1. Home
  2. Religion & Spirituality
  3. Alternative Religions

The Weirdest Religion Stories of 2006

By Jennifer Emick, About.com

8 of 9

Karma and Cosmic Jokes

And who wouldn't love a good karma story? Like the pagan who is cooling her heels after her attempted curse led to her inadvertently setting her house on fire ? Irony also struck when a lawyer's dog gobbled up a spell meant to keep a witness' silence. More evidence of a tricksy God was the snake-handling Kentucky woman fatally bitten at church , or the poor man whose quest for healing landed him with multiple fractures and Youtube immortality .

There were some stories that defied classification- like the mystery of Jesus' Foreskin , which is actually a pretty fascinating glimpse into the inner politics of the Catholic Church if you can just get past the absurdity of it all. Atheist Hemant Mehta made a statement by auctioning off his soul on Ebay, and offering critiques of the Church who bought it. The uber-creepy documentary "Rape of the Soul " may or may not be the beginning of another round of Satanic Panics with its insistence that renaissance art is encoded with secret, Satanic symbols that encourage priestly pederasty- absurd on its face yet strangely well-promoted. Also significant is the story of fanatical, sectarian "kabbalists" in Israel publicizing their repeated use of death curses against public policy-makers they disagree with.

8 of 9

Explore Alternative Religions

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Religion & Spirituality
  3. Alternative Religions
  4. Occult/Ritual Magick
  5. Blogs
  6. The Weirdest Religion Stories of 2006

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.