People who handle snakes religiously do it through total and complete faith, a practice known as holiness serpent handling. The handling of snakes in this way is rarely seen in person but considered a sacred act for the participants.
A rockstar recounts his experience meeting with vicars in the UK and how their concept of religion differed from his post-punk beliefs.
The speakers discuss a religion with only five tenets and express their thoughts on a rapper who they believe has a simplistic style.
A storyteller recounts their experience with a pastor's lecture and the thrill they felt from browsing the media feeds of various martyrs brigades.
The speaker reminisces about his desire to fight and his religious curiosity.
Filmmaker Werner Herzog and journalist Paul Holdengräber discuss the evolving nature of religiosity, its use in propaganda by dictators, and its complement to empirical pursuits.
The profoundest questions are religious questions, and the most profound values are religious values, as they are embedded in our religious document – the Bible.
A group is being accused of making members sign lifetime vows of obedience and giving collateral to join. One young woman was excitedly told by her master that she had to give collateral to join.
The future of religion involves an open source, decentralized system where people can fork it and store value in new assets, similar to how cryptocurrency is used today. The leaders will also dress casually, like Supreme streetwear style pastors.
The speaker expresses concern over the dangerous and divisive beliefs that religious people hold, but acknowledges that secular culture is slow in meeting emotional and social needs that these beliefs fulfill, such as a consoling story about what death means.
This essay recounts the history of the Unification Church's (aka the Moonies) business ventures, including the founding of the American Tuna fishing company, and reflects on the author's personal experience with the church's influence in his family's life.
The fragmentation of religion has caused some to turn to Berkshire Hathaway with a religious-like fervor and trust in Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, as they speak about their experiences with the company at an annual meeting.
St. Gregory of Nyssa believed that through his death, Jesus became the meeting point for death and life, and his resurrection reunited his soul and body, becoming the source of reunion for the separated parts.
Nicole shares her experience working briefly at the temple and how things started to change after the Phoenix New Times article came out. She was not getting the training she had signed up for so decided to leave before she heard about the raid.
The human concept of an all-powerful, omnipotent being is limited by our own physical form and perspective, making it impossible for us to truly comprehend what it means to be God-like.
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the use of religious quotes and references in conversation and the strict practices of Coptic Christianity, including women being expected to submit to their husband's will.
The speaker shares a vision of Jesus coming before his second coming to establish his people and appreciating their righteousness. The text also includes an ad for Athena Club's razor kit, which has skin guards to prevent razor burn and comes with blade heads, a magnetic hook, and a handle color of choice.
The speaker discusses the possibility of a religious school not wanting to be associated with the undead and uses the example of a gym without crosses in it.
The guest speaker shares how her Jewish mother's lack of religious guidance led her to eventually become involved with the church.
The speaker shares their experience growing up in a Pentecostal Christian family and attending Berea Christian Church and later Hillsong, where some feel that the wealthy and good-looking are given priority seating.
Native peoples took on some religious beliefs of the Christian settlers. A woman who lost her partner to death due to frigid weather was afraid of becoming a windigo if she ate his flesh, and she left him in her shelter due to her beliefs.
The speaker reflects on the idea of the rapture and how it influenced their perspective towards other people, and the manifestation of thoughts in different ways.
A woman shares her custody battle experience and how her husband didn't want their sons to attend any religious services, which led to a court allowing supervised visitation for a certain timeframe while she was at church.
Amidst a wave of consumerism in the 1980s, a religious awakening swept across Japan leading to the formation of numerous new religions, catering to people eager to embrace spiritual practices. One of the leaders, Shoko Asahara, initially drew inspiration from Chinese astrology and Taoism before delving into yoga, meditation and other secret traditions.
Despite financial challenges and personal obstacles, Jim, a pastor in a low-income community, puts his heart and soul into his church with the help of his dedicated partner.