MetaFilter posts tagged with religion and history

The Shuls with Sandy Floors

zarq — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:48:04 -0800

There are only five functioning Jewish synagogues with sand floors in the world, and four of them are in the Caribbean. How has the tradition been maintained for hundreds of years? The Five Shaare Shalom Synagogue (Kingston, Jamaica) - Wikipedia. - Article: Becoming Jewish in Jamaica. "The first ordained rabbi in 40 years to serve the Shaare Shalom Synagogue of Kingston, Jamaica, has attracted to his conversion classes candidates who include descendants of its once much larger and thriving population." - Article: Jamaica's New Tourism Spiel: Beaches and Reggae and Jews Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasidim Synagogue (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) - Panoramic Photos. - Photo of the sand floor Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue (Curacao, Netherlands Antilles) - Photos. (Also known as the Snoa, it is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1651.) Neve Shalom (Paramaribo, Republic of Suriname) - Photos. - Wikipedia. Portuguese Synagogue Also known as the Esnoga. (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - Wikipedia. - Panoramic Photos. - Video embedded here. Why Sand? A synagogue drawn in the sand: The custom may have originated in Amsterdam, where sand was used to dry mud on people's shoes. The Esnoga synagogue was near the edge of town, where most of the streets were unpaved and, thanks to the weather, often muddy. It was, therefore, practical to line the floor in the synagogue with sand to keep it tidy. There are a number of churches and taverns in the Netherlands dating to the 17th century that likewise have sand floors.
Synagogues in the Sand: There are two theories about the origins of the synagogue’s sand floor. One is that it symbolizes the desert through which Moses and the children of Israel wandered for 40 years. The other theory, considered by experts the more likely explanation, is that the floor harkens back to when Spanish Jews had to practice their religion in secret, meeting in cellars to pray.
More: A Journey to Jewish Curaçao. And a pdf article from Frommer's: Sanctuaries in the Sand

Galileo and impolitic science

homunculus — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00:20 -0800

Moon Man: What Galileo saw. [Via]

Christmas, cancelled.

cthuljew — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:40:00 -0800

The Puritan War on Christmas

“I have a hard time with historians, because they idolize the truth. The truth is not uplifting.”

andoatnp — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:02:28 -0800

The Case of the Mormon Historian: What happened when Michael Quinn challenged the history of the church he loved.

And Shopping. Always Shopping.

The Whelk — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:24:31 -0800

Propaganda - A film alledged to be from North Korea about the excess of Western decadance and public relations propaganda - hits Youtube (1:35:52)

Sat Sri Akal, Sardarji

infini — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 03:58:48 -0800

The history of the Sikh Diaspora in USA and Canada goes back to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897. Emerging as a casteless alternative to the ongoing Hindu Muslim wars in India, the Sikhs have always been known as a martial tribe, their prowess and courage respected by the British and others alike. Colloquially addressed respectfully as Sardarji, the men take Singh (lion) as their middle name while the women bear the name Kaur (princess). This custom further confirmed the equality of both genders as was the tradition set by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. The first Sikh Organization was The Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society organized in the spring of 1912. Later in that year they purchased a house in Stockton to serve as a Gurdwara. A second Gurdwara was established in El Centro in 1948. They participated fully in the revolution to free India from British along with the Ghadar(Revolution) party. Early Sikh immigrants had to face legal, social, economic and even physical barriers to material success. They were not allowed to bring their spouses from Punjab, and if they married an American citizen, she would lose her citizenship by such marriage. The Aliens ineligible for citizenship could not buy, own, or lease agriculture land. Most of the Sikhs started life in America as farm laborers, many of them finally became landowners and successful farmers. In 1956, Dalip Singh Saund became the first East Indian born person to be elected to the US House of Representatives. In the 1940s, Saund helped launch a successful effort to convince the U.S. Congress to pass the Luce-Celler Act of 1946, which granted naturalization rights to Indian immigrants (then sometimes referred to as "Hindus"). Thus began the next era in history for Americans from the subcontinent - Governer Nikki Haley of South Carolina is Sikh.

Just a handshake.

zarq — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:10:03 -0800

"Confessions of an Ex-Mormon: A personal history of America’s most misunderstood religion." by Walter Kirn, author of Up in the Air and Lost in the Meritocracy. (Via)

The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible

found missing — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:07:46 -0800

“The words of the 1611 King James Bible ring out today in books, poems, popular songs, speeches, and sermons. But who translated it, and what made this particular translation so influential? Inspired by the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, Manifold Greatness tells the story of one of the most widely read books in the English language, through online content, exhibitions, and more.” Previously on Metafilter: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7.

