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Russian doomsday cult
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:54 am
by _Sethbag
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11 ... index.html
Bottom line: some rogue Russian Orthodox dude and some followers are convinced that the world will end in May of 2008, and have barricaded themselves in a cave they dug in a valley somewhere in Russia.
What I thought was kind of funny was this quote from an official, near the end of the article:
He added, "What we're seeing in Penza right now is a most vivid example of what could happen to a country, to a society, if this society is deprived of proper religious education."
Dawkins would be amused, and correct this official, countering that it wasn't because this guy just hadn't been taught the "right" religious principles, but that this guy was taught that religious ideas were credible in the first place, that was at fault here. Being taught respect for magical thinking at all is half the problem. Respect magical thinking, and this kind of stuff inevitably comes out.
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:59 am
by _The Nehor
Why do end of the world people always hide out in compounds and caves with lots of guns?
I prefer the build a Zion society concept.
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:08 am
by _Gadianton
When I read the title I thought you were just going to talk about the LDS church in Russia.
Didn't some city in the Book of Mormon stockpile for 7 years, holed up with steel weapons and horses, waiting for the Lamanite attack?
I've heard plenty of Mormons say that the battles in the Book of Mormon would provide tactics for future conflicts. Why else would 2/3 of the Book be about wars?
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 2:22 pm
by _The Nehor
Gadianton wrote:When I read the title I thought you were just going to talk about the LDS church in Russia.
Didn't some city in the Book of Mormon stockpile for 7 years, holed up with steel weapons and horses, waiting for the Lamanite attack?
I've heard plenty of Mormons say that the battles in the Book of Mormon would provide tactics for future conflicts. Why else would 2/3 of the Book be about wars?
Yeah, but that wasn't just a few nutjobs. It was a whole nation retreating to one city. It might have been a whole city of nutjobs but it was a military defense that worked.
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:49 pm
by _Zoidberg
This does not surprise me. The official Russian Orthodox Church might as well be operating from a cave, they are so stuck in the Dark Ages. It's a given that some nutjobs are going to branch off of it. If someone wants to get a feel of what the primitive church was really like, I strongly recommend a visit. Women have to wear head scarves and there are no pews, which is good, because otherwise you would inevitably be put to sleep by incomprehensible recitations in Old Church Slavonic. For a confession, you have to stand amidst the rest of the congregation with nothing but a piece of fabric over your head for privacy. There are lots of other pretty cool details which, fortunately, I repressed.
If you want to see people actually worshipping a bunch of graven images, that's definitely the place to go.
Re: Russian doomsday cult
Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 10:45 pm
by _Dr. Shades
He added, "What we're seeing in Penza right now is a most vivid example of what could happen to a country, to a society, if this society is deprived of proper religious education."
Oh, I think that cult is giving the world all the "proper religious education" it needs.
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:19 am
by _truth dancer
Yeah, but that wasn't just a few nutjobs. It was a whole nation retreating to one city. It might have been a whole city of nutjobs but it was a military defense that worked.
Last I heard apologists seem to think the "whole city" was a few dozen extended families.... IRRC Brent Gardner (on ZLMB), estimated a total of about 1000 folks during the height of the Nephite/Lamanite "civilizaton". Take away the women, children, seniors, and you have a little brawl not a war! ;-)
~dancer~
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 3:45 am
by _harmony
truth dancer wrote:Take away the women, children, seniors, and you have a little brawl not a war! ;-)
okay, TD.
THAT was funny!
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 4:02 am
by _The Nehor
truth dancer wrote:Yeah, but that wasn't just a few nutjobs. It was a whole nation retreating to one city. It might have been a whole city of nutjobs but it was a military defense that worked.
Last I heard apologists seem to think the "whole city" was a few dozen extended families.... IRRC Brent Gardner (on ZLMB), estimated a total of about 1000 folks during the height of the Nephite/Lamanite "civilizaton". Take away the women, children, seniors, and you have a little brawl not a war! ;-)
~dancer~
At what point in the civilization was this estimate made. Call me crazy but I suspect the population might have fluctuated over a thousand years.