sociology question - how long to instil an idea in a culture?

[Gilladian]

In developing the history of a new region of my campaign world, I'm thinking about introducing snake worship as part of the dominant religion. However, this custom would only have been introduced into this area about 150 years ago, at most. Would that be enough time to bring it into common acceptance across the population? The initial influx of snake-worshippers were twofold; one was members of an evil cult who were driven underground and are still hunted and destroyed, but the second was a group of peaceful refugees (the whole region was populated by refugees during the previous 50 year timespan), who brought important and well-recieved skills with them to the region, so their worship was seen, at that time, as being "odd but acceptable"...

What are your opinions, EnWorld? Could a whole kingdom become devout snake-worshippers in 150 years? Or would the belief still be fringe? Or something else?

 

[Dragongrief]

(I've only taken a couple sociology classes, so don't take this as a Statement from Authority)

How quickly something spreads through a culture and becomes accepted depends on many factors, including what advantages it brings and how heavy the opposition to change is.

Since you said that they brought needed skills that were well-received, that is a mark in their favor. The fact there is also an evil snake worshiping cult works against them.

Is/was there another dominant religion/group in the area that would view the peaceful group as a threat to their power? If so, then depending on how much of an issue the cult caused, they may have been able to use that to keep the peaceful group limited to a moderately accepted fringe group. If the evil cult influence is weak and/or there is no competing religion/group, they are probably well accepted and integrated through the kingdom.

Could a whole kingdom become devout snake-worshippers in 150 years?

Having a whole kingdom become a *devout* anything would be extremely difficult regardless of the benefit they bring (barring mind control). Even if a kingdom has ideal conditions and the ruler governs with the best in mind for their subjects, someone will think they can do better.

 

[Morrus]

How long did it take rock music, rap music, credit cards, or mobile phones? Under 10 years for pretty much anything. Ideas spread at about light speed.

 

[haakon1]

I'd say a generation is enough for a culture to change.

 

[pedr]

Some questions to think about:

How good is communication within the society? How easily will people hear about the new practice?

How mobile is the society? How often will people meet those who are introducing or subscribing to the practice?

Does the practice compete with existing ideas or practices that people have to abandon or loosen their attachment to before subscribing to it?

What is the status of those introducing the practice? Who are their first converts?

Some of these are hinted at in the OP, but worth considering, I think. In this scenario I think the major question is whether the evil group arrived and were suppressed before the good/neutral group. If so, the good group is presumably going to find it nearly impossible to gain acceptance. If these occurred at the same time, particularly if the good group helped defeat the evil one, it is likely to be easier.

 

[Henry]

Let's put it this way - it's a sufficient timespan where it wouldn't strain credulity. From 160 CE to 312 CE, Christianity went from being still thought of as an unfavorable cult to being the official religion of the Roman Empire, so going from a bunch of oddball snake worshipers to being the kingdom's religion is well within bounds.

 

[dd.stevenson]

the second was a group of peaceful refugees (the whole region was populated by refugees during the previous 50 year timespan), who brought important and well-recieved skills with them to the region, so their worship was seen, at that time, as being "odd but acceptable"...

What are your opinions, EnWorld? Could a whole kingdom become devout snake-worshippers in 150 years? Or would the belief still be fringe? Or something else?

In principle, 150 years is more than enough time. But you haven't really told us about two key factors: (1) what was the mechanism by which this religion spread? (was it a missionary religion? your refugees sound a bit like a diaspora...) and (2) what existing forces were supporting/opposing the spread of this new religion?

Anyway, unless this is an unusually deep game setting, 150 and a bit of hand-waving should do the trick.

 

[Fetfreak]

I think it's doable.
Another factor is, how keen is this religion on spreading their word? Do they want to dominate the whole kingdom? If they do have such an ambition and desire, they can surly find a way.
The new skills you mentioned is a good start but lets say that they also help in baby delivery for free. They heal the sick for free. Once, during those 150 years, they menaged to combat off some serious disease or even a plague. They make contributions to ease the lives of the poor.
With this kind of deeds, the spread of their faith would go much smoother and people would forget that they are odd.

 

[Umbran]

How long did it take rock music, rap music, credit cards, or mobile phones? Under 10 years for pretty much anything. Ideas spread at about light speed.

When backed with modern communication, they spread with the speed of light.

I now bring this up merely as a matter of history, not a commentary on religion:

Christianity became legal in the Roman Empire in the year 313. It then became the state religion in 380. This shows you a period of rather slow growth (three centuries), followed by a major leap in under one.

Meanwhile, it took another thousand years for the Baltic states to take on Christianity, and then it was at the end of a sword. And still my parents were jumping through bonfires on midsummer night's eve.

So, it is certainly plausible for the culture so shift over the course of 150 years - if you have enough of the worshippers coming in as a seed population, a few generations makes sense. It is also plausible for it to take a very long time, indeed. It depends upon the forces and distances involved.

 

[billd91]

What are your opinions, EnWorld? Could a whole kingdom become devout snake-worshippers in 150 years? Or would the belief still be fringe? Or something else?

Chances are, without some kind of official backing, it would probably still be fringe, but possibly growing in acceptance. Consider looking at the history of Mormonism (at least via wikipedia's summary of it) to get an idea how a new variant religion might fare.

Ideas can really vary in how they spread through a culture. How fast do you want the snake cult to have spread? If you want it fast, consider writing the history so that there are events that advantage the snake cult. Maybe a couple of rulers who embrace, establish, and protect it. Maybe an incident that increases the public's acceptance of a cult devoted to scaly creatures (considering they aren't very warm and fuzzy - that seems to me to be a significant obstacle) like a plague of rodents and disease that the snake cult is well-disposed to deal with.