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Totalitarian control is popular in religious groups. Zinnia escaped the Christadelphian church a few years back, and now she hosts a podcast (Life After Leaving) all about supporting ex-Christadelphians to tell their stories and find support.  Zinnia tells us about the history of the movement, from the magazine-selling origins of John Thomas, who finally named his cult to get conscientious objector status during the American Civil War. The ecclesia wields a lot of power over its members, much of it s terrifying overreach.  Warning: content includes abuse, murder, and sexual misconduct. All this and more... You can WATCH this interview on YouTube. Support us on Patreon to listen to the rest of this interview. You can get our merch at Spreadshop. Join the Community on Discord. Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram.

Previously a Patreon Exclusive episode: We're opening the vault to showcase some of our older subscriber content. For the first time, Katie reads the Torah (The Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses), the first chunk of the Hebrew Bible (AKA Old Testament). Join us for this sacred journey through the most significant books in all of human history--according to the western perspective. The Torah includes the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. For good measure, we also discuss the direct sequel: Joshua. These books describe the origins of the Jewish people and their religious identity. All this and more....  This episode was originally published on Patreon , 9 August 2021. Support us at Patreon and Spreadshirt Join the Community on Discord Learn more great religion facts on Facebook and Instagram

Is belief a choice, or are our beliefs inherent to us? How do we decide whether something is true or not? With more than 8 billion people on the planet, there are about 10,000 different types of religious beliefs. How do we come to our conclusions?  Epistemology is a complex area of philosophy that deals with how we process information and decide if something is fact or fiction.  We explore the difference between proof and evidence, and the various kinds of evidence that we use to support our beliefs. All this and more....  This episode was originally published 12 April 2021 Support us at Patreon and Spreadshirt Join the Community on Discord Learn more great religion facts on Facebook and Instagram

Martin Luther is a hero to countless Christians around the world. The birth of European Protestantism and the Lutheran Church cannot be expressed without citing the 95 theses that Martin Luther posted to the church door on Halloween 1517. A diet of worms follows. Whether you want to celebrate Fred the Wise or Pope Leo X, big changes came to Western Christendom because of Martin Luther's refusal to back down from a fight he believed in. He also believed that God wants people to suffer, so we'll take the whole thing in parts, favoring some things and not others....  We examine the Five Solae: Fidae, Scriptura, Gratia, Christus, and Deo Gloria; and how Protestantism differs from the Imperial tradition from which it was born. We also take a look at contemporary protestors, like Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Menno Simons, the anabaptists of Zurich, and the dramatic climax of Guy Fawkes' treasonous Gun Powder Plot. All this and more.... Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Tasawwuf is the old word for dressing in wool, the typical identifier for a monk, ascetic, and mystic. Today, we pronounce it Sufi. The Sufi tradition dates back to the foundation of Islam, though both adherents and opponents have claimed that it's even older than Islam--certainly some of the ideas are.... The Goal is Tawhid, the perfect union with Allah (the God of the Hebrew Bible). The Prophet Muhammad is also revered as a god because of his achievement in this pursuit.  The most well regarded traditions have master-apprentice chains that can be traced as far back as the best hadiths, and can be compared to the Jedi--or, we try, anyway. We explore some Sufi poetry, and note that Rumi is the most popular poet in the world. Rumi is also the founder of a Sufi tradition known as the Whirling Dervishes--a phrase coopted by insensitive parents in the 80s and 90s.  Sufis, like many other groups, have been the object of abuse and even terrorism around the world. All this and more... Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Christian mysticism is widely spread through this relatively common but fairly new tradition derived almost exclusively from what might have been parody pamphlets that told the story of Christian Rosenkreuz. Johann Valentine Andrea claims to have written one such pamphlet to make fun of the growing interest in mystical and magical traditions shortly after the beginning of protestant era in Germany. Attempts at understanding the divine are plentiful and diverse, but there's a reasonable sort of logic to the idea that scientific pursuits can reveal the nature of the universe and its creator.  Rosicrucianism has branched into scores of organizations, and is even found in some branches of Freemasonry. AMORC (Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis) and the Rosicrucian Fellowship are both fairly popular, and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn brought us such great works as the Waite-Smith-Rider Tarot deck of 1909. All this and more...  Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram.   

