As is the case with charismatic or evangelical forms of Christianity, some strands of Islam have a robust sense of supernatural agency that populates the world with all manner of malevolent spirits who are ostensibly responsible for real world afflictions. In a recent article, psychiatrist Amir Afkhami reports on an Islamic “faith healer” in Iraq [...]
Tags:Amir Afkhami·charismatic·Christianity·demons·evangelical·faith healing·folk beliefs·folk religion·Freud·hysteria·Iraq·Islam·jinns·Koran·Mullah Eskandar·Quran·shamanic healing·spirits
Anyone interested in the history of religions will inevitably become familiar with all manner of truly fantastic stories and beliefs. Whether we are talking about the soul flights and death duels of shamans, the avatars and exploits of Vishnu, or the appearance of Moroni and golden tablets of Joseph Smith, all religious traditions have their [...]
Tags:Adam·apple·avatars·bizarre theology·Christianity·Christians·Eve·golden tablets·Jesus·Jewish·Joseph Smith·Moroni·Satan·Scientology·shamans·sin·strange doctrine·thetans·Vishnu
Philology is alive and well, though it does not go by that name anymore. When philologists focus on the Bible, the results are usually unsettling for those who believe this collection of disparate writings to be the handiwork of God. For some, philological analysis of the Bible can lead to disbelief.
This certainly was the case [...]
Tags:Bart Ehrman·bible·Christianity·exegesis·Friedrich Nietzsche·manuscripts·Misquoting Jesus·New Testament·philology·scribes·textual criticism
Our friend Lexington is pleased and puzzled by a new book on American religiosity which argues that despite great diversity, religion is a unifying force in America:
[I]t is pleasing to report that two social scientists, Robert Putnam of Harvard University and David Campbell of the University of Notre Dame, have just written a book that [...]
Tags:American Grace·American religion·American religiosity·Aunt Susan effect·Christianity·David Campbell·denominations·faith tradition·Lexington·nationalism·religious diversity·Robert Putnam·The Economist
The Christian Command:
If you hear that in one of the towns, there are men who are telling people to go and worship other gods, it is your duty to look into the matter and examine it.
If it is proved and confirmed, you must put the inhabitants of that town to the sword.
You must lay the [...]
Tags:arson·Bill O'Reilly·blasphemers·Christian warriors·Christianity·Crusades·death·demagogues·destruction·Deuteronomy·Glenn Beck·heretics·homicide·infidels·Islam·Islam bashing·killing·Knights Templar·Muslim hating·Newt Gingrich·pillage·unbelievers·violence·wrath
Over at The Stone, the primatologist Frans de Waal asks whether we can act “morally” without being “religious.” I quote-bracket these terms because they are not without complication, and we should be careful about using them in the context of such discussions. Regardless, de Waal poses some questions for which we have historical answers. For [...]
Tags:altruistic·Bart Ehrman·chimpanzees·Christianity·ethics·ethnohistory·evolution of morality·Frans de Waal·implicit ethics·Islam·Judaism·Misquoting Jesus·monotheism·Morals Without God·Native Americans·norms·polytheism·primates·primatologist·prosocial·religions of the book·right conduct
So says J.R. Dieckmann, an electrician and writer who runs a website that I will neither name nor link. He did, however, post this startling proclamation over here, one of the many bizarre and paranoid websites that are making so much fearful noise in American politics.
Decoding Dieckmann’s assertion is easy — what he means is [...]
Tags:Christian government·Christianity·Islam·J.R. Dieckmann·profane·religious government·sacred·secularization·separation of church and state
Over at Live Science, Benjamin Radford stereotypically reports — with no irony and little thought — that “Belief in Witchcraft Widespread in Africa” is prevalent:
A new Gallup poll found that belief in magic is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with over half of respondents saying they personally believe in witchcraft. Studies in 18 countries show belief [...]
Tags:Africa·Africans·angels·Benjamin Radford·Christianity·demons·Gallup Poll·helplessness·Islam·Ivory Coast·lack of control·magic·propitiation·religiosity·sorcery·spirits·supernatural beings·supernatural forces·Uganda·witchcraft
Over at HuffPo Religion, a well meaning Matthew Anderson suggests that all American junior-senior high school students should be required to take a minimum of two classes on world religions so as to be exposed to something other than their parents’ religion. He supposes that these courses would foster tolerance and lead to a more [...]
Tags:believing versus thinking·Buddhism·Christianity·ecumenical·essentialized categories·essentializing·genealogy of religions·high school curriculum·Hinduism·History·history of world religions·Islam·Judaism·junior high curriculum·Mathew Anderson·paleolithic supernaturalism·religious classes·religious teaching·rise of organized religions·The Case for Blending Church and State·theology·tolerance
The story is a familiar one: a new religion is founded — or, as the sociologist Rodney Stark would say, a new sect is born from an older tradition — and over time it becomes successful. By success, I mean that it grows, becomes popular, and shows few signs of slowing down.
At some point during [...]
Tags:Beijing·Buddhist economy·China·Chinese Buddhism·Chinese government·Chinese state·Christianity·co-opt·co-optation·Confucius·Constantine·Cultural Revolution·Dalai Lama·domesticated religion·Foucault·new religions·official atheism·political power·power·profits·religion as commodity·resistance·Roman Empire·sects·state·suppression·surveillance·Tibetan Buddhism·Western Buddhism·World Buddhist Forum
