Weird and Religious
In parts of West Africa, belief in witchcraft can focus on the idea that spiritual power is inherited within families and can be used unconsciously to harm others. Misfortune such as illness or business failure may be explained through these unseen forces rather than chance.
Religious image of the day.
In the name of religion
2002, Gujarat in India. After a train fire, riots and organised attacks killed many people, mostly Muslims, alongside arson and assaults. Participants justified violence as retaliation and protection of Hindu society, invoking religion, honour, and claims of historic grievance.
Fact
In Sikhism, meditation on the name of God, often called Naam Simran, is a key practice, and Sikhism uses repetition and remembrance to keep awareness of the divine.
Merging gods
As societies became more complex, the functional gods were merged, ranked, or replaced. Their responsibilities expanded. War gods absorbed justice. Fertility gods absorbed family structure. Agricultural gods absorbed calendars and law. What began as narrow functions slowly turned into broader authority. This expansion was not driven by revelation. It was driven by social need. Religion followed power and necessity, not truth.
Quote of the day
“My own mind is my own church.” Thomas Paine.
Ask the right question
If suffering builds character, why does extreme suffering often destroy lives rather than improve them?
Religious Crooks
ESwami Premananda is a Hindu guru in India who ran an ashram and was convicted of rape and murder, with courts finding that spiritual status was used to control and abuse followers.
For more information, google the name.
Every country in the world has its fair share of spiritual crooks.
That was just a tiny case in a vast ocean of religious crooks.