An introduction to the biblical book of Jonah

An introduction to the biblical book of Jonah.

God punishes Jonah with a storm and has a monstrous fish eat him, until he relents and preaches to the city of Nineveh that it will be destroyed. He didn't want to, because he didn't think it would be destroyed, and he didn't want to be a false prophet. After being bullied into it, God changes his mind, and doesn't destroy Nineveh.

The teachings in the Book of Jonah are that God punishes those who are disobedient and rewards those who are obedient, and if you murder someone at sea then all is well as long as you fear God. Also, if you are in an unequal relationship, it is best to simply do as you are told, else, things will only end up harder for you. It's not the Bible's finest moment.

Historically, the book lacks legitimacy. Nineveh was the capital of the great Assyrian empire and at no point did the events of Jonah 3:5-10 actually occur - not a single trader, traveller, statesman or historian note that the entire population suddenly gave up its old ways and embraced a new religion.

http://www.humanreligions.info/jonah.html.

Religious Days and Festivals in October

A list of religious days and festivals in October - days for the seasons, various saints and gurus, celebrations and finally, samhain / halloween, on www.humanreligions.info/october.html.

The Food Chain and God: The Natural Evil of the World

A new page! "The Food Chain and God".

A good god could, if it wanted to, have designed all life so that it is directly sustained by manna from heaven, with no need for consumption of biological matter. But almost every form of life must by its very nature capture, kill and eat other living beings in order to survive. Without this murderous torment, life is impossible. If not by direct consumption, then, organisms must still acquire biological matter at the expense of others: the competition for food is also a case of living beings being required to outdo each other merely to survive. There is no way to live life along a principal of do no harm.

If life was created, and not simply the result of undirected unconscious evolution, this is surely the worst possible way to have created life. A god could not have created a more vicious cycle if it tried: tying the very existence of life with the necessary killing of other life is the work of an evil genius, not of an all-powerful and all-loving god. Either no god ever instigated life or guided it, or, such a god is monstrously evil.

The contents menu is:

1. The Arms Race: Poisons and Resistance
2. The Despair of Darwin
3. Non-Biological Energy and Balance

What is Fundamentalism?

Fundamentalism is the approach to religion that sees believers embrace an early form of their religion, to consider it beyond criticism and worthy enough to be enforced without having to accommodate modern evidence or logical arguments against it. Fundamentalists of text-based traditions treat a core holy text as infallible and inerrant. Because beliefs are given absolute importance, fundamentalism is often sectarian and intolerant: every doctrinal interpretation results in schism and division.

http://www.humanreligions.info/what_is_fundamentalism.html.