Weird and Religious
Among the ancient Greeks, the oracle at Delphi delivered prophecies while in a trance, possibly induced by gases rising from a geological fault. Her unclear words were interpreted by priests, giving divine authority to ambiguous statements.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1997, Luxor in Egypt. Islamist militants attacked tourists at Hatshepsut Temple, killing many people. The assault was justified by perpetrators as striking infidels and damaging Egypt’s economy to weaken the state, framed as jihad against an un-Islamic government and foreign presence.
Fact
In Islam, daily life is often structured around permitted and forbidden actions, and Islam classifies behaviour into categories such as obligatory, recommended, neutral, discouraged, and forbidden.
Religious thinking
One of religion’s most corrosive habits is certainty about the unknowable. It does not merely claim to have answers. It claims to have final answers. Where honest inquiry would stop at we do not know, religion inserts confidence. This confidence is not earned. It is asserted. The believer is rewarded not for accuracy, but for conviction. Over time, this trains a way of thinking in which feeling certain becomes more important than being correct. This way of thinking does not remain confined to theology. It spreads. People accustomed to accepting claims without evidence become comfortable doing so elsewhere. They learn to defend belief rather than examine it. They learn to treat challenge as hostility. This is what can be called religious thinking, a cognitive style that prioritises intuition, loyalty, and identity over verification. It is no coincidence that populations with strong religious conditioning are often more susceptible to misinformation, conspiracy, and denial of scientific consensus.
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 truth is one, why do sincere, intelligent believers reach incompatible religious conclusions?
Religious Crooks
Claude Vorilhon, known as Raël, founded the Raëlian movement claiming extraterrestrial revelations, building an international organisation funded through member contributions, events, and paid programs, with critics describing it as personality centred and commercially structured.
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.
If a real God existed, would he allow crooks to act on his behalf?