All religions are not equal, despite what some atheist claim.
https://youtu.be/EbQm4G_xAkw
Nope, not all religions are the same, mostly because it's the two major religions, Christianity and Islam, that does the most damage world wide. The smaller religions I can call fringe groups that might only effect a small percentage around the world.
Any religion which is just practiced by people with no other intent besides just teaching people it's religious guff like say Buddhism, I give less of a fuck about because you rarely hear about them blowing up a gay bar or forcing a child to starve themselves in the name of it's made up characters.
I also like reading about ancient religions and characters in it that people don't follow as a faith anymore, like Greek/Roman, Norse and Japanese gods.
There are only three major evangelical faiths; Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. All three were connected to political power, early on. It was kshatriya in India who gave early support to the Buddha. The brahmins weren't amused ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshatriya
As part of the trading network leading back to India, there were bhikkus traveling to the Roman Empire and to China. This was from 250 BCE under Emperor Ashoka. Buddhism competed against any other faith, wherever it was planted. In the US, this is mostly Hawaii and California. But there are Buddhist cells in GB too. Today the connection between Buddhism and state power, mostly exists in Sri Lanka and Thailand.
In India, there has been Hindu revanchism. This isn't just protecting Hinduism from Islam and Christianity, but also chauvinism. In the West we mostly see these as Hare Krishnas.
Are all politics equal?
Aren't you forgetting Hinduism?
Quote from: Munch on February 10, 2019, 06:13:33 AM
Nope, not all religions are the same, mostly because it's the two major religions, Christianity and Islam, that does the most damage world wide. The smaller religions I can call fringe groups that might only effect a small percentage around the world.
Any religion which is just practiced by people with no other intent besides just teaching people it's religious guff like say Buddhism, I give less of a fuck about because you rarely hear about them blowing up a gay bar or forcing a child to starve themselves in the name of it's made up characters.
I also like reading about ancient religions and characters in it that people don't follow as a faith anymore, like Greek/Roman, Norse and Japanese gods.
I'm also interested in learning about religions from a psychological/sociological perspective, or approaching them as works of fiction. I wish I could do the same with the Abrahamic religions, but too many people still take those seriously, unlike the Greek/Roman traditions.
Quote from: Blackleaf on February 10, 2019, 03:42:31 PM
I'm also interested in learning about religions from a psychological/sociological perspective, or approaching them as works of fiction. I wish I could do the same with the Abrahamic religions, but too many people still take those seriously, unlike the Greek/Roman traditions.
That's why it's easier to look at older religions no longer practices in that way, because we can more fictitious with them. They are have the benefit of being more grounded in their fictional understanding unlike modern religions, since faiths like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism keeps changing and shifting the goal posts.
Also it's always just unsettling seeing people committing the kind of acts they do today under the belief of fictional stories and using that as a guide to commit said acts by.
There's a very interesting book by Michael Newton:
Holy Homicide: An Encyclopedia of Those Who Go With Their God & Kill (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Homicide-Encyclopedia-Those-Their/dp/1559501642)
From the back cover:
QuoteHuman beings kill one another for all sorts of reasons, but none are stranger or more incomprehensible than religion! Holy Homicide: An Encyclopedia of Those Who Go With Their God...and Kill! is a lexicon of murders attributed to instructions from deities, whether committed by unstable loners, organizations, or armies. As demonstrated by the atrocities enumerated within this book's pages, religion is among the oldest and most persistent motives for murder throughout human history. Millions, perhaps billions of victims have suffered and died throughout the ages, all in the name of one god or another.
Murder maven Michael Newton, author of such books as Hunting Humans, Bad Girls Do It! and Black Collar Crimes has outdone himself in this grisly sampler of divinity-directed death. The entries include:
* Patricia Abraham - this Harlem housewife baked her baby alive inside a glass-fronted oven, screaming "Begone Satan!" * Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo - this depraved Cuban-born maniac sacrificed at least 23 humans to his dark lord in order to coax money from drug dealers! * Henry Meinholz - a disembodied voice whispered "Kill her!" and this Bible school instructor smothered a little girl with a blanket! * The Pro-Life Movement - these homicidal zealots find their inspiration to kill in the pages of Bible, and think nothing of blowing health-care practitioners away in order to save the unborn! * Roch Theriault - this charismatic leader of a cult in Quebec killed a woman by carving our her entrails, and then tried to raise her from the dead by sawing off the top of her skull and masturbating into her exposed brain!
These and many more persons and groups have demonstrated that no atrocity is too heinous, no massacre is too outrageous just as long as the killing is directed by a force that is greater than the perpetrator! Newton has included entries for cults (Aum Shinrikyo, Heaven's Gate, Order of the Solar Temple, "People's Temple", etc.), historical overviews (Biblical Bloodshed, Capital Punishment, Crusades, Human Sacrifice, Inquisition, Religious Wars, Terrorism), organized religions and groups (including Ku Klux Klan, Mormons and Nation of Islam), and other dire classifications.
Maybe the Devil made 'em do it...or perhaps it was Jehovah! Whatever the supernatural reasons were, they're all here in the pages of Holy Homicide: An Encyclopedia of Those Who Go With Their God...and Kill!
It's mostly about Christianity, but plenty of other delusions are mentioned. It seems to be true that anyone who believes God is on their side is dangerous as hell!
And in turn they become the very thing they antagonize
They've even made games based on this concept.
(https://store-images.s-microsoft.com/image/apps.58856.69039762475408619.1f9f3938-799b-4ad8-a607-676e85baba27.95ed1dc8-4ddf-43fb-8a87-f54c81f96879?w=180&h=270&q=60)
Quote from: Blackleaf on February 10, 2019, 03:42:31 PM
I'm also interested in learning about religions from a psychological/sociological perspective, or approaching them as works of fiction. I wish I could do the same with the Abrahamic religions, but too many people still take those seriously, unlike the Greek/Roman traditions.
That is why I have been carefully studying polytheism for the last year, to get greater perspective. A year ago, I was into a serious study of monotheism in Spain 1000 years ago.
Quote from: Unbeliever on February 10, 2019, 05:19:39 PM
There's a very interesting book by Michael Newton:
Holy Homicide: An Encyclopedia of Those Who Go With Their God & Kill (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Homicide-Encyclopedia-Those-Their/dp/1559501642)
From the back cover:
It's mostly about Christianity, but plenty of other delusions are mentioned. It seems to be true that anyone who believes God is on their side is dangerous as hell!
That is what made Muslim armies, and Crusader armies, so effective! Pacifist armies are the least motivated of the bunch ;-)
All religions are equally rooted.
Quote from: Gregory on February 28, 2020, 10:12:01 PM
All religions are equally rooted.
And all roots are equally religious.
I sometimes have a religious experience from drinking root beer.
I apologise for using Aussie slang in a predominantly American setting.
Well, we'll let it slide this once, but don't let it happen again, mate. You don't want to be tossed into the billabong, right?
;-P
Strewth. Crikey. Onya, bloke.
Watch out for the Platypus Brothers! ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF54nGVS0gI