Weird and Religious
Early Christianity had groups who believed extreme self denial brought them closer to holiness. Some hermits lived on top of pillars for years, exposed to the weather, preaching to people below. These “pillar saints” thought physical suffering purified the soul.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1675, New England in colonial America. King Philip’s War involved brutal fighting between English Puritans and Native peoples. Puritan leaders described the war in biblical terms, portraying Native groups as heathens and the conflict as a providential struggle for a godly society.
Fact
In Shinto, rituals and festivals are important, and Shinto celebrates seasonal events and local traditions through community ceremonies.
The first explanation
Religion was the first comprehensive explanation humans ever built, offering answers to everything at once without hesitation or qualification. Weather was caused by mood, illness by offence, and death by intention, while dreams were treated as messages, success as reward, and failure as punishment. Nothing was seen as accidental or meaningless, for the world was interpreted as a network of deliberate causes and moral consequences. This was not sophistication but confidence filling a vacuum, and the strength of religion lay not in accuracy but in certainty delivered at a time when ignorance was overwhelming and alternatives did not exist.
Quote of the day
“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.” Napoleon Bonaparte.
Ask the right question
Why do accounts of angels, demons and spirits closely resemble myths from surrounding cultures of the time?
Religious Crooks
Aleister Crowley was an occult religious figure who founded Thelema, presenting himself as a prophet while attracting wealthy patrons, with critics in his time accusing him of manipulating followers for money and status under a spiritual banner.
For more information, google the name.
Every country in the world has its fair share of spiritual crooks.
History tells us that wherever fools gathered, there was always a religious crook to take advantage of them. The best way to stop the crooks is not to be a fool.