Favourite strange/ridiculous religious beliefs

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anna-banana
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22 Feb 2009, 6:28 am

Orwell wrote:
No one's gone after Islam yet, so allow me.

According to Islam...

-Jesus was a Muslim.

-Moses was a Muslim.


8O but there was no such thing as Islam back then...

Quote:
-Polygamy is good.


it is for some :p

Quote:
-Giving a loan to someone to buy a house is immoral. Instead, you should let them pay in "installments" and insist that they pay the entire cost of the house before they own it, and in the meantime they will pay you rent.


I'm pretty sure that the Catholic church had the same view on loans at least till XVIIIth century. that's why the Jews were so hated in Europe- they were seen as sinners because they gave loans, while Christians would face being excommunicated if they did.


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Rafter613
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22 Feb 2009, 9:51 am

This is a bit late but..

Quote:
In Genesis, it is said that 'God created man in his image; male and female created he them'

This is not true. It says: VOmer (God) naseh Adam btzelmanu.
Translation And god said, let us make man in our image.
There is no mention of making man and woman at the same time, at least not in the Jewish bible (aka the Torah). This makes the rest of your statement utter baloney as well. I have never heard our supposed midrash about Lilith before. In fact the only time she is referenced is in Isiah 34:14, and the Ibin Ezra says that that might refer to a nocturnal bird.


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Dussel
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22 Feb 2009, 10:02 am

One of the fine examples when religion and money meet is the story of St. Ursula in Cologne.

In early mediaeval time was a legend that an English princess, St. Ursula, and 11 of her female follows died as Christian martyrs and virgins in Cologne and a church was erected in her honour. Later, in the 13rd century they build some extensions to the existing church. This church was build on top of a antique Roman and early mediaeval graveyard. By digging for the new fundaments they found consequently a lot of human bones. So the story changed a bit and the number of the follows raised suddenly from 11 to 11'000. Enough bone to start a lucrative trade and to decorade one of the most morbid rooms I ever saw: The "Golden Chamber" of St. Ursula in Cologne:

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merrymadscientist
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22 Feb 2009, 1:04 pm

All this trouble over a foreskin. Did they also worry about all the skin he shed naturally as part of his life, his nail clippings, scabs, baby teeth (surely those last must be relics at least) and cells discarded as part of excreted waste? Jesus ascending up to heaven accompanied by a detritus of bodily leftovers is rather an unpleasant picture!



DentArthurDent
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23 Feb 2009, 3:20 am

I have a collection of his Holy Nail Clippings 8)


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Dussel
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23 Feb 2009, 4:08 am

DentArthurDent wrote:
I have a collection of his Holy Nail Clippings 8)


There a plenty around. One is in the middle of the "Holy Lancet", one the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire (since 1803 temporary stored in Vienna - till it will be needed for the coronation of a Holy Roman Emperor):

Image

an other has been used as the iron ring in the "Iron Crown of Monza":

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an other one is also stored in Vienna:

Image

then there is one in Essen (Germany):

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in Rome (Santa Croce in Gerusalemme):

Image

St. Laurentius in Petershausen (Bavaria) has also one (no picture) and in Trier (Germany, no picture). So they used at least seven nails to fix him on the cross. Quite remarkable, especially I do not clain in anyway that my list is complete - quite the opposite.



sinsboldly
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24 Feb 2009, 11:00 am

Orwell wrote:
-Jesus was never crucified (despite historical records to the contrary.)


historical records?

what historical records that Jesus even existed? WOW, where are these historical records?

gobsmacked,

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MissConstrue
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24 Feb 2009, 11:05 am

Dussel wrote:
DentArthurDent wrote:
I have a collection of his Holy Nail Clippings 8)


There a plenty around. One is in the middle of the "Holy Lancet", one the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire (since 1803 temporary stored in Vienna - till it will be needed for the coronation of a Holy Roman Emperor):

Image

an other has been used as the iron ring in the "Iron Crown of Monza":

Image

an other one is also stored in Vienna:

Image

then there is one in Essen (Germany):

Image

in Rome (Santa Croce in Gerusalemme):

Image

St. Laurentius in Petershausen (Bavaria) has also one (no picture) and in Trier (Germany, no picture). So they used at least seven nails to fix him on the cross. Quite remarkable, especially I do not clain in anyway that my list is complete - quite the opposite.



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MmeLePen
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24 Feb 2009, 11:36 am

Aloha, y'all!

Most of these posts have been about the "Big 3" but as a native Pacific-rimmer, I have always loved Hawaiian (and Japanese) spiritual beliefs.

One of my absolute favorite beliefs is the Aumakua - the reincarnation of relatives into shark protector gods. Aumakua - shark gods

I love the way the Hawaiian (and Japanese) embrace nature as part of their spiritual beliefs. No - its not unique to Hawaii and it would be easy to just call it "Paganism" but to wrap yourself in their legends and ceremonies is beautiful and awe-inspiring. It just feels better than Christianity and all the others.

