Weird and Religious
Islamic lore includes detailed descriptions of hell where people’s skins are repeatedly burned off and replaced so that punishment can continue. The body is portrayed as being constantly renewed in order to experience ongoing sensation, which gives the afterlife a graphic physical dimension.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2015, Garissa in Kenya. Al Shabaab gunmen attacked a university, killing many students. The attackers separated Muslims from Christians and justified the massacre as jihad, presenting Christians as enemies of Islam and targets in a religious war.
Fact
In Confucianism, self control is important, and Confucianism links restraint and moderation with moral development.
Pleasing gods
To frightened humans, nature appeared indifferent and dangerous. Rain arrived too late or not at all. Drought starved communities. Floods destroyed fields. Animals bred or failed unpredictably. Humans responded by personifying these forces. If nature behaved like a mind, it could be influenced like one. Sacrifice, praise, ritual, and obedience emerged as bargaining chips. The logic was simple and deeply human. If a god controlled rain, then pleasing that god might bring rain. If a god governed fertility, then offerings might produce children and crops. The belief did not need to work. It needed to feel actionable.
Quote of the day
“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.” Napoleon Bonaparte.
Ask the right question
If a soul is immaterial, how does it interact with the physical brain without violating what is known about physics?
Religious Crooks
Sun Myung Moon founded the Unification Church and built a global religious and business empire, later convicted of tax offences, with long running allegations that followers were subjected to intense financial pressure tied to religious devotion.
For more information, google the name.
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.