Kabbalah isn't just another branch of Judaism--it's more mystical and personal. The idea is hat you really connect with the creator of the universe--but if you fail at that, there's always another shot with the benefits of reincarnation. Mystical concerns include finding hidden meaning (often in places where it ought not to be) through astrology or gematria (numerology). The Zohar adds depth to the Torah,  though not everybody is interested in this newer interpretation of scripture. The Spanish Rabbi who gave us the Zohar is still under investigation for fraud....  The sefirot, and their tree of life illustration, are helpful for understanding how everything fits together in this cosmic theology.  We also explore more mundane practices and misconceptions. All this and more...  Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Over millennia, countless dietary traditions have formed around the world; many are tied strictly to religious traditions, and have thereby been empowered to stand the test of time (with some scientific speculation). We examine the details that outline kosher food, and how it's much stricter than halal diets (which are hardly monolithic). We also look at the Christian narrative that discards the Kashrut laws. Some keep it simple and categorically refuse to eat meat of any kind. Taking proper care of your kitchen is important for a lot of reasons, you shouldn't have to fear religious discipline to keep it clean, though religious tradition certainly informs the standards of cleanliness for many. There's an ancient tradition that separates fish from other meat, too. In addition to all the rules about what to eat, there are also some strict rules about when to eat, and feasts are an important part of every serious religion. Whether we fast or celebrate the harvest, we do it together, and strengthen the community. All this and more...  Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Mina Angotti has a Master's degree in theology, focusing her studies on Mary, the Mother of Christ. Mina is a longtime friend of the show, and a devout Catholic. She's here to tell us about the details of the Nativity deduced  from history, combined with a fundamentalist understanding of the Biblical source material.  Learn about the shepherds and the magicians, the census and the cave, the faith and the fumbles.  All this and more...  Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Vatileaks (or Vatican Document Leaks) caused a lot of trouble in Rome in 2012, leading directly (allegedly) to the Pope abdicating his office for the first time in centuries. Paolo Gabriele (papal butler) snuck documents to GianLuigi Nuzzi (Italian journalist) to expose the corruption of Archbishop Carlo Mario Vigano. The Holy See was burying sex scandals, bribery, home invasions, and overpriced home improvements and helicopter rides, and so much more. Did you know that canonizing a saint costs about half a million euros? Vatican Spokesman, Federico Lombardi, coined the term "Vati-Leaks." Since all this drama, a few changes have helped improve things, but much has yet to be done.... Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Daoism (formerly called Taosim) is the more prominent indigenous religion of China. Daoism incorporates philosophical writings from ancient scholars, and mystic divination based on a variety of fascinating methods. The Dao-de-jing (or Tao Te Ching) is one of the most famous classics, along with the Yi Jing (I Ching). In this episode we explore the mysterious figure of Laozi (Lao Tsu), and the complexities of the Wuxing.  The systems of hexagrams, trigrams, and binary code are significant today to everyone living their best digital life, and the systems of heavenly stems and earthly branches affect the lives of all those who learn to understand them. Understanding the Dao and Qi are sure ways to improve your life.  All this and more... Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Shoko Asahara (born Chizuo Matsumoto) led a modest cultus that grew rapidly beyond the borders of its native Japan.  A blind acupuncturist,  Asahara was convicted of selling pharmaceuticals illegally before he decided to sell people faith instead. Asahara studied many religious traditions before concocting one of his own that would appeal to the people around him, AUM Shinrikyo, and he got people to believe it so strongly that they would kill for him.  Among other things, Asahara taught that the end of the world was within reach, and only those who followed him would survive the devastation of the coming nuclear apocalypse. When the Third World War didn't start on schedule, Asahara encouraged his followers to  do what they could to start the process. Sarin gas attacks and public violence became the modus operandi, and dozens of people were killed.   AUM Shinrikyo has since changed their name to Aleph, but they remain under vigilant government surveillance. Hikari no Wa has split away from Aleph, and they, too, are suspicious. All this and more... Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Literature is full of doomsday cults, but the real world is much more chilling. This week we explore the Great Green Arkleseizure, the Cthulhu mythos, and the many gods described in the works of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.  Douglas Adams' approach to popular culture brought us a fantastic new version of pious deism.  H. P. Lovecraft brought us a horrifying collection of chaotic gods that might not be as incompatible with your theology as you might hope. Terry Pratchett  and Neil Gaiman offer us the model that all the gods are just as real as we collectively think they are, and a vast collection of books explaining how that can be. Our real-world history brings us a great collection of apocalyptic groups, too. the famed English Sir Isaac Newton had worked out dates for Jesus' eventual return, as did Americans William Miller and Harold Camping.  All this and more.... Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Hoodoo is a terribly syncretic religion, developed as a sibling to Voodoo (and there are other siblings in this family, too).  Magickcrafts have been traded for as long as people have been trading spices and weapons, and Hoodoo Conjurers have collected a fantastic variety of tools from their neighbors. There's a lot to learn when you're genuinely interested in improving your craft. Herbalism, including mojo bags (fetishes) and other talismans, are important to this tradition, and practitioners are often called "root workers." Ancestor worship is a little more obvious in this tradition than in many others, but it's also terribly familiar to what you might already see in many forms of popular Christianity. We also look at similarities with Santeria and Candomblé.  All this and more....   Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram. 

Keith Raniere is the object of worship in the NXIVM cult, a god in the plainest sense of the word. The founder of a few MLMs, this guy knew how to make a fortune from people who turned out to be easy to manipulate. From collecting voluntary celebrities and multi-millionaires to veritable human trafficking,  NXIVM started out looking like a simple self-help group with a complicated oath and patent, but things got dark when you got too deep.  Faith-healing, hypnosis, and unsafe medical research should have been early clues, but hundreds of people are still committed to Raniere today.  All this and more....   Support us on Patreon or you can get our merch at Spreadshop.  Join the Community on Discord.  Learn more great religion factoids on Facebook and Instagram.