It is hardly a secret that one of America’s most religious — or to be more precise, Christian — institutions is the military. Despite the juridical and rhetorical lip service paid to the separation of church and state, the military is a place where such separation is seen as inimical to institutional interests ranging from [...]
Entries Tagged as 'empire'
Aztec Blood Rituals
December 14th, 2010 · No Comments · Ecology, History, Power, Ritual
Over at Archaeology News, Jasmyne Pendragon (gotta love that name!) has posted the first and second installments of a three part series on “The Purpose of Aztec Blood Rituals.” Helpfully, the articles contain numerous citations and complete references. In part one, Pendragon briefly sets the historical stage before laying out the details of Aztec beliefs:
The [...]
Tags:Aztec Indians·Aztec sacrifice·Aztecs·blood·blood rituals·bloodletting·bloodlust·cannibalism·conquest·ecology·economy·emic·empire·etic·Jasmyne Pendragon·Valley of Mexico
Morality without God, Buddhism as Religion, and Christian Empire
August 7th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Axial Age, Classifications, Cultural Evolution, Definitions, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Morality, Philosophy, Power
Incredibly, there are three articles over at HuffPo Religion that I have recently bookmarked for brief discussion here. There are of course about ten others which reflect the liberal, progressive, ecumenical, and mystical view of religion adhered to by a tiny minority of people, and which will be of interest mostly to the highly educated [...]
Tags:Buddhist history·Christianity as state religion·Constantine·Constantine's conversion·Darwinism and the Moral Argument for God·Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche·early Christianity·empire·evolved morality·foragers·Fran de Waal·hunter-gatherers·Is Buddhism a Religion·Marc Hauser·Michael Ruse·moral code·morality·natural morality·non-religious morality·Paul Wagler·primates·privatization of religious belief·proto-morality·Rodney Stark·secular·Siddhartha·Talal Asad·westernized Buddhism
