Weird and Religious
In Shinto belief in Japan, natural features such as rocks, trees, and waterfalls can be treated as the dwelling places of spirits. Sacred ropes are tied around certain trees or stones to mark them as spiritually inhabited.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1983, Beirut, Lebanon. A suicide bomber linked to Islamist groups attacked US Marine barracks, killing many soldiers. The act was justified as jihad against foreign forces in Muslim lands, framed as religiously sanctioned resistance and martyrdom.
Fact
In Hinduism, pilgrimage to holy places such as rivers, temples, and sacred cities is considered spiritually beneficial, with journeys to these sites believed to support purification, devotion, and religious merit.
Scaling religion
The movement from campfires to cathedrals is not a tale of enlightenment but of consolidation. Small, flexible beliefs suited intimate, mobile groups, while large, rigid faiths suited vast and stratified societies. As civilisation scaled, religion scaled with it, becoming more complex, more moralising, and more authoritarian because those traits benefited those who ruled.
Understanding this history strips religion of its illusion of divine direction. It was not leading humanity toward higher knowledge but responding to social pressure and political opportunity. The gods rose as states rose, merged as empires merged, and demanded obedience as authority demanded obedience. The architecture grew grander, the language more refined, yet the mechanism that sustained it remained the same.
Quote of the day
“Religions are all alike, founded upon fables and mythologies.” Thomas Jefferson.
Ask the right question
If humans once lived for hundreds of years as some traditions claim, where is the biological evidence that such lifespans were ever possible?
Religious Crooks
Cho Yong-gi, founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea, built one of the world’s largest megachurches and was later convicted of embezzlement and tax related offences tied to church funds.
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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.