Much of the stuff is online and a great deal of it at Wikipedia, alone. While Joseph Campbell summarized some of the stuff in his books, you'll likely do better consulting Google yourself.

have to publish it somewhere on the web, because I'm sure I'm not the only one who would value such a documentation.

I just have a bit too much to cope with right now to do it myself.

IF it is already out there on the web someplace.

Honestly, I'm quite surprised what I have found so far.

It either goes to one of the myths or another one, virgin birth, floods, etc., but nothing tying all of them together with ample references.

It's a resource I'd like to see also. Maybe someone will be along who can point us in the right direction.

I'm up for that.

Then, maybe, I can do a web page, with links, or even get to Youtube and go off on some of the zealots who don't know history before the time of the Bible.

Lots of people in the world think all the story began with the Bible. Sorry guys and gals, this was probably percolating for another 3 thousand years before this particular Christian story got going from Nazareth, to Rome and beyond around the world.

I have the expertise, but not the time.

summaries..

Like

"There are 7 documented stories of virgin births in various literature pre-dating Jesus."

And then go on to give you the links.

Would that kind of thing work?

Or would we perhaps need to summarize all 7 of them, and give links... either way would be fun.

I probably won't be available much until the middle of June (too much on my plate at work), but if you started putting together the research, I could begin posting it to a site at that point. I'd take care of the technical details of the wiki. Whaddya say?

I'm sure we'd get some good contributions from the group here, too.

at least 15-25 people who post here on A+A!

I think we might want to divide it up, eventually, have some virgin specialists, or some flood specialists, etc.

The Atheist WIKI..

40,000 years of religious burials and other events and mythologies in the history of modern pre-historic and historic humankind, including all known references to religious mythologies, from China to Central America, and everywhere in between.

I have a feeling that 5000 to 10,000 years of religion, of stories of floods, virgin births, and reincarnations, etc. etc. are being kept from the world population by sheer ignorance and arrogance of the Judeo-Christian predominance of the web today.

I think I read somewhere that there are over 100 creation stories of Native Americans and First Nation people, from Alaska to Central America, and perhaps more if we can research South American folk, (hard to do, they died off in such large numbers or became part of Spanish colonial culture so fast, in less than 8o years). Imagine, if you can, that you are a First Nation person in what is now Kansas or Iowa, do you ever go as far as the Rockies, a journey of up to 600 miles, do you ever see a mountain?

If we could get 20-30 stories of virgin births, pre-dating Jesus, stories of floods, which, obviously happen everywhere except on mountainsides.

There's a lot of the last 10,000 years of religious phenomena to explore here, to compare and contrast. I think it's more valuable to society than contemplating how many angels dance on the head of a pin, as our Catholic ancestors did for hundreds of years in the dark ages and even up until the last few years.

I have a feeling that 5000 to 10,000 years of religion, of stories of floods, virgin births, and reincarnations, etc. etc. are being kept from the world population by sheer ignorance and arrogance of the Judeo-Christian predominance of the web today.

If you don't mind my asking, what is particularly Jewish about this arrogance? Jews don't believe that the Tanakh is the only valid religious narrative, and to some extent accept the syncretism of their own religion. Moreover, why is it "Judeo-Christian" and not "Western"? There were centuries of scholars who dismissed biblical narratives yet still believed in their originality. What was produced in other areas of the world was simply unworthy.

Anyway, if you want some resources, you might start with the Ancient History Sourcebook (online), which contains many useful fragments of myths and religious writings. There's also The Internet Sacred Texts Archive (online). If you get very deep into this, I'd recommend reading Anthony Grafton's two volume biography of Joseph Scaliger (16th century philologist). You should also read some symbolic anthropology.

Good luck!

ETA: You might also look at James Lockhart, who discusses the translation of the Nahuas' worldview into a Christian mentality.

If you don't mind my asking, what is particularly Jewish about this arrogance? Jews don't believe that the Tanakh is the only valid religious narrative, and to some extent accept the syncretism of their own religion.

I suggest you read what he said again. It certainly doesn't equate to "The Jews are arrogant."

Moreover, why is it "Judeo-Christian" and not "Western"?

Because he isn't talking about convincing people Zeus, Thor, Samhain, Baal, or Anubis aren't real. He is talking about counterapologetics which are directly applicable to the Old (Judeo) and New (Christian) Testaments. Ergo: Judeo-Christian.

I suggest you read what he said again. It certainly doesn't equate to "The Jews are arrogant."

I don't need to. I believe my question reflects an understanding of the perceived originality of these narratives, to which I responded that their originality is not much of a problem in Judaism as in Christianity.
[quote]Because he isn't talking about convincing people Zeus, Thor, Samhain, Baal, or Anubis aren't real. He is talking about counterapologetics which are directly applicable to the Old (Judeo) and New (Christian) Testaments. Ergo: Judeo-Christian.[/quote]
He is talking about the supposed authority of the Bible (Old Testatment is not quite the same things as the Tanakh, and embodies a completely different hermeneutics) based on the belief in their originality, to which I responded that Western Civilization reflects, in general, an attitude that suggests that even when their narratives are in doubt, that they are still original. It is the reason why Greece is still considered the cradle of civilization in spite of the number of innovations that came from other early cultures.

... but that aside, I still think your argument is fairly petty. "Judeo-Christian" is a word in common usage, used to denote the overlap between Judaism and Christianity. "Western" is an umbrella term which denotes a litany of qualities, some of which find their origins in Christianity, but many more of which do not. Of the two terms, I would argue "Judeo-Christian" is more apropos.

Here's the one about flood myths:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flood_myths

Virgin birth mythology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculous_births

And so on. Some of these may not be 100% accurate, but it's a good starting point for questions like yours. Additional links on those pages will produce more information.

Iron Chariots is a good starting point. It was founded by Matt Dillahunty of "The Atheist Experience" fame.

Also, I would suggest you check out back episodes of the podcast Irreligiosophy. They have a number of episodes dedicated to, as they call it, plagiarism, and most of what I know of Panbabylonism I heard first on their show. I should warn you, however, one of the co-hosts tends to make tongue-in-cheek racist/sexist remarks. The informational portion of the show is very good, however, if you can get past Leighton's crass attempts at "humor".