Here is a narrowly delineated example of how initial conditions can result in something far different than what one might have expected: the Bahai religion. What started as a reformist (even fundamentalist) movement with the broad family of Iranian Shia movements, transformed into a liberal universalist faith that promotes racial harmony and the acknowledges the truth that can be found in all religions. (Zach Latif might dispute this characterization)
Posted by razib at 03:18 PM