Weird Religious News from the last 7 days

weird religious newsHumans inherit religious beliefs from the culture around them without giving it too much thought. They go along with the traditions because they operate as a social glue that helps bind communities together. People generally behave in a decent manner, not because they are religious, nor even because they fear a day of judgement, but because that is part of the human experience, it is how we are regardless of any specific religious belief or a complete lack of any.

Unfortunately, some take belief to a completely different level, and end up embracing it as a literal “truth” that trumps reason, logic, evidence, and basic human decency and tolerance. This weekly posting is not about the vast majority who wish no harm to anybody, but instead is for this self-selected few. It highlights what can happen when bad ideas take root and begin to flourish. The idea is not to criticise people for having a religious inheritance, but to instead criticise the promotion of bad ideas in the public square.

No matter how you slice it or dice it, the stuff below is just weird. It should be highlighted as that, laughed at and mocked, and also never accepted as part of a new normal.

What happened during the past seven days?

Weird claims within the political arena continued to dominate once again. These are perhaps the folks who are part of the Trump cult, and view him as a new messiah …

… there clearly is a bit of competition going on here between them…

The Vote in Ireland apparently inspired a few weird and also some very dishonest claims …

The con artists are of course continuing to ply their claims to drum up donations from the gullible …

We also learned where all those donations to the Catholic church will be going …

  • Minnesota Archdiocese Agrees to $210 Million Settlement With Sex Abuse Victims

Religiously inspired tolerance continues …

  • Angry Young Preacher: The Bible Says Gay People Should Be Executed (Humanely)
  • Trump to Pardon Anti-Gay Christian Apologist and Felon Dinesh D’Souza
  • American Bible Society Will Fire Employees Who Reject New Sex and Marriage Rules

Spotlight Item

Beyond the US border (outside the Republic of Gilead), religious fanaticism is not so stark.

Pew has published the results of a new survey that reveals that many religious people in Western Europe are not really religious at all…

Being Christian in Western Europe

The majority of Europe’s Christians are non-practicing, but they differ from religiously unaffiliated people in their views on God, attitudes toward Muslims and immigrants, and opinions about religion’s role in society

The revelation is that the largest “domination” amongst Christians is “non-practising”. In other words they simply inherited it, and while they retain the identity, they do not take it too seriously.

Side note: The word “Pew” in the context of “Pew Research” sounds odd to some ears and has a religious feel to it. The word “Pew” in the name is not a reference to a church pew, but instead is a reference to it being principally funded by The Pew Charitable Trust, an NGO founded in 1948 by  J. Howard Pew to serve the public interest by “improving public policy, informing the public, and stimulating civic life“. Mr Pew made rather a lot of money in Oil, hence he became a philanthropist.

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