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Erdställe sometimes crop up on internet lists of Weird Stuff, so apologies if they've already been done: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdstall Not likely to flat-out terrify any but the claustrophobic, these things are still inexplicable enough to be unnerving. Beneath parts of Germany, and some other countries in Europe, are systems of blind-ended tunnels that no-one can explain, hundreds and hundreds of them. Unlike most subterranean earthworks, all Erdställe (plural of Erdstall) discovered so far appear to have been dug surprisingly recently – probably during the Middle Ages - yet we know almost nothing about them. If they had a religious significance, it's not mentioned in any surviving Christian literature, which has led some to speculate that they are all that's left of a literally underground rival faith, or some very heterodox Christianity. Wild as this sounds, they don't seem very suitable as hideouts, escape tunnels, or for storage. From the wikipedia page, the link to an article in Der Spiegel is worth a click and is in English. The http://erdstall.de site, also linked, is in German but has some good pictures.
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May 5, 2014 19:56
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ProperGanderPusher posted:One thing I love about my faith tradition (Eastern Orthodox) is our approach towards death and funerary rites. No embalming, simple pine coffin (as opposed to a ridiculously padded casket as if to mitigate any soreness I might feel when I wake up for the resurrection), and a modest headstone. Heck, you don't even have to be good to be a saint, just conveniently desiccated (contains photos of a dehydrated corpse). The Eastern Orthodox insistence on burial can cause its own problems where there isn't much soil. I guess this isn't such a problem if burial space is plentiful. On a lighter note: CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE BEING CREMATED TODAY! http://myocn.net/chrismation-and-cremation-orthodox-views/ Best funeral tune IMO: Patrick Hernandez, 'Born to be Alive'
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Nov 21, 2018 23:12
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Pvt.Scott posted:Didn’t some people back in the day use ground up smallpox bits to inoculate themselves, or was that other scabrous maladies? Indeed they did, which must give some indication of how horrific smallpox was. The procedure (invented in the China, probably) was expensive and laborious, as anyone innoculated would become a carrier of smallpox for several weeks and needed to be quarantined to avoid infecting the non-immune. It also carried a small risk of progressing to full-blown smallpox. You couldn't really roll it out across the general population, even though some British doctors laid epic plans for quarantining whole counties: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variolation Edward Jenner himself went through variolation as a child -- people who hear the story of his research sometimes think he was an awful coward to give a young boy cowpox, and then deliberately infect him with smallpox to see if the protection was effective. In fact, Jenner couldn't do the experiment on himself since he was already immune to smallpox, and knew it: he was a trained expert in variolation by his early twenties. The subsequent 'infection with smallpox' in the little boy was in fact variolation, which if the cowpox had not protected him would have produced a milder pustular eruption -- disappointing to Jenner, since it would have told him that his cowpox theory was incorrect -- and also left the boy immune. For thread content: the very first Anti-Vaxxers posted:People quickly became fearful of the possible consequences of receiving material originating from cows and opposed vaccination on religious grounds, saying that they would not be treated with substances originating from God's lowlier creatures. Variolation was forbidden by Act of Parliament in 1840 and vaccination with cowpox was made compulsory in 1853. This in its turn led to protest marches and vehement opposition from those who demanded freedom of choice. from: https://www.jenner.ac.uk/edward-jenner Edit: returning to the fun subject of 'Who the gently caress would have sent smallpox scabs by C19 postal services', it seems likely to me that these date from post-1840, and represent the activity of defiant variolation enthusiasts who had been forced underground. Carnival of Shrews has a new favorite as of 23:38 on Nov 22, 2018 |
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Nov 22, 2018 23:28
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Milo and POTUS posted:Say what you will about Jones. He was really good at killing He has competition in the 'Cult leader with victim numbers in the upper hundreds' field, though. Worryingly recent competition, at that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_the_Restoration_of_the_Ten_Commandments_of_God Most of the victims - 530 of them - died after being locked into a church that was then set on fire, after the promised Second Coming did not kick off when the year 2000 rolled around. But there must have been organised killings going on for some time previously, though it's never been clear exactly who ordered them (the Movement had been drawing in disgraced religious charlatans for years). Googling this story will bring up grim pictures of charred victims on almost every site that deals with the story and is not Wikipedia, so be careful. The Friendly Atheist is an exception, and goes into the background in more detail: https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com...took-788-lives/ 788 victims is a low estimate. The Ugandan government has never wanted a particularly accurate death toll because it's far from impossible that more than 908 people died, making it 'worse than Jonestown'. It all happened less than 20 years ago, and the founding couple, Credonia Mwerinde and Joseph Kibwetere, are just possibly still alive. If it's the case that at least one of them did survive the fire (which seems probable) then they got away with murdering 900+ people. Carnival of Shrews has a new favorite as of 14:57 on Dec 18, 2018 |
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Dec 18, 2018 14:54
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StrixNebulosa posted:I had never heard of these guys and now I kind of wish I hadn't Yeah, I'm pretty sure that Mwerinde and Kibwetere are/were even worse examples of human beings than Jim Jones -- a low bar to limbo under, morally speaking, but they managed it. The detail that got me (I'm not sure if either of the articles I linked to mention this, but i's true) was that the members of the cult were encouraged to sell off all their belongings in the run-up to the End of the World. There can be no doubt that it was premeditated mass murder for financial gain (and to get out of a sticky situation, prophecy-wise).
