Weird and Religious
In some ancient Near Eastern traditions, there are references to child sacrifice associated with the god Molech. Texts describe children being passed through fire as part of worship. Later religious writers strongly condemned the practice, but its existence shows how sacrifice could be directed at the most vulnerable.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1862, Minnesota in the United States. During the Dakota War, violence included attacks on settlers and reprisals. While driven by land and survival, some Christian rhetoric portrayed events as divine judgement or a struggle between civilisation and heathenism, shaping justification on both sides.
Fact
In Buddhism, respect for teachers is emphasised, as Buddhism values learning from experienced practitioners who can guide students through complex teachings and practices.
How it all started
Early humans were not inventing gods in bad faith; they were responding to fear with the only tools they had. Good intentions do not prevent error, and the fact that a belief soothes anxiety does not make it true. Children believe monsters live under the bed for the same reason adults believe gods watch over them. Fear plus imagination plus authority creates conviction, and time turns conviction into tradition. Religion later learned to weaponise these fears. Fear of death became fear of punishment, fear of the unknown became fear of doubt, and fear of helplessness became obedience. Once gods existed, fear was no longer just a problem to be soothed; it became a tool to be used. Yet at the beginning, fear was simply human.
Quote of the day
“Religion has actually convinced people that there is an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do.” George Carlin.
Ask the right question
If meditation or prayer can influence physical reality, why can this not be demonstrated reliably in laboratories?
Religious Crooks
José Luis de Jesús Miranda led a Puerto Rican based religious movement declaring himself a divine figure, raising large sums from followers while promoting extravagant displays of wealth that critics cited as evidence of religious grift.
For more information, google the name.
Every country in the world has its fair share of spiritual crooks.
If a real God existed, would he allow crooks to act on his behalf?