Unusual religious ideas (and the co-opting thereof)

[e]

I was reading around on JSTOR earlier and found the following interesting article in "Church History".  For those interested, it is available here.

It contains information about a bizarre (and quite heretical) cult-ish group of people from 17th century England collectively called "The Ranters"

Some excerpts:

Ranters were said to regard themselves as God, and to be free of all the ordinary restraints of decent human society. Smoking and drunkenness were common to all of them, and they were reputed to practice adultery and fornication freely and in public, and buggery too, and to curse and swear in the most fulsome and blasphemous way without restraint--and all this in Puritan England. It was a cause of widespread fascination.

The implications of this doctrine of indwelling divinity which Bauthumley draws are several: that the body, and the world of the flesh, have no real existence being but one like a reflection in a cup of water; that the inward divinity is all that is real; that God works all in all so that a man "hath no more power or freedom of will to do evill then he hath to do good . . ."; that sin has no reality; that to God all things are the same, so that he is not wrathful and exercises no judgments.

They prate of God, believe it Fellow Creature,
There's no such bugbeare, all was made by nature:
We know all came of nothing, and shall passe
Into the same condition once it was:
By nature's power, and that they grossly lie
They say there's hope of immortality;
Let them but tell us what a soul is, then
We will adhere to these mad brain-sick men.

I especially like the last two lines of that.  Though actually it appears I'd misread it.

I like it much more as: "Let us but tell them what a soul is, then."  And oh hell, let's just change the last line with a pun: "We will stick it to these mad brain-sick men!"

There are around 10 pages of basic information, and some really intriguing quotes from prominent Ranters.  My personal favourite, sounding quite Discordian (sort of), is:

For my own part I am ascended far above all heavens, yet I fill all things, and laugh in my sleeve to think whats coming. Well, I say no more, but farwel

(sic)

The word I learned from this little article?  "Anti-nomianism"  Despite being quite latinate and fancy-sounding, all it means is "Opposed to the obligatoriness of the moral law; of or pertaining to the antinomians." (OED)

Fascinating stuff.  Or well, maybe not.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

  Sounds like Eris was having her way with 7th-century England, the randy bitch.

[Vene]

Look up stuff like teen pregnancy, divorce rates, etc for the Bible Belt, they're still around.

[e]

Look up stuff like teen pregnancy, divorce rates, etc for the Bible Belt, they're still around.

The bible belt is certainly still around.  I just moved out here to California from yea the very buckle of the belt.

South Carolina also has the highest number of aggravated assault cases in the union.  And that's not per capita.  It's the highest total number.  So I have been told by a friend of mine in Criminology, in any case.  Especially fun when you note that the entire state of SC has only around 5 million people in it.  Which is essentially less than some of the cities in other states.