Ark of the Covenant: 2½-1½-1½ Cubits

Winnemac — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 10:57:04 -0800

Maps of Biblical Prophecy and History. Also Protestant distribution, oil pipelines, Mars, and more.

"I felt like I'd been catapulted from one end of the universe to the other"

Rhaomi — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:17:51 -0800

This weekend marks the time of the Hajj, a core pillar of Islam in which great tides of humanity venture to the ancient city of Mecca to honor God. Predating Mohammed's birth by centuries, the pilgrimage comprises several days of rites, from congregation like snow on Mount Arafat and the ritual stoning of Shaitan to the circling of the sacred Kaaba (the shrouded cubical monolith Muslims pray toward daily) and kissing the Black Stone (colored by the absorption of myriad sins, and believed by some to be a fallen meteorite). While the city has modernized to handle this largest of annual gatherings -- building highway-scale ramps, gaudy skyscrapers for the ultra-rich, and tent cities the size of Seattle -- it remains mysterious, as unbelievers are forbidden from entering its borders. Richard Francis Burton became famous for touring the city in disguise to write a rare travelogue, but contemporary viewers have a more immediate guide: Vice Magazine journalist Suroosh Alvi, who smuggled a minicam into the city to record The Mecca Diaries [alt], a 14-minute documentary of his own Hajj journey. Browse the manual to see what goes into a Hajj trip, or watch the YouTube livestream to see the Grand Mosque crowds in real time.

Beauty, Virtue and Vice

netbros — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:01:26 -0800

Most of the prints in the exhibit "Beauty, Virtue and Vice: Images of Women in Nineteenth-Century American Prints" were designed simply to please the eye, but they are also useful to historians who would like to understand how nineteenth-century Americans thought about the world in which they lived. Although prints are often works of imagination (even when they are grounded in fact), they still have much to tell us about the time and place in which they were created. Highlights from this online exhibit include: True Womanhood — with a Map of the Open Country of a Woman's Heart. This map of a woman's heart tells us much about what the artist and his society believed about women. This illustration perfectly captures nineteenth-century ideas about womanhood. Women as Objects of Beauty and Desire — Prints depicting beautiful women were often influenced by other forms of popular culture. Some of the finest prints produced in the United States were copies of admired European and American paintings. Print artists also created their own original representations of heroic characters from novels and theatrical presentations. Ideal Beauty — Many nineteenth-century Americans believed that women had unique abilities, talents, and propensities that were natural attributes of their sex. Women were thought to be naturally dependent, nurturing, and well suited for domestic labor. Such ideas complemented the notion that men were defined by opposite characteristics, which included independence and bravery; strength of character, mind, and body; and a natural talent for mastery and dominance over their environments. Threats to the Ideals of True Womanhood: Slavery — Slavery was almost unquestionably the most important issue of the nineteenth century. Women were frequently at the center when slavery debates were translated into visual images.

"Jews and Christians should be allies; and allies are equals."

zarq — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:44:08 -0800

In October 1870, as American Jews were observing the High Holidays, The Atlantic Magazine published an article called "Our Israelitish Bretheren." 'At the time, it served as a sort of crash course about a tiny, mystifying minority. Today, it survives as something quite different: a snapshot of a transitional moment in Jewish history.' Written by American biographer, James Parton -- the founder of American Heritage magazine.

Grape Fields to The Game

telstar — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 14:50:30 -0800

The Madness of Cesar Chavez

The Cartoon Guide to Life, the Universe, and Everything

Rhaomi — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:20:53 -0800

Larry Gonick is a veteran American cartoonist best known for his delightful comic-book guides to science and history, many of which have previews online. Chief among them is his long-running Cartoon History of the Universe (later The Cartoon History of the Modern World), a sprawling multi-volume opus documenting everything from the Big Bang to the Bush administration. Published over the course of three decades, it takes a truly global view -- its time-traveling Professor thoroughly explores not only familiar topics like Rome and World War II but the oft-neglected stories of Asia and Africa, blending caricature and myth with careful scholarship (cited by fun illustrated bibliographies) and tackling even the most obscure events with intelligence and wit. This savvy satire carried over to Gonick's Zinn-by-way-of-Pogo chronicle The Cartoon History of the United States, along with a bevy of Cartoon Guides to other topics, including Genetics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, The Environment, and (yes!) Sex. Gonick has also maintained a few sideprojects, such as a webcomic look at Chinese invention, assorted math comics (previously), the Muse magazine mainstay Kokopelli & Co. (featuring the shenanigans of his "New Muses"), and more. See also these lengthy interview snippets, linked previously. Want more? Amazon links to the complete oeuvre inside! Reading note: All the book titles in the post above link to readable versions on the web. Some of the older Cartoon Guides and the first chunk of the original Cartoon History of the Universe comics (through Volume 9 -- ancient China) are available in full; the rest, including the (two-part) Modern World series and The United States, are available partially through Harper-Collins' free book preview feature, which includes the first dozen or so pages of each book and then jumps ahead randomly from there to the end. So pay attention to the page numbers on those links to avoid getting caught off guard by the (unannounced) page-skips! Amazon links:

