Weird and Religious
Among the ancient Greeks, the oracle at Delphi delivered prophecies while in a trance, possibly induced by gases rising from a geological fault. Her unclear words were interpreted by priests, giving divine authority to ambiguous statements.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
1947 to 1948, Palestine. Fighting between Jewish and Arab Muslim forces included attacks on civilian areas and expulsions. Religious narratives about promised land, holy sites, and sacred duty were used by both sides to justify control and removal of populations.
Fact
In Confucianism, good government is moral rather than forceful, and Confucianism teaches that rulers should lead by example.
Disarming reason
Religion did not demand belief in the ridiculous because it misunderstood reality. It demanded it because it understood people. Astonishment overwhelms analysis and authority thrives when reason is disarmed. For uneducated crowds, miracles were spectacle, and for institutions, they were leverage. The modern discomfort with these stories is not a problem of interpretation but a problem of honesty. Either the stories Like Noah's Ark or Muhammad ascension to the heavens are literal, in which case they are false, or they are symbolic, in which case religion spent centuries enforcing belief in fiction as fact, and there is no third option that preserves credibility.
Quote of the day
“You can safely assume that you have created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamott.
Ask the right question
Why would a loving deity create a world where survival often depends on killing other living beings?
Religious Crooks
T. B. Joshua was a Nigerian televangelist and faith healer who built a large international ministry, widely accused by critics and former members of staged healings and financial exploitation, while maintaining a devoted following.
For more information, google the name.
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.