10 Dark Facts You Didn't Know About Major World Religions

10 Dark Facts You Didn’t Know About Major World Religions

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Dark Facts You Didn’t Know About Major World Religions.

For this list, we’ll be looking at lesser-known practices, beliefs, and histories of major world religions that are shockingly dark.

Let us know any interesting or dark facts you know about major religions in the comments below.

The Book of Mormon States that God Cursed Native Americans

The Book of Mormon has a unique take on North American history. It says that, long before Europeans arrived in the west, a prophet from Jerusalem named Lehi came to America. His descendants split into two groups: the Lamanites and the Nephites. The Nephites were generally considered the more righteous of the two groups, while the Lamanites were portrayed as the wicked and sinful ones. The Book of Mormon suggests that the Lamanites were “cursed” with darker skin to reflect their “inherent evil.” Incidentally, until the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood, people of color were not allowed to join the priesthood. The LDS Church has since realized that this was an untenable position and disavowed many of the racist beliefs and practices that were once prevalent.

Taoist Impalements

In the west, we tend to think of "Winnie the Pooh'' as a Taoist icon due to “The Tao of Pooh” - the 1982 book that uses the resident of the Hundred Acre Wood to explain the principles of the belief system. But the Pooh Bear would be wildly out of place at the Taoist Vegetarian festival held in Phuket, Thailand. The Vegetarian Festival, or Nine Emperor Gods Festival, is an event rooted in Taoist philosophy and culture. The festival involves a range of practices, including a piercing ritual meant to cleanse the soul. A variety of sharp objects are used to pierce the participants’ bodies, most often through the cheek, always without anesthetics. This is done as a form of spiritual cleansing, and it is believed to demonstrate the power of the gods and the strength of the participants' faith. Unfortunately, hospitalization for blood loss is not uncommon.

The Vatican Put a Dead Pope on Trial

As a two-thousand-year-old institution, the Catholic Church has many skeletons in its closet. Some of them are literal. In the year 897, Pope Formosus was put on trial by the Church. What made this trial unusual is that Formosus had been dead for seven months. Successor Pope Stephen VI ordered the now-rotting body exhumed and dressed in papal attire. Formosus was propped up onto a throne in the middle of the proceedings, accused of having illegally ascended to the papacy and, you guessed it, found guilty. His body was dumped in the Tiber River, though later recovered. News of the affair spread and the people of Rome rebelled against Pope Stephen. As a result, the verdict of the Cadaver Synod was later reversed.

Shechita Requires Animals to be Killed Without Anesthesia

Kashrut is the system of dietary laws and restrictions in some forms of Judaism. Restrictions like the prohibition of eating pork or shelfish are well known outside of the Jewish community. Lesser known, however, are the methods by which foods are deemed Kosher by a mashgiach, or Kosher supervisor. In particular, the Kosher slaughtering of animals - or Shechita - specifies that animals must be killed by the severing of the jugular vein. It also does not allow for any form of anesthesia first. The practice has recently garnered criticism with animal rights activists. However, according to some researchers such as Temple Grandin and Joe M. Regenstein, Kosher slaughter - when practiced correctly - does not cause undue pain or suffering to the animal.

The Quran Accepts Polygyny

Religious polygamy has been practiced in various forms throughout history, including in the stories of the Bible. As modern scholars explain, it’s a remnant of tribal society, when the religion and the family were closely intertwined. In some societies, having multiple wives was seen as a way to ensure the continuation of the tribe or clan. In Islam, the Quran suggests that monogamy is the preferred form of marriage. Still, the Quranic passage Surah 4, verse 3 is often used to justify polygyny, the practice of men having multiple wives. The passage allows men to marry up to four wives, with the stipulation that they must be treated equally. Unfortunately, in many countries, this passage has been used to justify the oppression of women.

Jehovah's Witnesses Cannot Receive Blood Transfusions, Which Can Endanger Lives

Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian denomination founded in the late 19th century in the United States. They have a number of beliefs that set them apart from other Christian groups, one of which has major real world consequences on their medical care. Jehovah’s Witnesses see life as a divine gift, represented by blood and that accepting blood transfusions violates biblical commands to abstain from blood. As a result, transfusions are not allowed, even if the circumstances are life-threatening. This belief has led to some high-profile cases where Jehovah's Witness patients have refused transfusions and died as a result.

Mormons Were Once at War with the U.S.

The early history of the Mormons is an era steeped in blood. For years, Mormons were persecuted for their beliefs and faced genocide. After a number of skirmishes and small battles, things came to a head in 1838. The governor of Missouri ordered their extermination. Almost all of the ten thousand Mormons in Missouri fled, and they eventually settled in Utah. That didn’t end the conflict, however. In 1857, President Buchanan sent a military force to Utah. Fearful of more persecution, Mormons blocked the army from entering the Salt Lake Valley and there were some violent incidents, including the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where non-Mormon settlers were killed. Eventually, the Church and the U.S. Government came to terms in 1858, though tensions lasted long after that.

The Apostolic Penitentiary

The Apostolic Penitentiary was said to have been formed sometime in the 12th century, and kept relatively hush until 2009, when its members held their first-ever press conference. The Apostolic Penitentiary is responsible for forgiving sins in the Catholic church that are beyond the authority of ordinary priests. According to the Church, there are five especially grave sins: desecrating the Eucharist, breaking the confessional seal, offering confession to one's sexual partners, participating in abortion before becoming a priest, and attempted assassination of a Pope. When your case is taken up by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the results are usually either absolution, or excommunication.

Some Buddhist Monks Starved Themselves to Death

Monks and other similar figures of many religious traditions practice asceticism. Ascetics separate themselves from the world in order to attain enlightenment or religious fulfillment. Few, though, go to the extreme of Buddhist Sokushinbutsu monks. Some modern historians trace the practice back to Kūkai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism. Sokushinbutsu monks would, over the course of 3,000 days, reduce their diet to pine needles, tree resin, and seeds. All the fat in their bodies vanished. They would eat and drink less and less while in a state of ‘jhana’, or constant meditation. We won’t go into details here but, eventually, they would die having effectively mummified themselves while still alive.

The Celebration of Purim Has a Violent History

One of the most popular holidays on the Jewish calendar is Purim. It’s often replete with eating, drinking, and present-giving. But the holiday celebrates a rather tense story. It comes from the Book of Esther, a narrative of palace intrigue and murder. The story goes that Haman, a high-ranking official in the Persian court, devised a plot to massacre all the Jews in Persia. The Queen of Persia, Esther, who herself was Jewish, foiled his plans after interceding with King Ahasuerus. Enraged that his decree could kill his own wife, Ahasuerus reversed course. He killed Haman and his sons, and allowed Persia’s Jews to defend themselves from their enemies. They did and a recounted 75,000 of their enemies fell.