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Dec 18, 2018 19:37
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Randaconda posted:So did that serial killer Ayn Rand lusted after. William Hickman, who seems to have caused outbreaks of hybristophilia whenever he appeared in court -- Ayn Rand had plenty of company -- and bafflingly became a cause célèbre for 'was this just a brilliant young man who never got a real chance?' in spite of clearly being thick as mince (this is a 19-year-old who only realised the snag of abducting someone old enough to give a physical description of you after he'd kidnapped his victim, and who asked his own jailers “How does a fellow act when he is crazy?”). He wasn't a serial killer, though he admitted to killing one person in an armed robbery before he kidnapped Marion. The description of exactly how Marion Parker's father got his daughter back is  levels of miserably grim; galaxy-brains Hickman must have decided to kill her and dispose of her body, then changed his mind and reckoned he could still grab the loot and make his escape. Poor little kid.
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Jan 14, 2019 13:26
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The Golden Gael posted:that show is precisely why I'm in a martial arts mood It's an old story, and from the UK, but try the Astounding Saga of Tony 'Taming the Tiger' Anthony, Christian Evangelist and Registered Lethal Weapon: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/28/tony-anthony-kung-fu-sham I was trekking the Pennine Way when I found a copy of 'Taming the Tiger' in a youth hostel. Reading it in a nearby pub and stuffing my face with lasagne and chips whilst on a post-20-mile-walk endorphin high led to some of the weirdest dreams I've ever had in my entire goddamn life. 10/10 would read his fantasies about being trained in the snow by his Chinese assassin grandpa again. Also he accidentally ran over a lady motorcyclist once, and felt kinda sad about her dying of it, but it turns out that Jesus is a diamond geezer at the whole forgiveness thing. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Anthony_(evangelist)
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Sep 22, 2020 23:49
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The Golden Gael posted:I love this and want to read into it further. You might have given me the idea I need! Have at it. Full title is 'Taming the Tiger: From the Depths of Hell to the Heights of Glory'. I loved this book so much that I snagged a second-hand copy off Ebay for myself, 'cos gently caress giving this guy cash. But no-one who checks both this thread and Bad Books regularly could be disappointed with it. Due to his literally incredible claims, a pretty thorough investigation was done on Anthony by the UK Evangelical Alliance, duly leaked, and is viewable on the second link below. By far the most damning thing is the hit-and-run he committed in 2000 which killed a motorcyclist (he left her dying in the road), so it's necessary to dig a bit for the more fun kung-fu bodyguard bullshit: https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2013/September-2013/Shaming-the-Tiger https://www.docdroid.net/KALs35J/report-to-the-board-of-directors-of-avanti-engrossment-copy-pdf The real moral of the story is that once he was unmasked as an utter fraud and all-round human shitshow...nothing happened to him. He found a low-rent publisher for Taming the Tiger, and AFAIK is an Evangelical preacher to this day. Here's his website. Guess what's the first thing on the landing page slideshow? https://www.tonyanthony.co.uk/ Carnival of Shrews has a new favorite as of 10:56 on Sep 23, 2020 |
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Sep 23, 2020 10:53
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