2009 Top Ten of Polemic for Religion

Maya death rituals

Death rituals were an important part of Maya religion. The Maya greatly respected death; they were taught to fear it and grieved deeply for the dead. They also believed that certain deaths were more noble than others

Malina (mythology)

Malina is a solar deity in Inuit religion. She is found most commonly in the legends of Greenland that link her closely with the lunar deity Anningan, her brother. Malina is constantly fleeing from Anningan as the result of strife between the two. Their constant chase is the traditional explanation for the movement of the Sun and Moon through the sky. The chase inspired the tradition of the first sunrise of the New Year in which three qulliqs were extinguished and retighten

Shiz

In the Book of Mormon, Shiz is a Jaredite military leader who was beheaded by Coriantumr. Since the nineteenth century, the account of Shiz's death in the Book of Ether has been claimed by critics to be an error in the Book of Mormon. However, Mormon apologists argue that the statement may be physiologically accurate

Akshar Purushottam Upasana

Akshar Purushottam Upasana is the BAPS-practice of worshiping Swaminarayan as a supreme being along with Gunatitanand Swami as his ideal devotee. It was formalized by Shastriji Maharaj from the teachings of Swaminarayan when he created the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) in 1907 after leaving the Swaminarayan Sampraday. It could also be referred to as Brahman Parabrahman Upasana or Bhakta Bhagwan Upasana. In this belief, Akshar and Para Brahman are worshiped together, and

Cyclopes

In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's Theogony, the Cyclopes are the three brothers Brontes, Steropes, and Arges, who made for Zeus his weapon the thunderbolt. In Homer's Odyssey, they are an uncivilized group of shepherds, the brethren of Polyphemus encountered by Odysseus. Cyclopes were also famous as the builders of the Cyclopean walls of Mycenae and Tiryns

Nabia

Nabia was the goddess of rivers and water in Gallaecian and Lusitanian mythology, in the territory of modern Galicia (Spain), Asturias (Spain) and Portugal

Of Miracles

"Of Miracles" is the title of Section X of David Hume's An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748

Metropolis of Derkoi

The Metropolis of Derkoi is a residential see of the Eastern Orthodox Church subject to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and situated in the Istanbul suburb of Yesilköy. The cathedral is that of St. Parakevi in Therapia (Tarabya). The metropolitan is a member of the Patriarchal Synod. The present Metropolitan is Apostolos Daniilidis

Runesocesius

Runesocesius was a deity whose name appears on an inscription from the region of Évora, the Roman Ebora in modern Portugal in the area inhabited by the Celtici in Lusitania. He has generally been thought of as a Lusitanian god

Nuriel

Nuriel, an angel in Jewish mythology, translates as "Fire of the Lord" and is the angel responsible for hailstorms