefs and modern day Hinduism:No I did not agree.
The Vedics clearly worshipped Gods like Indra, Varuna, Agni etc and they are as much part of the Hindu pantheon today as it was yesterday.
The rest of the post is based on this primary [incorrect,fallacious] assumption and hence I am ignoring that.
Vedic religious practices
The Vedic forms of belief are the precursor to modern Hinduism. Texts considered to date to the Vedic period are mainly the four Vedas, but the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and the older Upanishads as well as the oldest Shrautasutras are also considered to be Vedic. The Vedas record the liturgy connected with the rituals and sacrifices performed by the 16 or 17 Shrauta priests and the purohitas.
The rishis, the composers of the hymns of the Rigveda, were considered inspired poets and seers (in post-Vedic times understood as "hearers" of an eternally existing Veda, Śrauta means "what is heard").
The mode of worship was performance of sacrifices which included the chanting of Rigvedic verses (see Vedic chant), singing of Samans and 'mumbling' of offering mantras (Yajus). The priests executed rituals for the three upper classes (varna) of Vedic society, strictly excluding the Sudras[citation needed]. People offered for abundance of rain, cattle, sons, long life and gaining 'heaven'.
The main deities of the Vedic pantheon were Indra, Agni (the sacrificial fire), and Soma and some deities of social order such as Mitra–Varuna, Aryaman, Bhaga and Amsa, further nature deities such as Surya (the Sun), Vayu (the wind), Prithivi (the earth). Goddesses included Ushas (the dawn), Prithvi and Aditi (the mother of the Aditya gods or sometimes the cow). Rivers, especially Saraswati, were also considered goddesses. Deities were not viewed as all-powerful. The relationship between humans and the deity was one of transaction, with Agni (the sacrificial fire) taking the role of messenger between the two. Strong traces of a common Indo-Iranian religion remain visible, especially in the Soma cult and the fire worship, both of which are preserved in Zoroastrianism. The Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) has parallels in the 2nd millennium BC Andronovo culture, in Rome and old Ireland, was continued in India until at least the 4th century AD and revived under Jai Singh II of Amber in 1716 AD.
Vedic religion evolved into the Hindu paths of Yoga and Vedanta, a religious path considering itself the 'essence' of the Vedas, interpreting the Vedic pantheon as a unitary view of the universe with 'God' (Brahman) seen as immanent and transcendent in the forms of Ishvara and Brahman. These post-Vedic systems of thought, along with later texts like Upanishads, epics (namely Gita of Mahabharat), have been fully preserved and form the basis of modern Hinduism. The ritualistic traditions of Vedic religion are preserved in the conservative Śrauta tradition, in part with the exception of animal sacrifice, which was mostly abandoned by the higher castes by the end of the Vedic period, partly under the influence of the Buddhist and Jain religions, and their criticism of such practices[citation needed].
Ignoring Bang Galore's earlier argument of atheism/agnosticism, the excerpt above clearly paints a picture of a Hinduism evolving distinctly from Vedic religious beliefs, and therefore would appear to be more along the lines of the evolution of the Abrahamic religions.
I fail to see why not, though we can continue this on another thread once/if you return.Islam had never any relation to Judaism.
Never.
It is not relevant to the thread but we may discuss it elsewhere.
There was no evolution.
Again, a topic for elsewhere.