Weird and Religious
In ancient Mesopotamia, people carried small clay statues of gods in their homes, but if disaster struck they sometimes punished the statue, even throwing it away, as though the god had failed in its duty. The relationship with the divine could be treated like a contract.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2010, Jos, Nigeria. Christian and Muslim communities engaged in cycles of massacre and reprisal. Each side justified violence as protecting their faith group, defending land tied to religious identity, and avenging earlier attacks.
Fact
In Islam, earlier prophets such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus are recognised, and Islam teaches that they also brought guidance from the same God.
Sincere prophets
Some of God's so-called messengers are sincere and mistaken. They experience visions, voices, or overwhelming convictions and interpret them through the cultural framework available to them. In a world steeped in superstition, internal experiences are easily externalised. Dreams feel like messages. Intuition feels like command. Emotional surges feel like revelation. These individuals are not lying in the ordinary sense. They are convinced. But conviction is not evidence. History is full of people who believed extraordinary things about themselves and were wrong.
Quote of the day
“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.” Isaac Asimov.
Ask the right question
If sacred texts were preserved perfectly, why do we see variations, lost manuscripts and translation disputes?
Religious Crooks
Brigham Young led the early Mormon community in Utah, combining religious leadership with political and economic control, with historians noting concentrated power over property, labour, and settlement structures tied directly to church authority.
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If a real God existed, would he allow crooks to act on his behalf?