Do you know of some weird or strange laws or beliefs that some religions have?
Asked by
2late2be (
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August 24th, 2009
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42 Answers
Strange how?
It can be considered strange that Jews aren’t supposed to mix meat with dairy… pretty much any religious law or rule can be considered very strange to some.
Plenty of people will say that the basic fact that many people believe in a god is quite strange. Virgin birth? Kinda strange…
I’m really interested in reading what more religiously educated jellies have to say about this one.
You might not believe this, but there is a religion practiced widely right here in the US, some of whose adherents believe that there is something wrong with homosexuality, and that homosexuals should be treated differently than other human beings!
No praying in Evelynism. Evelyn despises prayer so much that she is likely to give you a big fat boil on your ass and then give you the undeniable urge to go horseback riding, just to teach you a lesson. and to give herself a laugh.
@pdworkin I’ve heard about those guys, man. Those guys are really fucked up, ya know?!
Female Seventh Day Adventists must wear skirts when attending worship (that would be Saturdays).
I’ve heard that a Sikh is required to have a blade on him at all times by his religion. Since that can be problematic in the US, they tend to wear a tiny little blade on a bracelet around their wrists.
@drdoombot I just carry a pocketknife, and I’m not even Sikh. I do have a little cough and feel a bit queasy, though. :-)
Catholics believe that the eucharist (by means of transubstantiation) actually becomes Jesus’ body.
Of course, they also promote celibacy among their clergy class, despite the fact that Peter, who was supposedly the first Pope, was married. (Mark 1:30) Woops
I just can’t imagine how “weird” might be defined so that some religious beliefs and practices are weird and others aren’t. In some sense they are all weird.
Quite a lot of religions seem to believe that there’s this invisible man in the sky and he spends his time fiddling with us.
This question is a fanatical atheist’s wet dream.
I admit this might be a little offtopic, but Flying Spaghetti Monster anyone? Hmm, actually that religion might make the most sense to me right now.
Fasting laws in Christianity are funny (nowadays). Fasting started (even in Judaism) as an excercise of constraint, so the “illegal” food during the fasting period was anything made of meat, or, by extention, other animal products (milk, cheese, eggs).
Nowadays you’re not allowed to have milk chocolate, but you can have a huge cake as long as it’s not chocolate. You can eat tonnes of spaghetti with soya-based mince, drink alcohol, have sweets, go to parties (sex is officially not allowed during fasting), generally have fun and enjoy yourself, as long as you remember to drink your coffee black. The whole essence of fasting is out the window, and the only way I notice someone is really fasting is when they don’t put milk in their coffee for a couple of weeks(but go on leading a normal everyday life otherwise). I also had a friend whose “no meat in my mouth” rule meant she wouldn’t give her husband a blow job, but they’d keep having normal sex during that period.
Similarly, “kosher” food in Judaism means you take normal food and do some magic on it, and then you can eat it. Great way to make money if you ask me (at least in industrialised societies, where food is packaged and marketed the way it is).
so I’m not really sure if this has to do with their religion or not but this question reminded me of it….i remember reading along time ago that it was illigal (sp) to bring chewing into the country of singapor, now I don’t know if that law is still enforced but I made me laugh…
Here’s a weird religious belief of young earth creationism: Noah’s Ark carried dinosaurs too.
That there is an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do, judges your entire life, sends some people to an eternity of fire, darkness, and evil….
But he loves you!
And he’ll forgive you for anything!
@mattbrowne I wonder which one of Noah’s sons was on stall duty in the Dino wing… whoever it was deserves more props in the bible for it if you ask me…
@ABoyNamedBoobs03 – I wonder if the creationist museum in Kentucky features trilobites too. Cute little buggers…
I once read a very confusing passage of the Kuran that said that men could not leave through the back door. That seemed very odd to me indeed.
@mattbrowne: Lurve. That’s the coolest one on here!
@markyy that’s because you don’t know about Evelynism. A pasta monster that wants its adherents to dress like pirates? That’s just ludicrous. A 300 foot tall woman with six breasts makes a ton more sense than a pasta god.
@mattbrowne or Dodos, I always thought those would be awesome pets.
@evelyns_pet_zebra creationsim being taught as a science in school, now that’s what’s ludicrous.
@evelyns_pet_zebra Where do I sign up and when do I get to fondle them? Or is Evelynism some pyramid scheme like Scientology where you can only look for free and no touchy touchy?
Ps. why 6 boobs? If you pay to rise to the top of the scheme can you buy 4 more hands? You see, this religion already has my full attention!
