Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
....religious rituals?
Can you explain the logic behind the answer?
Can you explain the logic behind the answer?
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What is inherently wrong with...
- Thread starter Unveiled Artist
- Start date
Altfish
Veteran Member
Ditto, although those that they flail themselves and make themselves bleed leave much to be desired
I'm not even bothered if it's just by rote. If someone does a ritual since it makes them feel secure as it's familiar, no problem.
Terry Sampson
Well-Known Member
What? Like a wedding? I agree.
Yeah, I side eye Catholics and Shia Muslims who whip themselves bloody and torture themselves. I highly doubt that the creator of the human body supports you harming it. At least self-mutilation makes sense in Aztec theology as the gods in that religion were said to have mutilated themselves to create the universe, so they were just giving back what the gods gave. Not so in Abrahamic religions.
Holy masochism.
I could totally get behind that in another context.
No scientific basis perhaps?
No consistent way to measure the success of a religious ritual.
leov
Well-Known Member
If they harm others, e.g.. ripping one's beating heart out, or not,
WhyIsThatSo
Well-Known Member
Ritualistic behavior is a sign of mental disorder (psychosis).
If you're referring to the Aztec sacrificial ritual of cutting out people's hearts, you should keep in mind that that was mostly done to soldiers captured in war as the Aztecs aimed to capture their foes for sacrifice rather than killing them on the battlefield. So then you have to decide if killing someone immediately in combat is inherently more ethical than killing them later? Either way, they die and gruesomely at that.
You're thinking of OCD, and your generalization is incorrect.
ManSinha
Well-Known Member
Some I think, were driven by the times in part
For example when sitting down to read the Guru Granth - there is a ritual of washing one's hands
Now the way I explained it to myself was this:
In the earliest days - the books were hand copied and as such hand washing made sense to not get the physical book dirty as it was costly to reproduce and perhaps prohibitive and perhaps also a sign of respect to the content
But OTOH - I have found that taking the 30-45 seconds to wash my hands puts me in a contemplative frame of mind gently easing out my "worldly" thoughts and perhaps putting me in a more receptive mood spiritually.
But when I am reciting my daily prayers from the iPad or iPhone app - I sometimes go through with the ritual and some times not
FWIW
For example when sitting down to read the Guru Granth - there is a ritual of washing one's hands
Now the way I explained it to myself was this:
In the earliest days - the books were hand copied and as such hand washing made sense to not get the physical book dirty as it was costly to reproduce and perhaps prohibitive and perhaps also a sign of respect to the content
But OTOH - I have found that taking the 30-45 seconds to wash my hands puts me in a contemplative frame of mind gently easing out my "worldly" thoughts and perhaps putting me in a more receptive mood spiritually.
But when I am reciting my daily prayers from the iPad or iPhone app - I sometimes go through with the ritual and some times not
FWIW
It depends what you mean by success.
If success is defined as the ritual bringing someone happiness, security, feelings of familiarity or closeness to deity, rituals tend to be very successful.
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Terry Sampson
Well-Known Member
So is British Israelitism, but that's not ritual's only possible function.
leov
Well-Known Member
It may be a disorder...
It does not matter, and not only soldiers but special raids before special events, e.t,c. ;putting victims in fattening pens.
Sure but how do you verify that statistically?
Maybe you could come up with a better ritual which either made more folks happy or perhaps provided greater individual happiness. Maybe some rituals create more of the desired feelings. You can define success however you want but you'd need a way of measuring consistent results.
I didn't say they killed only soldiers. But to be honest, they weren't any worse towards others than anyone else at that time was.