Posts tagged religion
Britain’s ‘Atheist Church’ Set to Go Global
Echoing with joyful song and with a congregation bent on leading better lives, this London church is like any other — except there’s no mention of God.
I’ve often pondered this. As a kid, I went to church. I hated the “worship” part, but really enjoyed the socializing. As an atheist adult, I’ve wondered about the appeal of an “atheist church” — it sounds more like a social club for non-believers and, possibly, a pretty good idea. Thoughts? ~Ian
Resigning Pope Brings Doomsday Prophecy
Really? I mean, really? Yup.*
*Although it’s most likely a 12th-century hoax.
November 5, 1605: The Gunpowder Plot fails.
On November 5, 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes was arrested after he was found beneath the House of Lords near dozens of barrels of gunpowder, ready to be lit. Fawkes was one of a small group of conspirators plotting to assassinate James I, England’s first Stuart king, whose attitude toward Catholics had turned from moderate to hostile as time passed. In 1604, the king reintroduced fines against non-Anglicans (and his hostility was exacerbated by the discovery of this conspiracy, of course).
Although Fawkes was the would-be assassin who was immortalized and remembered by history, the leader of the group and principal organizer was one Robert Catesby, a charismatic and zealous “crusader” who, after the plot was foiled, was found dead holding a picture of the Virgin Mary.
The “Gunpowder Plot” had come extremely close to succeeding and had failed almost by chance. On October 26, an anonymous letter was sent informing the lords of a possible attack on Parliament, but the conspirators, aware of the letter, thought little of it. Their plan seemed to have been going smoothly until the King ordered a last-minute search of the cellars beneath Parliament, where Guy Fawkes was discovered and arrested. When interrogated and asked what he intended to do with the gunpowder that he had been found guarding, Fawkes replied that his intention had been to “to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains.” He, along with his co-conspirators, was hanged, drawn, and quartered in January of 1606, and, that same year, Parliament passed an act establishing what would later be known as “Guy Fawkes Night”. The holiday was meant to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, and (in its early years) it was as much a condemnation of Catholicism as it was a celebration of the King’s survival. A rhyme often accompanied these festivities; one went this way:
Guy Fawkes, Guy
Stick him up on high,
Hang him on a lamp post
And there let him die.
Guy,Guy,Guy,
Poke Him in the eye,
Put him on the fire
And there let him die
Burn his body from his head
Then you’ll say
Guy Fawkes is dead
Hip, Hip, Hooray!The most famous begins with these lines:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
do you see the meaning behind the celebration of a failed terrorist plot?
“It is the only known illustration of a human figure to be carved into a meteorite, which means we have nothing to compare it to when assessing value.”
okay, someone get me a meteorite, i’ll carve a self-portrait and then we’ll have something to compare it to.
FYI: mine will likely be no where as interesting as this.
Ancient Buddha Carved from Meteorite
German scientists have discovered an ancient Buddhist statue with extraterrestrial origin.
A hefty Buddha statue brought to Europe by the Nazis was carved from a meteorite that fell 15,000 years ago along the Siberia-Mongolia border.
According to Buchner, the statue was likely carved about 1,000 years ago by the pre-Buddhist Bon culture of the 11th century. However, the exact origin and age of the statue remains unknown.
![The people of this island learned to catch and communicate with sharks in the Pacific from the creator of all things, Moroa. In a world where most humans view sharks with a mix of fear and loathing, Papua New Guinea is one of the few places where people embrace them.
‘Shark Callers of Kontu’ Feel at One with Sharks
Moroa made Lembe the shark before he made man but after he had made the sun and the moon and put fish and dolphins in the sea.
After creating [Lembe the shark], Moroa held Lembe by his tail (Papua New Guineans say you can still see the mark of Moroa’s thumb and forefinger on every shark in the sea) and explained to the shark the conditions on which he could approach man…
call it…](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8t5qbqyZx1qmkxx9o1_500.jpg)
The people of this island learned to catch and communicate with sharks in the Pacific from the creator of all things, Moroa. In a world where most humans view sharks with a mix of fear and loathing, Papua New Guinea is one of the few places where people embrace them.
‘Shark Callers of Kontu’ Feel at One with Sharks
Moroa made Lembe the shark before he made man but after he had made the sun and the moon and put fish and dolphins in the sea.
After creating [Lembe the shark], Moroa held Lembe by his tail (Papua New Guineans say you can still see the mark of Moroa’s thumb and forefinger on every shark in the sea) and explained to the shark the conditions on which he could approach man…
Why Was Etan Patz Killer’s Confession Kept Secret?
Why did a Catholic prayer group keep silent about the confession of an alleged child killer?
The truth is, much of his life is a mystery. One of the most famous legends of St. Patrick describes how he banished all snakes from the Emerald Isle into the ocean and they drowned. Philip M. Freeman, an expert in Celtic and classical studies at Washington University in St. Louis claims in his book, “St. Patrick of Ireland,” that this legend is false.
