Weird and Religious
There are hadith in Islam that state a fly has disease on one wing and cure on the other, and that if it falls into a drink, it should be fully dipped before being removed. The idea treats a common insect as carrying both harm and remedy in a balanced way.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
7 October 2023, southern Israel near Gaza. Hamas militants carried out mass killings, kidnappings, and assaults on civilians in homes, roads, and at a music festival. The attack was justified by Hamas using Islamist language about jihad, liberation of Muslim land, defence of Al Aqsa, and religious duty tied to the belief the land is an Islamic trust.
Fact
In Judaism, the commandments, often counted as 613 mitzvot, guide religious and ethical life, and Judaism sees these as obligations shaping daily conduct.
Fear, death, and imagination
To understand religion, one does not need revelation or faith but an understanding of fear, death, and imagination. When those forces combine in a self-aware species trapped in a dangerous world, gods are not surprising; they are inevitable. The real question is not why humans believed in gods but why so many still do now that the original fears can finally be faced without inventing stories to hide from them.
Quote of the day
“Belief is not the beginning but the end of all knowledge.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Ask the right question
How does the existence of severe natural disasters and childhood disease fit with the idea of an all powerful and benevolent deity?
Religious Crooks
Sogyal Rinpoche was a Tibetan Buddhist teacher and founder of Rigpa, with multiple former students accusing him of sexual and physical abuse, leading to his resignation after an internal letter and subsequent scrutiny exposed long standing allegations.
For more information, google the name.
Almost all of the crooks appearing in this section have their own wikipedia page.
If a real God existed, would he allow crooks to act on his behalf?