What is the strangest religion you ever came across/ learned about?
A few years ago the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster managed to be legally recognized in New Zealand, to the point that Pastafarian representatives are authorized to officiate weddings. I understand liking pasta, but that's a a bit too much.
It's ridiculous that Pastafarianism was recognized, since it doesn't have a single sincere believer.
But at any rate, I'll mention two interesting religions I've come across.
The first is a relatively new religion call Yi-Guan Dao (also called Tian Dao). It is currently the second largest religion in Taiwan. It is a syncretistic religion, built upon the base of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism but incorporating items from other world religions. Some of their alters have not only the Immortals and Buddhas, but also Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The believe that all religions see some of the truth, as in the story of the blind men and the elephant. They believe they themselves are not a religion, but that they transcend religion.
They have incorporated certain elements of monotheism. For example, "Tao" can be understood either as an impersonal source or as a personal God. The central invocation of their altar is a flame for the presence of God.
However, in other ways they are still stuck in a superstitious folk religion. For example, they practice the channeling of the Buddha Gigong (aka possession) and automatic sand writing for divination.
Interestingly, they have moved their headquarters to California with the intention of propagating Tao to the English speaking world, but are failing to do so, largely because they do not understand that their religion is 95% Chinese culture and language, and would need to assimilate American culture to have appeal.
The second really strange religious experience I had was with an actual cult -- I literally had to walk out on it. I was at that time doing research into the Eastern Orthodox church (EO is responsible for the progroms, and I wanted to understand it better). A friend of mine said he had seen an American Orthodox Church on a particular street. Such a church would have been new and rare. I decided to show up incognito.
The first sign that things were... "off," was that the men were wearing kippot and tallitot (the skull caps and prayer shawls that Jews wear). The Divine Liturgy seemed as normal as I could tell (not that I know much about Divine Liturgy, but for example, it didn't invoke Satan or anything, lol).
It was some kind of special day for them, because they had a lot of refreshments after that particular service. It gave me a chance to talk to a couple for a while. Apparently they had originally been a Pentecostal church, and had gone through a mass conversion to Orthodoxy, but had then left that church as well. Why? The head priest had written a book. Not just any book, mind you, but a book "revealed to him by the holy spirit," much of it about sexuality. This hadn't sat well with the Orthodox Bishop. This church treated this book as being on par with the Bible. Kind of like their own little special Bible Part 2.
Well, I wanted to talk to the priest about this, since I found it fascinating. But when I had the chance, he found my questions to be undermining of his absolute authority. The way he talked down to me in an angry domineering voice that implied "no one dare question me," gave me the willies. I looked around, and no one seemed to think anything was out of order. I turned around and left.
Oh, I really should mention a third experience. Not because it was weird, but just because it was unusual. I had been studying Lakota spirituality, and was invited to a women's sweat. There is something intrinsically spiritual about being in the dark of the lodge, with glowing coals as the only light, air heavy with steam, silence occasionally broken by song. For a time you think deeply. And then for a time you do not think at all, but just be. It is not an ordinary time, or an ordinary place, and so you do not have ordinary thoughts. You are close to yourself, close to earth, and close to the Creator. If you ever have a chance, do it.
