Rhythm, you've got a point there. At least while praying, they're not actively harming or killing nonparticipants in whatever silly religion they've got.
On the basis of the whole thing, it would seem that these very poor people could do more to help themselves with the 30 hours per week it takes them to walk to church and back than walking to Church. What if they used that time and energy to produce crops, build a water purification plant(with the money that the "church" could be using to actually HELP these poor people if they applied it? They could use keeping the women's feet in usable condition rather than them walking in high heels until their feet bled. This seems as cruel as foot binding, except that this is done to the poor who NEED the use of their feet and all of their bodies to get their survival needs. At least Chinese foot binding was mostly an artifact of the wealthy. I know that injury to the feet or ankles was a major cause of the American pioneers being killed 150 years ago - they couldn't provide themselves with food, water, clothing, and shelter, nor could they escape attacks from wild animals. But, Christianity is a death cult anyway. These women can go down in their history as "pious" because somebody died of blood poisoning from the injuries to their feet endured because they had to get to church. Or, somebody is a martyr because they died in an animal attack when their bloody feet wouldn't allow them to run away effectively.
I too have to question this whole idea of worshiping a deity who demands such "mortification of the flesh", or self-injury. It would seem that even with belief in creator deities that take active part in the day-to-day lives of their creation, that these deities have created what they have, and destroying their creation would be an affront to the creator - not somehow pleasing to them. A deity that would give a person things, then demand that they destroy them in the name of worshiping such deity is certainly off-balance. To destroy a gift that a gracious host has given you, or in fact to even refuse a gift from such a gracious host would be considered bad manners by such a destructive guest. Why is it acceptable, permissible, and encouraged to do this to a deity you claim to be worshiping? Such a deity would seem at best mentally unstable, and not worthy of worship.
Where can God find a qualified psychiatrist? LOL
On the basis of the whole thing, it would seem that these very poor people could do more to help themselves with the 30 hours per week it takes them to walk to church and back than walking to Church. What if they used that time and energy to produce crops, build a water purification plant(with the money that the "church" could be using to actually HELP these poor people if they applied it? They could use keeping the women's feet in usable condition rather than them walking in high heels until their feet bled. This seems as cruel as foot binding, except that this is done to the poor who NEED the use of their feet and all of their bodies to get their survival needs. At least Chinese foot binding was mostly an artifact of the wealthy. I know that injury to the feet or ankles was a major cause of the American pioneers being killed 150 years ago - they couldn't provide themselves with food, water, clothing, and shelter, nor could they escape attacks from wild animals. But, Christianity is a death cult anyway. These women can go down in their history as "pious" because somebody died of blood poisoning from the injuries to their feet endured because they had to get to church. Or, somebody is a martyr because they died in an animal attack when their bloody feet wouldn't allow them to run away effectively.
I too have to question this whole idea of worshiping a deity who demands such "mortification of the flesh", or self-injury. It would seem that even with belief in creator deities that take active part in the day-to-day lives of their creation, that these deities have created what they have, and destroying their creation would be an affront to the creator - not somehow pleasing to them. A deity that would give a person things, then demand that they destroy them in the name of worshiping such deity is certainly off-balance. To destroy a gift that a gracious host has given you, or in fact to even refuse a gift from such a gracious host would be considered bad manners by such a destructive guest. Why is it acceptable, permissible, and encouraged to do this to a deity you claim to be worshiping? Such a deity would seem at best mentally unstable, and not worthy of worship.
Where can God find a qualified psychiatrist? LOL