Weird and Religious
In 7th century Arabia, poetry was so culturally important that public recitations could raise or destroy a tribe’s reputation. Poets were seen as having almost supernatural verbal power, and verses could function like political weapons long before written law was widespread.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2019, Christchurch in New Zealand. A white supremacist gunman killed worshippers at two mosques. He used civilisational and anti-Muslim rhetoric with pseudo religious language, presenting violence as defence of a Christian West, drawing on distorted holy war ideas rather than mainstream doctrine.
Fact
In Hinduism, there is no single central authority that defines belief for everyone, which results in substantial diversity of ideas, practices, and regional traditions within the same religious framework.
Divine message?
Believers frequently argue that the problem with scriptures lies with interpretation, not the text. This is an admission that the text cannot stand on its own. A divine message that requires constant reinterpretation to remain defensible is indistinguishable from a human one struggling to survive changing knowledge. Clarity is not the enemy of truth, it is its hallmark. Confusion protects authority, not understanding.
Quote of the day
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.” Steven Weinberg.
Ask the right question
If a religion teaches humility, why do its truth claims often include certainty about the ultimate nature of reality?
Religious Crooks
ESwami Premananda is a Hindu guru in India who ran an ashram and was convicted of rape and murder, with courts finding that spiritual status was used to control and abuse followers.
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.
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.