The New Age is awash with fantastical beliefs, books and stories

The New Age is awash with fantastical beliefs, books and stories. Skeptics suffer complete disbelief in the counter-factual and irrational core of New Age practices. But it's better to understand the New Age landscape as one that intentionally embraces #imagination and farce as a response to a dry world in which established religion has lost its magical and #supernatural side. Added to section 1.3 , relating the growth of New Age to the boringness of traditional religions. www.humanreligions.info/new_age.html

The Role of individualism in New Age Culture

https://www.humanreligions.info/new_age.html: Expanded section 1.3's section on individualism as a supporting mood of the New Age: "Individualism is the default, assumed position of New Age practices by both suppliers and consumers of New Age material and services. Researcher Kennet Granholm says that "the individualism of New Age spirituality is taken to an extreme level" and limits the extent to which the movement can self-organize. Likewise, Michael York states that the "New Age is a decentralized movement - one built around not doctrines or particular belief systems but an experiential vision". Paul Heelas goes further and states that the self-spirituality of the New Age is the defining and unifying feature of the New Age.

God Has No Free Will (Four Arguments)

There are four philosophically strong arguments that God cannot have free will.

1. If God is perfect, then, it always follows the best course of action and therefore never has a choice.
2. A benevolent God always chooses the path that causes most good, so, never has a choice.
3. An all-knowing god knows with certainty all of its future actions. As its knowledge cannot be wrong, then, it must follow this instantaneously predetermined path, and has never had a moment of existence in which this wasn't the case.
4. A perfect being that created time never changes (any new state implies that the previous state was less good); a being that never changes isn't making choices. This makes sense for a being that is outside of space-time.

Without free will, God cannot be moral, and must be neutral (amoral).

One final irony is that if God created free will, then, it had no choice in doing so. If free will wasn't created by God, then, God is not the Creator. If it was, then, #Creator:at the moment when it created free will, the concept did not exist, and therefore, God itself did not have free will in doing so.

See: www.humanreligions.info/god_has_no_free_will.html.

Pantheism

Pantheism is a form of theism (god-belief) in which God and the universe are equivalent: be this in either a conscious or automatic sense. The whole system of physical laws, cause and effect, and time itself, are the internal workings of a divine being. www.humanreligions.info/pantheism.html

Why Does Palestine Struggle to Be a Recognized State?

Decade after decade, circumstance, bad luck and the active interference of the #UK, #Israel, others but most of all, the #USA, have prevented #Palestine from being recognized as an Independent State. This page lists those obstacles. https://www.humantruth.info/palestine_statehood.html

11th-13th Century: Christian Superstitions Doom the Norse in Greenland

In full in section 7.1: The Danish Norse who settled in Greenland died of starvation after converting to Christianity and using too many resources to build churches, and allowing prejudice against non-Christians to prevent trade or cultural exchange with the Inuit, who knew how to survive. www.humantruth.info/greenland.html

Western Muslims

Muslims have "somewhat modern" views in Turkey, Bosnia, Malaysia, the USA, Canada, and throughout Europe which is not much over 6% Muslim. The majority of Western Muslims are liberal, or devout "without embracing fury". There are two systemic risks: extremist outreach programs funded by Saudi Arabia, and the deceitful, divisive and loud-mouthed antics of Western far-right parties and their supporters, who read low-quality sensationalist news sources and feed on anxiety about Islam; together forming a movement that would make cohesion and tolerance impossible. https://www.humanreligions.info/islam_western.html

The Feeble Struggle of Islamic Moderates Against Radicalists

Updated section 2 on the influence of traditionalist and radical influencers on Muslim communities throughout the world, discussing 15 example countries where centrist policies cannot be enacted, for fear of radicalist responses. https://www.humanreligions.info/islam_moderates.html

The overall page contents is:

1. The Majority of Western Muslims are Peaceful and Moderate
2. The Influence of the Traditionalist Islamist Radicals
3. The Influence of Near-Eastern Islam on Western Communities
4. Reversals: The Occasional Efforts of Reforming Rulers

Christianity Declining

From 2010 to 2020, these countries saw over 10% of their population stop describing themselves as Christian: Australia (-20%), Chile (-18%), Uruguay (-17%), the USA (-14%), Canada (-14%), the UK (-13%), Austria (-12%), Sweden (-12%), Switzerland (-12%), Ireland (-11%), France (-11%) and Belgium (-10%), with Finland and Spain close behind.

The largest increase in Christianity in a country in that period was in Mozambique (+5.0%).

See humanreligions.info/christianity.html section #2 on Worldwide Numbers.

