Weird and Religious
The medieval Catholic practice of selling indulgences promised to reduce time in purgatory in exchange for money or acts. This commercial approach to the afterlife later helped spark the Protestant Reformation.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2014, Peshawar in Pakistan. Islamist Muslim Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan gunmen attacked a school, killing many children and staff. The group justified the massacre as revenge against the army and part of jihad, claiming even children of soldiers were legitimate targets.
Fact
In Islam, fasting during the month of Ramadan is required for able adults, and Islam links this to self discipline, reflection, and awareness of the needy.
Reality Check
Humans invented gods. They did so to explain what they did not understand, to control what frightened them, and to comfort themselves in the face of death and chaos. That invention grew into something vast and powerful, but size does not turn fiction into fact. The task now is not to reinterpret religion for modern tastes or to rescue it from its contradictions. The task is to recognise it for what it is and to move on.
Quote of the day
“Where knowledge ends, religion begins.” Benjamin Disraeli.
Ask the right question
Why would a god reveal different and conflicting rules to different groups of people?
Religious Crooks
John of God, born João Teixeira de Faria, was a Brazilian spiritual healer who claimed psychic surgery abilities and drew international followers, later convicted of sexual crimes, with long standing allegations that spiritual authority was used to exploit vulnerable people.
For more information, google the name.
Almost all of the crooks appearing in this section have their own wikipedia page.
Today we took a look at yet another religious crook but there are hundreds of thousands of them. You could spend a lifetime researching the topic.