Weird and Religious
Among the Shona of Zimbabwe, ancestral spirits called mhondoro are believed to protect the land and the people. Mediums can enter trance states in which these spirits speak through them, giving guidance on community matters and moral conduct.
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 Taoism, simplicity is valued, and Taoism often presents a simple, modest life as closer to natural balance than ambition and excess.
Regulating reproduction
To early humans, sex and reproduction were equally critical and equally mysterious. Pregnancy appeared without understanding of biology. Infertility was terrifying. Childbirth was dangerous. Sexual behaviour affected inheritance, alliance, and population growth. Gods of sex and fertility emerged to regulate these concerns. They sanctified certain behaviours and condemned others. This was not about morality in any modern sense. It was about survival and order. Religion entered the most intimate parts of human life because those parts carried the highest stakes.
These gods were transactional. They required payment. Sacrifices were not symbolic at first. They were literal attempts at exchange. Food, animals, possessions, and eventually people were offered to secure divine favour. This reveals the true nature of early belief. Gods were not loved for their goodness. They were appeased for their utility. Worship was insurance. Ritual was currency. Faith was irrelevant.
Quote of the day
“The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.” Thomas Paine.
Ask the right question
If religious experience proves a god, which god do the conflicting experiences of people in different religions prove?
Religious Crooks
Elizabeth Clare Prophet headed the Church Universal and Triumphant, promoting apocalyptic prophecies and building a large organisation funded by followers, with critics pointing to failed predictions and heavy financial expectations.
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.