Cartoon History: The Cartoon History of the Universe I (Vol. 1-7): From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great (1990) The Cartoon History of the Universe II (Vol. 8-13): From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome (1994) The Cartoon History of the Universe III (Vol. 14-19): From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance (2002) The Cartoon History of the United States (1991) The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution (2007) The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 2: From the Bastille to Baghdad (2009) Cartoon Guides: The Cartoon Guide to Genetics (1983) The Cartoon Guide to the Computer (1991) The Cartoon Guide to Physics (1992) The Cartoon Guide to (Non) Communication (1993) The Cartoon Guide to Statistics (1994) The Cartoon Guide to the Environment (1996) The Cartoon Guide to Sex (1999) The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry (2005) Other: Kokopelli & Company in Attack of the Smart Pies (2005)

The Wonder of God in Nature

Chinese Jet Pilot — Thu, 05 May 2011 13:45:41 -0800

Die Wunder Gottes in der Natur (1744) illustrates astronomical, meteorological, geological, spiritual, and psychological visions, based on the work of 16th century Alsatian encyclopedist Conrad Lycosthenes.

The cover and title page.

Westminster Abbey

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:58:09 -0800

How is abbey formed?
How is abbey formed?
How girl get regnant?

Photographic Immortality

zarq — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:35:00 -0800

The Burns Archive is a collection of over 700,000 historical photographs that document disturbing subject matter: obsolete medical practices and experiments, death, disease, disasters, crime, revolutions, riots and war. Newsweek posted a select gallery this past October, as well as a video interview and walk-through with curator and collector Dr. Stanley B. Burns, a New York opthalmologist. (Via) (Content at links may be disturbing to some.) Blog, which notes that an exhibition of photos, "Sleeping Beauties" is currently being shown at the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery in Baltimore. Books with photos from the collection: * Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement in Memorial Photography American and European Traditions * News Art: Manipulated Photographs from the Burns Archive * Deadly Intent: Crime & Punishment Photographs from the Burns Archive * Geisha: A Photographic History, 1872-1912

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Humanity

Rhaomi — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 11:00:08 -0800

Everybody knows TVTropes is the best and most time-killing-est way to learn about the clichés and archetypes that permeate modern media. But dear reader, there is so much more. Enter Useful Notes. Originally created as a place for tropers to pool factual information as a writing aid, the subsite has quietly grown into a small wiki of its own -- a compendium of crowdsourced wisdom on a staggering array of topics, all written in the site's signature brand of lighthearted snark. Though it reads like an irreverent and informal Wikipedia, its articles act as genuinely useful primers to complex and obscure topics alike, all in service of the project's five goals: "To debunk common media stereotypes; to help you understand some media better; to educate, inform and sometimes entertain; to promote peace and understanding (maybe); and... to facilitate world domination." Sounds about right. Click inside for bountiful highlights... if you dare. [note: not all articles are hosted in the /UsefulNotes/ subfolder, but all grew out of the original page and are indexed there. If you find any material that's messy, weak, or inaccurate, remember: it's a wiki!] Main UsefulNotes Index A small sampling from the major categories: Geography: (including detailed subcategories for most major nations) The Americas - Europe - Asia - Africa - Oceania - Major World Cities

Excerpts from an example subcategory: The United States: "The general feeling among Americans about these parties is that one of them is evil, and the other is incompetent. Which is which depends on whom you ask. " Main Index - American Political System - U.S. Presidents - U.S. States - U.S. Military - Legal System - Educational System - Newspapers - Holidays - Weights and Measures - Accents Other major national pages: Canada - Mexico - Brazil - United Kingdom - Germany - France - Spain - Italy - Russia - South Africa - India - China - Japan - Indonesia - Australia

Media: Mainstream Media - Video Games - Subcultures - Irony - Heavy Metal - History of Hollywood - History of Animation - The 50 Greatest Cartoons History: Classical Mythology - Trojan War - Pre-Columbian Civilizations - Economics - American Revolution - Russian Revolution - Cold War - Arab-Israeli Conflict - World War II - 1950s - 1990s Famous People: William Shakespeare - The 47 Ronin - Marie Antoinette - Mark Twain - Theodore Roosevelt - Adolf Hitler - Albert Einstein - Joseph Stalin - Barack Obama Military: Militaries by Nation - Nuclear Weapons - Naval Warfare - Military Aviation - Modern Battlefield Weapons - The Laws of War Religion: Christianity - Islam - Buddhism - Hinduism - Judaism - Atheism - Gnosticism Sports: Football - Baseball - Basketball - Soccer (And that's just scratching the surface...)

