Weird and Religious
In medieval Europe, animal trials were a real legal practice. Pigs, rats and even insects were sometimes put on trial for crimes such as destroying crops or killing a child. They were assigned lawyers, witnesses were heard, and punishments could include execution or banishment, all under a religious worldview in which moral order applied to all creation.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1921, Malabar region in India. The Moplah Rebellion saw Muslim peasants attack Hindu landlords and others amid anti colonial unrest. Some rebels framed actions as religious struggle, invoking jihad language, while authorities and victims viewed violence as sectarian aggression.
Fact
In Confucianism, social harmony is a central aim, and Confucianism teaches that stable relationships create order in family and society.
Ancient prejudices
The human origin of gods is revealed in their moral limitations. They endorse the prejudices of their time, sanctioning slavery, patriarchy, conquest, and cruelty while favouring certain groups and punishing behaviour that threatens social order rather than behaviour that causes harm. These moral systems age badly because they were never universal but local customs granted divine legitimacy. When morality progresses, gods must be reinterpreted or quietly ignored in order to remain acceptable. Reality requires no revision because it does not depend on belief, but fiction does.
Quote of the day
“The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.” George Bernard Shaw.
Ask the right question
Why do prophecies in religious texts tend to be vague, symbolic or written after the events they appear to predict?
Religious Crooks
Keith Raniere led NXIVM, a group framed in part with spiritual and self improvement language, and was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking, with the organisation described as using quasi religious authority to control and exploit members.
For more information, google the name.
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.