World religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism all embody a traditional and sometimes bizarre set of animal sacrifice rituals in their holy texts. These practices, despite being borderline barbaric and not in keeping with modern ideas of animal welfare, are still in use today by religious communities all over the world, including in the most modern countries. Although it […]
Vexen Crabtree
The Divine Number 12, 12 Gods, 12 Disciples, 12 Tribes and the Zodiac – Vexen Crabtree
Starting out life as an immensely useful number for counting and dividing things, the number 12 became a number revered by mathematicians and early astronomers. So the skies were divided into 12 portions as were the months of the yearr reflecting the annual movement of heavenly bodies. Superstitions and religious beliefs were piled on top of respect for the […]
Judaism – Vexen Crabtree
Judaism is one of the most ancient religions, and became largely codified in Babylon in the 6th century BCE2. It was perhaps the first religion to be comprehensively monotheistic. Jews believe that God has a special covenant with the Jewish community3, as testified to in the Torah. From Judaism sprang both Christianity and Islam. Judaism is counted as one […]
Religion as the Result of Human Mythmaking – Vexen Crabtree
#causes_of_religion #emotions #myths #new_age #paganism #psychology #religion Human beings have a natural tendency to enjoy myths, stories, epic tales, supernatural wonder and other fascinating elements from the worlds of our imaginations. Karen Armstrong writes that “Human beings have always been mythmakers”1. We love creating, and telling these stories. Over time they are altered, embellished, made more amazing and told with greater confidence2. […]
God is Logically Impossible The Argument for Atheism from Incoherence – Vexen Crabtree
There is no direct evidence that any god(s) exist. Likewise, there are no purely theoretical arguments that prove any gods either1. In addition to the lack of reasons for a God’s existence, the Argument from Incoherence holds that the very concept of god is self-contradictory and impossible, therefore, theism is false and atheism is true. Omnipotence and omniscience contradict free will and themselves are […]
The Problem of Evil Why Would a Good God Create Suffering? by Vexen Crabtree
If God is all-powerful and all-good, it would have created a universe in the same way it created heaven: with free will for all, no suffering and no evil. But evil and suffering exist. Therefore God does not exist, is not all-powerful or is not benevolent (good)1. Such arguments have been used by many philosophers […]