Fragapatti, Son of Jehovih!

theodolite — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:08:41 -0800

Oahspe is what might have resulted if L. Ron Hubbard took so much ketamine he time-phased into 1882. The product of an automatic-writing ex-prospector dentist, the 900-page tome includes submerged continents, bizarre dictionaries, and plenty of space travel. The history of Oahspe reads like a parody of the Latter-Day Saints, complete with a fascination with faux hieroglyphics and a wild-west Utopian colony. There are still a few Oahspe followers (or "Faithists") left. NB: the "Hints to the Reader" are singularly unhelpful.

Mithras

homunculus — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:12:53 -0800

Bull-Killer, Sun Lord. "Foreign religions grew rapidly in the 1st-century A.D. Roman Empire, including worship of Jesus Christ, the Egyptian goddess Isis, and an eastern sun god, Mithras."

Missionary Position: Facing West

zarq — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:50:00 -0800

Pope Benedict XVI has announced the establishment of a new Vatican department dedicated to tackling what he called 'a grave crisis in the sense of the Christian faith and the role of the Church." The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of New Evangelisation will (per Archbishop Vincent Nichols,) focus on countries "in which, even though the Christian Gospel has shaped an entire culture," secularism now reigns, in what the Pope termed an "eclipse of a sense of God." Editorial: "Catholicism, the religion that gave the world the idea of the missionary, is struggling on its historic home turf." This council is part of a larger reshuffling of the Vatican hierarchy, which may support the Pope's ongoing anti- abortion and gay marriage efforts: The first President of the new Evangelical Council will be Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, a Vatican bioethics official, whose controversial front page statement in the L’Osservatore Romano newspaper last year condoned the abortion of twins in a nine year-old Brazilian rape victim. At the time, Fisichella headed the institution that helps frame the Catholic church's "pro-life" doctrines, The Pontifical Academy for Life. A Canadian theologian and anti-abortion hardliner, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, will now head the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for Bishops, which evaluates the nomination of bishops and sets the tone for the Catholic Church hierarchy worldwide. “The head of the Congregation of Bishops is a very important nomination; it determines the ruling class of the Catholic Church for the next 20 years,” said Andrea Tornielli, a Vatican expert with the Italian daily newspaper Il Giornale. The appointment is particularly important in light of the abuse scandal, which has called into question the actions of bishops around the world. Victims have accused bishops of covering up abuse or not acting swiftly to discipline priests who have abused minors.
Ouellet has been outspoken against abort ion (calling it a 'moral crime', unjustified even in cases of rape) and gay marriage.

Whence Altruism?

zarq — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:43:13 -0800

A new study suggests that humanity's sense of fair play and kindness towards strangers is determined by culture, not genetics. Speculation: the finding may be directly related to the rise of religion in human history, as well as more complex economies. (Via). On the other hand, perhaps we learned it from dogs. :)

The Surprisingly Accurately Named Thirty Years War

Kattullus — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:32:07 -0800

The Thirty Years War is a website covers that ginormous kerfuffle that consumed Europe in the first half of the 17th Century from the Second Defenestration of Prague to the Peace of Westphalia. It has a handy map with a place locator which will help you tell your Schweidnitz from your Schweinfurt. Here are some other maps, The Religious Situation in Central Europe about 1618, Principal Seats of War, 1618-1660 and Europe in 1648 - Peace of Westphalia.

Utopian Communes in the British Isles

Kattullus — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:45:59 -0800

Utopia Britannica is a collection of stories and a gazetter about utopian communes in the British Isles from the 14th Century up until the end of World War II. There are some incredible tales in here, such as 'Free Love' in 19th Century Somerset, St. Kilda, Death of an Island Republic, Percy Bysshe Shelley's attempted communes, Augustus John, the King of Bohemia and many more.

Search the Bible with Google Maps

Effigy2000 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:49:53 -0800

Biblemap.org is an interactive map system for the bible, which is great for visualising where certain biblical events are said to have occured. It's also great for people who don't subscribe to any kind of organised religion but do like looking at maps (like me!).