Spiritual

Two pythons have tied the knot in an unusual wedding ceremony in a village south of Phnom Penh.Cambodians tend to be very supersticious and practice a combination of Animism and Buddhism. "We organised the wedding ceremony for the pythons in order to oust bad things and bring good luck and happiness for our villages," said the owner of one of thetwo snakes.

He originally found the python in 1994 and it had become a part of his family ever since. Hundreds of Cambodians have celebrated the unusual wedding of two snakes, in the belief the nuptials will bring those attending prosperity and peace. Serpent bride Chamreun, a 16ft-long (4. 8m) python weighing 200lb (90kg), wed her smaller mate in avillage just south of the capital Phnom Penh.  

View: Full article |  Source: BBC News  

Survey results over 40 years have suggested that up to 22% of Americans lie about going to church.It is believed that 23% of Americans regularly attend church but when asked about it in a survey up to 45% claim to do so. Philip Brenner of the Institute for Social Research has been taking a look atthe results to try and explain this discrepancy.

Brenner plowed through 400 surveys and time diaries across four decades with three quarters of a million respondents in 13 nations to find that Americans exaggerate their church attendance more than anyone else.  

View: Full article |  Source: USA Today  

A new survey has revealed that atheists know more on average about religion than religious followers.The survey conducted in the US found that atheists and agnostics seemed to be more knowledgable about facts and histories relating to religions than people who followed thosefaiths.

A majority of Protestants, for instance, couldn"t identify Martin Luther as the driving force behind the Protestant Reformation, according to the survey, released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.  

View: Full article |  Source: LATimes  

A new study has revealed that religious extremism could be driven by anxiety and uncertainty. A series of studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people who were asked whether they would die for their faith or support their country going to war in its defence were more likelyto say yes when they were in anxiety-provoking situations.

The scientists also found that religious zeal was most pronounced among people who were already vulnerable to anxiety and who felt hopeless about achieving their goals in daily life.

View: Full article | Source: Telegraph