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   novatorine 🏴🏳️‍⚧️ (anarchopunk_girl@kolektiva.social)'s status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 10:03:48 JST novatorine 🏴🏳️‍⚧️

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   • snowyfox

   @snowyfox at that point whoever wrote that has just completely diluted the definition of altar to try to prove some point about how everyone needs religion or something. It's not an altar in any meaningful religious sense. They're not worshipping the person or think the person can appreciate the decorations if they're dead, they're just adorning the picture with nice decorations bc they loved the person and want to associate nice things with them. It's literally just like, basic decoration. I'm so tired of religious people trying to justify being religious by trying to insist that everyone is somehow inherently religious by just redefining everything to be religious. Like why do you need to? Why not just own up to the fact that you've made a choice to believe something. That's cool.

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     snowyfox@deadinsi.de's status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 10:03:50 JST snowyfox

     "I am amazed at how much of what we call interior decorating is really just subconscious altar building. I've been in homes of people who swear they are "not the least bit spiritual," yet I find Grandma's picture standing next to a lovely bouquet, on a hand-crocheted doily and a lamp nearby. All that's needed is a glass of water."

     novatorine 🏴🏳️‍⚧️ repeated this.
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     snowyfox@deadinsi.de's status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 10:04:57 JST snowyfox

     in reply to

     Like, some people have commented that religious extremists in Abrahamic religions seem to hard rush towards ending this world. Because the underlying assumptions is that Earth is not where God is, the height of rationality and the afterlife is where God is. So they would eschew any connection to nature or dependency on nature (whatever things they label as nature).

     Whereas this chapter on Yoruba ancestor worship, this thing would be totally bricked if the Earth wasn't around. It won't work if food is not renewable or if there aren't materials to make an Earth-like appearance to the altar but more importantly, the spirits are walking around on Earth, if you are not on Earth then you cannot communicate with them. So there's a lot more inclination for this religion to have respect for the Earth around them

     is what I presume anyways, from this little that I've read.

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     snowyfox@deadinsi.de's status on Wednesday, 09-Aug-2023 10:04:58 JST snowyfox

     in reply to

     This particular essay was a relatively uninteresting specification (stating of premises, basic component of the altar, the practice you should be doing) of ancestor worship, in the English language, by a Yoruba person. But it fits in the book because of the interesting assumptions it makes: that life is really really valuable (shown both by the deference given to ancestors, and to the specific prayer that is said); that your ancestor communicates to you through you and through natural objects like water; and that offering food to the altar isn't "wastage" because food is supposed to be renewable - you leave the finished offering outside to nature, and nature will give you new food.
     Hence the next chapter makes more sense why this was included. It's pretty different in how it conceptualises the world compared to usual religion

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