The Bugis are Muslim, but their belief is strongly influenced by their ancestral #religion.
One #belief centres around the Monitor lizard. The animal is believed to have a human #soul & to be the twin of children. They are treated with respect.
Bugis also categorize people into 5 genders. Each is needed to keep the universe in balance.
Bissu, the #gender which is neither man nor woman, is the intermediary between humans & #gods.
In a new memoir, Christa Brown, one of the nation’s best-known clergy abuse survivors and #SBC whistleblowers, shares the shocking story of her escape from Baptistland.
"While it may come as a surprise to many, most religious groups today favor the legality of abortion. In fact, there are only four (out of 16) religious groups in which a majority say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases: white evangelical Protestants, Hispanic Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Latter-Day Saints. Even combined, these four outlier groups only constitute one in five Americans."
I don't specifically care about the future or the well-being of the Methodist church, but I recognize that this is an important statement of a significant sector of Americans who are religious and who are interested in the way the church impacts culture in positive ways. #religion#USPolitics
Sometimes when we walk, we pass by this statue of Jesus at the Queen of Angels Church right off Welles Park in Lincoln Square. We often call him Bangra Jesus. Put on some Bangra music and look at the photo - ROFL
Born of Rhea, last of her children
A young god from the womb of an eldeer
Fathered by Kronos, king of the heavens
Of an era long gone now
Destined to be consumed were you
For your father feared the future
Not knowing he was the cause
Of his very own demise
Raised on Crete, that sacred land
Where spirits of the land were tasked with you
Fed the milk of Amaltheia, the goat
And kept hidden by the songs of the Kouretes
Destiny was no match for your mother saved you
A stone she gave your hungry father
Who subsumed it into himself
As he would have done to you
A young and powerful god you were
Told tales of your father’s guilt
And your mothers desperate gamble
You grew to beauteous godhood
Destiny once more exerted her power
You rose to high Olympus
And to your father presented yourself
A cupbearer to serve him as he ruled
A scheming god, wise and patient
A cup you prepared for your father
Herbs and spices in his beloved wine
To induce in him a need to set off your plans
Destiny spun its threads
And into the tapestry of life set your story
As god after god was born anew
From the father’s body expelled
With divine power and righteous anger
The children went to war with their father
From the depths others released
To fight for you in this holy time
Destiny wove your righteous actions into fate
The great mother advised you and yours
Thunder was forged for you
To win this holy war in the heavenly realm
The war won you took a wife
And betrayed the children of Earth
Whose weapons helped your cause
And into the dark pits did you send them
So Destiny once more turned its spindle
The threads once more she wove into life
A new perophecy, a new fate
One we pray will not come to pass
And so you rule, O Heavenly Zeus
God of the mountain peaks
Stirring the clouds to storming
Bearer of the thunder that none yet dare face
Sumadera (須磨寺) is a unique #temple full of iconographic #arts, at the western end of Kōbe (神戸). Perhaps because it's not in Kyōto or Nara, there is little information available online about Sumadera, even in #Japanese. It was founded in 886 and has its own branch of Kūkai's #Shingon#Buddhism: Sumadera-ha (真言宗須磨寺派). It is internationally active, and a place for #religious practices rather than an outdoor museum. By the same token, it's free to enter.
Suma appears in ancient waka poetry (和歌) of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables, and is associated with the Heike Monogatari (平家物語). I was determined to go, despite the rain, because I'd read an article clarifying wabi and sabi with a #waka coincidentally about Suma. The first photos show Sumadera's exchanges with #Nepal resulting in a display of Tibetan #Buddhist and #Hindu#iconography. Although there was light rain on the beach at first, later up at Sumadera the day turned bright.
After almost seven decades of living, all of them in the church and almost half of them as a minister, I have come to the conclusion that most religion is evil. Wars, pogroms against the "evils of society," and the proliferation of ignorance and abuse in the "name of some deity" are destroying our world. I will have none of it anymore. #religion#abuse#war#evil#sin
For hours I hiked around Kurodani (黒谷) in Kyōto, literally "Black Valley," which is actually a large hill. From Japanese sources I found that the Pure Land (浄土宗) Buddhist saint Hōnen (法然上人) came down from Kurodani on Mt. Hiei in 1175 to build a hut on the hill, which became the major temple Konkaikōmyōji (金戒光明寺). The other temple I visited was Shinshōgokuraku-ji (真正極楽寺) or Shinnyo-dō (真如堂) nearby. Both worship Amitābha (阿弥陀} Buddha, although Shinnyo-dō belongs to the Tendai sect and was founded in 984 during the Heian Period. After the recent rain there was bright green early spring foliage and various flowers to enjoy along with interesting Buddhist statues and architecture.
Have said it over and over, time after time: politics is the bane of Christianity. Politics is not a feature of heaven. The wolf in sheep's clothing today is a politician in a pastor's suit.