Weird and Religious
In medieval Europe, people believed that church bells could drive away storms and demons. Bells were blessed with holy water and given names, and ringing them during bad weather was meant to protect crops and villages.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2010, Jos, Nigeria. Christian and Muslim communities engaged in cycles of massacre and reprisal. Each side justified violence as protecting their faith group, defending land tied to religious identity, and avenging earlier attacks.
Fact
In Christianity, baptism is a significant rite, and Christianity uses it as a sign of commitment, cleansing, and entry into the community of believers.
In our image
When humans first imagined gods, they had only one template for mind and intention, their own. There was no concept of impersonal processes, blind forces, or natural laws. Everything that happened appeared to be driven by intention because intention was the only kind of cause that could be conceived. When crops failed, someone must have chosen it. When storms arrived, someone must have been angry. When victory came, someone must have been pleased. Gods inherited the full emotional range of their creators because that was the only emotional range available.
Quote of the day
“I would rather live my life as if there is no God and die to find out there is, than live as if there is and die to find out there is not.” Albert Camus.
Ask the right question
If religious stories are symbolic, how does one decide which parts are metaphor and which are historical fact?
Religious Crooks
Bikram Choudhury, founder of Bikram Yoga, built a global yoga movement with spiritual overtones and faced numerous lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and assault, with court judgments and settlements severely damaging his standing.
For more information, google the name.
Almost all of the crooks appearing in this section have their own wikipedia page.
That was just a tiny case in a vast ocean of religious crooks.