Weird and Religious
In parts of West Africa, the Yoruba tradition includes a god of iron, war, and technology called Ogun, who is believed to govern not only weapons but also modern tools such as cars and machinery. Road accidents are sometimes linked to displeasing Ogun, blending ancient belief with modern life.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2000, Maluku and Sulawesi in Indonesia. Continued clashes between Christian and Muslim militias involved bombings, village burnings, and killings. Each side justified attacks as defence of churches or mosques, protecting believers, and resisting religious encroachment.
Fact
In Christianity, forgiveness is emphasised, and Christianity teaches that believers should forgive others as God forgives them.
Keeping believers ignorant
Islamic apologetics illustrate the need to shielf believers from education. Anyone making a critical point about the Qu'ran are told they misunderstand Arabic, lack context, or approach the text with bias. Ordinary believers absorb this message and conclude that independent reading is unsafe. Understanding is outsourced. The Qur’an becomes untouchable not because it is clear, but because it is dangerous to approach without permission. A book that claims to be perfectly clear somehow requires constant mediation to prevent misunderstanding.
This reliance on ignorance explains religion’s hostility to open inquiry. Questions are tolerated only within strict boundaries. Asking why is acceptable only if the answer is already known. Many potent questions are forbidden. Faith fills the gaps where knowledge would otherwise appear. The less a believer knows, the more secure the belief feels. Complexity collapses into certainty. Doubt is kept at bay by distance.
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
If moral behaviour can be explained by evolution and social cooperation, what extra explanatory work does religion do?
Religious Crooks
Jim Jones led the Peoples Temple, presenting a mix of Christian and socialist religious themes while building a tightly controlled movement that channelled members’ money and property into the organisation, ending in the Jonestown mass deaths after years of reported financial, psychological, and physical abuse within the group.
For more information, google the name.
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.