Weird and Religious
Among certain Celtic groups in Iron Age Europe, classical writers claimed that prisoners of war were sacrificed in large wicker structures sometimes described as “wicker men.” The victims were burned as offerings to the gods, though modern historians debate how literal these reports were.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1975, Lebanon civil war phase. Christian and Muslim militias attacked civilian neighbourhoods in sectarian cleansing campaigns. Leaders justified operations as protecting their religious communities, defending holy identity, and preventing domination by rival faith based factions.
Fact
In Christianity, spiritual gifts are recognised, and Christianity teaches that different abilities such as teaching, helping, or leadership are given for the benefit of the community.
What sacred texts reflect
Sacred texts are full of cientific nonsense. This is not incidental, it is foundational. The universe is described as young and small. Life is created in the wrong order. Humans appear fully formed. Disease is moral rather than biological. Weather is controlled by mood. None of this reflects hidden wisdom. It reflects ignorance. Believers often respond by insisting these passages are metaphorical. This raises an obvious question. How does one distinguish metaphor from mistake, and why a god capable of creating galaxies would choose to communicate through riddles that reliably mislead for centuries.
Quote of the day
“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” Blaise Pascal.
Ask the right question
Why do gods in scriptures sometimes change their mind, express regret or alter plans?
Religious Crooks
Mitsuo Matayoshi was a Japanese political-religious claimant who presented himself as a divine figure and mixed spiritual authority with public fundraising and self promotion, drawing criticism that religious identity was used for personal platform building.
For more information, google the name.
Almost all of the crooks appearing in this section have their own wikipedia page.Every country in the world has its fair share of spiritual crooks.
Throughout history and still to this day, there has never been a shortage of religious leaders who were not always following their own spiritual advice.