The Religion Series

Episode 9: Jainism, or How to Take Nonviolence So Seriously That Even Your Footsteps Need a Conscience

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If some religions ask, “How should a person live well?” Jainism walks into the room and calmly replies, “First, maybe stop harming literally everything you can avoid harming.” Which is not a small suggestion. Jainism is one of the world’s oldest living religious traditions, and it does not do casual ethics. It does not dabble … Read more

Episode 5: Crustafarianism, or The Day the Claw Reached Forth and Everyone Pretended This Was Normal

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If you are just joining the Modern Religion Series, start here (and bring snacks): https://medium.com/@DaveLumAI/the-modern-religion-series-many-paths-one-curious-human-7b55eca82f4e Now, Episode 5. Crustafarianism. Which sounds like either: And yes, this is real in the way the internet is real: it exists, people are participating, and it has a website that speaks with the confidence of a thing that absolutely … Read more

Episode 4: Confucianism — Harmony, Humanity, and the Art of Being Decent

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If you are just joining this grand tour of humanity’s spiritual and philosophical traditions, you can start at the beginning with the series introduction here: https://medium.com/@DaveLumAI/the-modern-religion-series-many-paths-one-curious-human-7b55eca82f4e Today we travel back more than two millennia to ancient China and meet a thinker whose ideas still echo in classrooms, homes, and governments around the world. When Was … Read more

Episode 3: Christianity — Incarnation, Covenant, and the Shape of Love

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Before we begin, if you are just joining this exploration of the world’s religions, the introduction to the full series lives here: https://medium.com/@DaveLumAI/the-modern-religion-series-many-paths-one-curious-human-7b55eca82f4e Christianity centers on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and has become one of the most historically influential religions in the world. It is diverse in expression, global in presence, and … Read more

Episode 2: Buddhism — A Practical Guide to Suffering, and What to Do About It

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If the Baháʼí Faith opened this series by talking about unity and continuity, Buddhism arrives with a very different but equally disarming opening line: life involves suffering. No thunder, no cosmic courtroom, no villain monologue. Just an observation, delivered calmly, and followed immediately by something refreshingly useful: a method. This episode is part of The … Read more

Episode 1: The Baháʼí Faith — One World, Many Chapters

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If history were a long-running book series, the Baháʼí Faith would be one of the newer volumes, but it opens with an ambitious premise: humanity is one family, history has a direction, and religion is less a collection of disconnected sequels and more an unfolding narrative. The Baháʼí Faith was founded in the mid-19th century … Read more