@Jack79 Yeah, you really don’t understand what goes into making food kosher. There’s a reason it’s more expensive and it’s not just “magic.”
@Jack79 there’s a lot more to kosher food than some rabbi waving a magic wand over it and screaming “Parve!”, though, admittedly, that would be pretty damn funny.
the same goes for Muslims and “Halal” products.
@Jack79 Kosher foods have to be prepared and/or butchered in accordance with Jewish law… the blessing doesn’t have anything to do with making a food kosher. That said, some of the rules about eating in Judaism are strange… Meat and dairy products may never meet! In strict kosher households, they use 2 separate refrigerators, 2 complete sets of dishes, pots/pans, silverware, etc.
@markyy, You can fondle Evelyn’s breasts any time she shows up to introduce herself to you. But since she is 300 foot tall, you might need a ladder.
The reason Evelyn has six instead of just two, is because six is better. Who doesn’t like boobs? Evelynism is NOTHING like Scientology. That filthy L. Ron Hubbard religion is all about money. Evelynism is free.
More fun Jewish dietary restrictions:
-The only kosher seafood are fish that have both fins and scales
-Fish and meat cannot be eaten at the same time, though you can have one right after the other
-After eating a dairy product, your are not allowed to meat for at least half an hour
-After eating meat, you cannot have a dairy product for at least six hours
-When baking bread, a small tithe must be taken from the dough and burned
-Every seventh year in the land of Israel, fruit and vegetables are not allowed to be harvested
-Meat from a sick or injured animal is forbidden. In fact, kosher butchers have an extensive series of tests they put a dead animal’s carcass through before determining if it can be eaten or not. A small blemish or injury can make an animal treife.
-Pork is not the only forbidden meat for Jews; any animal that does not have split hooves and chews its own cud is unkosher
-Jews can only drink wine made by Jews
-Blood is strictly forbidden, so kosher meat is salted several times to drain all blood
-Bug cannot be eaten, any time, anywhere.
Tune in next time for funny Jewish dressing habits!
@drdoombot, while these do seem funny today, most if not all of these restrictions have some original, rational, non-religious reasoning behind them.
@drdoombot Some of those are actually in the Law, and some of those are traditions added on. The meat/dairy thing is a misapplication of Exodus 23:19, where it commands “not to boil a kid in its mother’s milk”. This is only one of 3 places it’s found in the Bible.
There are several reasons: first off, it was contrary to nature. The milk was to nurture the kid, and to boil it in that milk, it would be showing contempt for the parent-child relationship. secondly, it is thought that some nations around the nation of Israel did this as a pagan ritual to bring rain. Obviously, the wanted to separate themselves for pagan worship. Thirdly, this is not the only commandment in the Law that condemns cruelty to animals.
However, Jewish tradition has gone further, somewhat missing the point of the Law and its commandments. As is clear, there is no prohibition of eating those things together, just in the handling.
@quarkquarkquark i agree. behind the actual Laws, there is a rational health benefit or scientific reason.
Of course, it’s made a fortune for the chinese restaurant industry.
As @quarkquarkquark stated, there were rational reasons behind some of them. For example, Jews don’t eat animals that are scavengers or hunters. From their limited knowledge at the time, fish with both fins and scales were not scavengers, and therefore considered kosher. When something has a rational reason, even one that is disproven later, it is still far from the “magic” hand-waving @Jack79 seems to be suggesting about kosher laws.
@eponymoushipster According to you, it’s a misapplication of Exodus 23:19, according to Jewish scholarly tradition, the three mentions of the milk/meat thing are describing three distinct dietary laws. In addition, Kabbalistic tradition states milk represents life and meat represents death, causing a spiritual clash in the person’s body. It’s glib to pronounce that they “missed the point of the Law.” Probably the most important Jewish tradition is the constant study, interpretation and discussion of the law in countless volumes of literature. The milk/meat discussion was something that took place millenia before you and I were born and debated to death. Believe me, they did not miss the point of the law, because if they did, we’d be seeing a never-ending cascade of animal cruelty at kosher slaughterhouses.
@drdoombot “glib”? who are you, Tom Cruise? in any case, do as you will.
glib – nonchalant; showing little forethought or preparation; lacking of depth and substance
@drdoombot yes, i’m familiar with the word. thanks for cutting and pasting for my benefit though.
@eponymoushipster Actually, that was written from memory. Look for the thread where I discuss how I’m expanding my vocabulary.
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