Pele is another one of my favorite Hawaiian gods - and when you stand at the edge of Kialuea and creation its hard not to feel her presence. 8O


Image

Besides, I totally :heart: sharks!! !



sleepflower
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24 Feb 2009, 2:58 pm

Now for something completely different, an "extinct" religion:

In Norse mythology, they believed that the universe started from ice and fire. Only two worlds existed then: Muspelheim, the realm of fire, in the south, and Niflheim, the realm of ice, in the north. Between these two realms was Ginnungagap, the void. The heat of Muspelheim touched the ice of Niflheim and the ice began to melt, forming Ymir, a giant, and Audhumla, the primeval cow. From Ymir's sweat came the frost giants. Ymir drank Audhumla's milk and Audhumla licked on salty ice. From the ice emerged a man, Buri. Buri had a son named Bor, who married Bestla, a giant, and their sons were the first gods, Odin, Vili, and Ve. These three eventually fought Ymir and the frost giants, and they killed Ymir and threw him in the Ginnungagap. His flesh became the earth, his bones the mountaines, his teeth and jaw rocks, his blood rivers, lakes, and the sea, and his skull the sky, which was held up at its four corners by dwarfs.

One day Odin, Vili, and Ve were walking around and found two twigs. Odin gave them life, Vili gave them mind and Ve gave them the ability to hear, see, and speak.

What an imagination these people must have had!


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Henriksson
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24 Feb 2009, 3:27 pm

Has anybody mentioned the Cargo Cult yet?


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Orwell
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24 Feb 2009, 3:37 pm

sinsboldly wrote:
Orwell wrote:
-Jesus was never crucified (despite historical records to the contrary.)


historical records?

what historical records that Jesus even existed? WOW, where are these historical records?

gobsmacked,

Merle

Um... records from the Romans and Jews concerning His execution, for one.

Look, historians are in agreement over certain objective facts: Jesus existed, he led a movement among Jews for some time, and He was executed. Historians don't try to establish whether He was the Messiah, but they acknowledge he existed, and very, very few serious scholars have any doubt on that point.


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Henriksson
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24 Feb 2009, 3:43 pm

Orwell wrote:
sinsboldly wrote:
Orwell wrote:
-Jesus was never crucified (despite historical records to the contrary.)


historical records?

what historical records that Jesus even existed? WOW, where are these historical records?

gobsmacked,

Merle

Um... records from the Romans and Jews concerning His execution, for one.

Look, historians are in agreement over certain objective facts: Jesus existed, he led a movement among Jews for some time, and He was executed. Historians don't try to establish whether He was the Messiah, but they acknowledge he existed, and very, very few serious scholars have any doubt on that point.

What records? You should really take this up with the atheists at CARM to see that it's not so clear cut as you might think.


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Orwell
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24 Feb 2009, 3:55 pm

Look, Henriksson, aside from atheists on the internet who have a vested interest in trying to refute the idea of Jesus's existence and one professor at an unaccredited college, I can't find anyone who seriously denies that someone named Jesus existed around the first century AD, led a movement among Galilean Jews, and was crucified by the Roman authorities.

Don't point me to forum threads, show me actual, serious scholarship of why I should reject the overwhelming consensus of professional historians (many of whom are atheists themselves).


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twoshots
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24 Feb 2009, 4:01 pm

Orwell wrote:
Look, Henriksson, aside from atheists on the internet who have a vested interest in trying to refute the idea of Jesus's existence and one professor at an unaccredited college, I can't find anyone who seriously denies that someone named Jesus existed around the first century AD, led a movement among Galilean Jews, and was crucified by the Roman authorities.

Ah the e-atheists strike again. As far as I can tell, Orwell is in fact correct in stating that there is practical unanimity among scholars whether Christian or not that Jesus actually existed in some form or another. The idea that there is a strong case against it is one of those pop internet thangs that people unfamiliar with scholarship in the area latch onto and use to seem subversive IMO (a trend which I might be less inclined to observe had I not seen it every where I look on the internet).


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Dussel
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24 Feb 2009, 4:04 pm

Orwell wrote:
Look, Henriksson, aside from atheists on the internet who have a vested interest in trying to refute the idea of Jesus's existence and one professor at an unaccredited college, I can't find anyone who seriously denies that someone named Jesus existed around the first century AD, led a movement among Galilean Jews, and was crucified by the Roman authorities.

Don't point me to forum threads, show me actual, serious scholarship of why I should reject the overwhelming consensus of professional historians (many of whom are atheists themselves).


The sources for Jesus' existence are very weak - a few lines with Tacitus, Suetonius and Plinus the Younger. All written decades later; Tacitus is the only one how says that a man like Jesus has been executed under the reign of Tiberius. Suetonius and Plinus only report about followers of this man.

Tacitus' Report: "Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular." (Annals 15.44, written roughly 50 to 60 years after the reign of Nero).

Neither were preachers nor people with the name Jesus during this time in Palestine a rare breath, so it does not prove anything.



Last edited by Dussel on 24 Feb 2009, 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.