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How all religions start I suppose.
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Are gods real?
- Thread starter IT Minion
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Its for the tax exemption.
How do I go about making self employment a religion
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Seems to me, you need to get your head around the “how” before you ask yourself the “why”.
or, define what is meant by 'real' in the context of this deceptively simple question.
Why?
Ezekiel's Chariot may not've been an alien visitation (see Alien's thread) but there's strong evidence he may have seen something under the influence of cannabis. From a Newsweek article:
“We can assume that the fragrance of the frankincense gave a special ambience to the cult in the shrine, while the cannabis burning brought at least some of the priests and worshippers to a religious state of consciousness, or ecstasy... The new evidence from Tel Arad show for the first time that the official cult of Judah—at least during the 8th century B.C.—involved hallucinogenic ingredients. We can assume that the religious altered state of consciousness in this shrine was an important part of the ceremonies that took place here,” he said.
“Prophets practiced ecstasy states and may have used incense and narcotics to produce impressive effects…. The Israelite prophets… acted as mediums. In a state of trance or frenzy they related their divine visions in a sing-song chant, at times a scream. These states could be induced by music… But the prophets also used, and sometimes abused, incense, narcotics and alcohol…”
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews
It's a theory which orthodox theologians reject out of hand but the evidence of cannabis use by Bronze Age shamans is widespread. The vision trance is a very real experience to the participant and to make the attempt in explaining it to sceptics through second-hand testimony is not an easy one, as Denso Hume and Cousin IT will prove. It's easy to dismiss these ancient rituals as a simple means to ward off unknown fears and ignorant assumptions by a primitive culture but it cannot lightly dismiss the affects on modern people, highly educated, who still believe and practice a form of religion in some way.
“We can assume that the fragrance of the frankincense gave a special ambience to the cult in the shrine, while the cannabis burning brought at least some of the priests and worshippers to a religious state of consciousness, or ecstasy... The new evidence from Tel Arad show for the first time that the official cult of Judah—at least during the 8th century B.C.—involved hallucinogenic ingredients. We can assume that the religious altered state of consciousness in this shrine was an important part of the ceremonies that took place here,” he said.
“Prophets practiced ecstasy states and may have used incense and narcotics to produce impressive effects…. The Israelite prophets… acted as mediums. In a state of trance or frenzy they related their divine visions in a sing-song chant, at times a scream. These states could be induced by music… But the prophets also used, and sometimes abused, incense, narcotics and alcohol…”
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews
It's a theory which orthodox theologians reject out of hand but the evidence of cannabis use by Bronze Age shamans is widespread. The vision trance is a very real experience to the participant and to make the attempt in explaining it to sceptics through second-hand testimony is not an easy one, as Denso Hume and Cousin IT will prove. It's easy to dismiss these ancient rituals as a simple means to ward off unknown fears and ignorant assumptions by a primitive culture but it cannot lightly dismiss the affects on modern people, highly educated, who still believe and practice a form of religion in some way.
D
Deleted member 323070
Men will invariably find something to fight over.
Religion gives them a "moral" reason to fight.
D
Deleted member 323070
fillyboy failing to read others' comments correctly.
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