Weird and Religious
The Jain religion teaches such strict nonviolence that some monks sweep the ground in front of their feet to avoid stepping on insects and wear cloth over their mouths to avoid inhaling tiny life forms. Farming was traditionally discouraged because it kills organisms in the soil.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1947 to 1948, Palestine. Fighting between Jewish and Arab Muslim forces included attacks on civilian areas and expulsions. Religious narratives about promised land, holy sites, and sacred duty were used by both sides to justify control and removal of populations.
Fact
In Christianity, salvation means being reconciled with God, and Christianity presents this as made possible through the life and work of Jesus Christ.
Confirming belief
Reason operates by testing ideas against reality, demanding coherence, consistency, and evidence. It accepts uncertainty and revises conclusions when new information appears. Faith does the reverse. It begins with a conclusion and defends it regardless of contradiction. Discrepancies are reinterpreted, absence of evidence becomes a test, and failed predictions become mysteries. Every outcome is made to confirm belief because belief has been placed beyond evaluation. This is not strength but insulation.
Quote of the day
“Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” Karl Marx.
Ask the right question
Why does religious certainty often correlate more with upbringing than with independent investigation?
Religious Crooks
Shoko Asahara founded the Japanese group Aum Shinrikyo, presenting himself as a spiritual master while building a secretive organisation that extorted followers for money and carried out criminal activities, culminating in the Tokyo subway attack.
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.