Buddhism and Women

As in other world religions, the religious hierarchy in Buddhism is male-dominated, causing ongoing gender discrimination both in monasteries and in wider Buddhist society. Buddhist texts sometimes "equal the worst anti-women polemics of any religion".

https://www.humanreligions.info/buddhism_women.html

Afghanistan's Religious Culture Holds it Back

Added to section #9 of the HTF page on Afghanistan: Tadjbakhsh (2011) argued that Afghanistan cannot be fixed by Western attempts to create top-down democratic institutions nor by the addition of liberal social values: the religious-based culture simply won't allow it. History proved him right. www.humantruth.info/afghanistan.html

Agnosticism

Almost all debates on agnosticism are messy, because there are a few common ways to define what the term means. Here's a summary of the two main kinds of agnosticism and two possible assumed positions (agnostic theists and agnostic atheists). www.humanreligions.info/agnosticism.html

Religious Dates in August

Starting with Lammas / Lughnasdh, the Wiccan harvest festival and reflection on the mysteries of nature, the month of August has a smattering of fasts and feasts, including Zoroastrian Fravardigan, the Chinese Qixi Jie / Ch'I Hou Chieh (Herd Boy and Weaving Maid Festival), the Jewish remembrance day of Tisha B'Av, the sentimental Buddhist Hachigatsu O-Bon to honor ancestral spirits, the Baha'i Feast of Asmá' (Names), Zarathustra's Birthday and Jainism's Paryushan Parva (8 days of purification, fasting and seeking forgiveness for mistakes). Wicca. A harvest festival and reflection on the mysteries of nature. https://www.humanreligions.info/august.html

Religion in Pakistan

New page: "Religion in Pakistan" by Vexen Crabtree. A place that is extremely intolerant of religious beliefs that aren't Sunni Islam, with women, LGBT folk and minorities facing long-term violent and inhumane persecution.

The contents menu is:

1. Adherents and Beliefs
2. Religion is the Overall Cause of Human Rights Problems in Pakistan
3. Religious Violence, Politics and Instability
4. Blasphemy
5. Religious Conflicts Between Pakistan and India

Blasphemy in Pakistan

A new page! Pakistan's blasphemy laws are infamously strict and unjust, tied to the country's overall culture of intolerance and prejudice, and result in a constant stream of murders, violent attacks and mob violence against anyone accused of saying the wrong religious things. Knowing that the consequences can be life-destroying even when the claims are false, accusations are often made against competitors during feuds or to resolve grudges. Such is the temper in a country that is being dragged backwards into a barbarous theocracy by religionists, amidst a wave of fear. The concept of blasphemy is their primary weapon.

"Blasphemy in Pakistan" by Vexen Crabtree

The contents menu is:

1. Pakistan Has No Freedom of Belief Nor Religious Freedom of Expression
2. The Blasphemy Laws
3. Cases
   1. 2017 - Human Rights Watch Highlighted Cases
   2. 2010 - Asia Bibi, Salman Taseer and Shabaz Bhatti

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.

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.

Religion in India

India is 80% Hindu, 14% Muslim, 3% Christian. Hinduism has a wildly varied mix of beliefs and practices which date to prehistory. Buddhism and Sikhism both also started in India and in the 1960s, Western spiritualists took home some interpretations of Hindu beliefs: the result was a range of movements which became called the New Age.

But religion in India is no longer peaceful. Intolerant right-wing Hinduism-first parties have instigated a bloody series of mob conflicts with Christian and Muslim communities; causing hundreds of churches and mosques to be destroyed, and a great number killed and displaced.

Incompatibility between Hinduism and Islam lead to the breakoff of Pakistan amidst fighting that saw over a million people lose their lives, and, three subsequent wars and a nuclear arms race, with the disputed territory of Kashmir as the flashpoint. During this cultural and religious conflict, Hindu extremism has become "an impediment to... human rights".

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

Violent Extremism in Hinduism

Hindu violent extremism is a serious problem, especially in north India; there are thousands of attacks against religious minorities every year. It has become "an impediment to... human rights". Reactions by victims stimulates Hindu mobs to enact further attacks. For example, when the Babri Masjid mosque was destroyed by Hindu activists in 1992, thousands of protesting Muslims lost their lives in a very one-sided series of mob fights. And over Christmas 2007 in one state, a hundred churches were damaged and 700 Christian homes destroyed. Complicit are political parties that use race and religion to divide people and stoke hatred; especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Shiv Sena. Section #3 lists some of the worst cases of mob violence. Link: http://www.humanreligions.info/hindu_extremism.html.

Prayer as Meditation - or as Insult

I've rewritten this page on prayer, removing half of the content and expanding the section on meditation.

What is prayer for? It doesn't change outcomes, because God's plan is perfect and prayer can't change which is the best action for God to take. Prayer doesn't work against individual ailments, nor does it change national outlooks (even on health). So what's the point?

Prayer still has positive uses. It gives us a quiet-time to think slowly, and let ideas and resolutions come to us. It can also create social togetherness and consolidarity, as can all shared rituals. With these advantages, although theists call it "prayer" - others, more accurately, call it meditation, which actually does have some positive results on one's own health.

The contents menu for "Prayer is Pointless, Except as Meditation" by Vexen Crabtree (2023) is now:

1. Prayer Tells God Nothing
2. Praying Doesn't Change What Course of Action it is Best for God to Take
3. Praying is Best Considered Meditation and Introspection
4. Prayer as a Passive Aggressive Activity