How do you combat cultural conversion?

[Baron von Geist]

I'm currently at turn 288 having gone the Mycenean-Roman-Byzantine route. I've been focusing primarily on consolidating my empire and building up my cities. I haven't really focused on religion or faith apart from building a holy site earlier in the game.

That said, I was horrified to see that large percentage of my pops have been surreptitiously converted to a foreign religion (Olmec Polytheism) when I clicked the faith button. My immediate neighbors have also been converted. In fact, the entire continent that I'm on has been converted to this faith. I'm not even sure where it originated from. My capital city is the final holdout on the continent, but it's converting fast and there doesn't seem to be a anything I can do to stop it.

How can this be countered? I didn't see any clear options available under either faith or society. This seem a little OP, or perhaps broken. I can understand cultures spreading and becoming dominant by the sword, or after decades / centuries of foreign occupation followed by concerted efforts at assimilation, but through osmosis? C'mon. really?

[The Void Boy]

The only way I’ve found is to build up faith of your own to combat other faiths. I think influence plays a factor too, the Romans had triumphal arches which provide extra influence.

[MaGicBush]

I just ignore religion. Unfortunately, from my experience in 4x games, they never implement them very well so I just ignore them. The bonuses aren't exceptional anyways. In this game it's sort of interesting, but they still made it spread way to easily from player to player. The AI focuses on it so your option is to either not trade, or forget about it.

Also cultural conversion and religious conversion are two separate things.

[Matthew]

Cultural conversion and religious conversion are two different things.

You don't have much choice left in your scenario. The religious tolerance civic allows you to demand another faction to convert, so you can wage a holy war to force your religion.

In the future, religion snowballs with territories converted. You can overtake your continent without building a single holy site, because one blast of +20 faith is nothing in comparison with 10+ faith being pushed out from every territory around you. +faith bonuses only help if your religion gets to the point where your blob is of equal territorial strength to another's blob.

The religion game is won or lost in the outpost spamming phase of the game. I'm assuming 288 is endless speed, so 144 standard speed. It is normal for a continent to be overran, or on the way to being overran by then.

[Lee]

Faith spread strength is the sum influencing territories, and culture their influence generation.

Which territories are neighboring? Geographical ones, and also ones that that you are trading with, so if you go and buy a ton of luxuries from someone you're going to import a whole ton of their culture and religion.

[Kotli]

It depends on the faith power projected into the territory (includes that produced in the territory itself). A territory products 10 faith by default and faith produced is spread at full strength to all adjacency territories (it drops beyond that unless a trade route is involved).
To convert to a different faith you need to apply 120% the faith pressure as that of the current faith.

[Dorok]

Why bother? I mean if you are in position to lead the religion there's bonus to get, if not, don't bother, you'll save money. I think it's not like political influence (middle button at bottom left) that opens possibilities to complain and make requests, for some war support management, with AI I don't remind any case with an AI fulfilling any demand.

But I don't think religion has this effect.

[Baron von Geist]

Lots of useful info posted here that I wasn't aware of. Thanks, guys.