curiositycounts:

I quite literally gasped when I saw this. The Selexyz Dominicanen bookstore in Maastricht, the Netherlands is housed in a renovated Dominican church dating back to 1294. “The infusion of old and new was brilliantly executed by architectural firm Merkx + Girod who managed to highlight the grandeur of the original church and preserve it’s majestic atmosphere by positioning a colossal walk-in steel bookcase asymmetrically in the church.” A necessary addition to the perpetually-growing travel list. 

(via)

Believe in books.

nprfunfacts:

That according to a survey conducted by anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann.

(via nprfreshair)

metaconscious:

SUPERSTITION is typically a pejorative term. Belief in things like magic and miracles is thought to be irrational and scientifically retrograde. But as studies have repeatedly shown, some level of belief in the supernatural — often a subtle and unconscious belief — appears to be unavoidable, even…

To find that healthy dose of delusional thought.

Christianity in Crisis, Andrew Sullivan

(via hana-no-hikari)

Is the story of Jesus just a tool to keep the masses in fear and to accept abuse by those in power over resources?

(via newsweek)

(via azspot)

kateoplis:

“Biggest gathering I have ever seen” 

A protest calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and an end to Chinese rule has erupted as thousands of Tibetans gathered to mourn a farmer who burned himself to death, according to rights groups. Nearly 30 Tibetans have set themselves on fire over the past year to protest against the suppression of their religion and culture and to call for the return of their spiritual leader, who fled into exile in 1959. The communist government has accused supporters of the Dalai Lama of encouraging the self-immolations.

The US broadcaster Radio Free Asia said Sonam Thargyal, a 44-year-old farmer and father of four, fastened cotton padding to his body with iron wire and doused himself with kerosene before setting himself on fire Saturday in Tongren, a monastery town in western China’s Qinghai province. He also drank kerosene, the broadcaster said.

“The Tibetans who were at the scene attempted to put out the flames but death was very fast because of the kerosene inside and outside the body,” Dorjee Wangchuk, a Tibetan exiled in Dharamsala, India, with close ties to the Tongren community, was quoted as saying by RFA. Thargyal had called out for an end to Chinese rule in Tibetan-populated areas, the return of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan language rights, RFA said. As many as 7,000 Tibetans took part in Thargyal’s funeral and cremation, the broadcaster said. [more on NYT]

lazyyogi:

The common understanding of prayer involves you talking or communicating with something else, something more powerful, with the intent of getting something out of it, receiving something you don’t already have.

As many self-proclaimed free thinkers and atheists have pointed out, this is…

The mullah was astounded and a little angered to be asked why the accidental burning of Korans last month could provoke violence nationwide, while an intentional mass murder that included nine children last Sunday did not.

“How can you compare the dishonoring of the Holy Koran with the martyrdom of innocent civilians?” said an incredulous Mullah Khaliq Dad, a member of the council of religious leaders who investigated the Koranburnings. “The whole goal of our life is religion.”

That many Americans are just as surprised that what appears to be the massacre of 16 people at the hands of an American soldier has not led to mass protests or revenge killings speaks volumes about a fundamental disconnect with their Afghan partners, one that has undermined a longstanding objective to win the hearts and minds of the population. After more than 10 years, many deaths and billions of dollars invested, Americans still fail to grasp the Afghans’ basic values. Faith is paramount and a death can be compensated with blood money.

“the whole goal of our life is religion”

theincidentaltourist:

Benin, this was the Catholic Church in the middle of nowhere, that really amazed me. The size! So ostentatious …. Oh well, saving the world.

moveherfeet:

Well said.  Never thought of it this way, but seriously, it does seem to be more cultural than spiritual, for sure.

 thekwantrail:

For a majority of the self-identified Christian Evangelicals in the South, being a Christian is predominately a cultural pursuit and not a spiritual one. That’s how you can have people who claim to follow someone, while almost completely ignoring what he taught and how he lived. These people take…

One of the primary questions of this blog. Is the routine of going to church a spiritual pursuit for most habitual attendees or the result of peer pressure?