religion

Blessed be he, the Grimace.

That’s right. Grimace, Fry Guy, and Ronald McDonald are opening up shop right next to the Pope in downtown Vatican City, catering to the some six-millions tourists that pass through those hollowed grounds every year.

Not everyone’s looking to give the Hamburglar forgiveness, though. Only God may judge the Hamburglar.

via Geek

According to Vice, the new McDonald’s is "at the corner Borgo Pio and Via del Mascherino, a mere block and a half—about 100 yards—from the famous St Peter’s Square. While neighbors already displeased by vendors hawking knickknacks in the area have complained that the McDonald’s would be a 'decisive blow on an already wounded animal,' at least one Cardinal is also saying leasing Vatican real estate to Ronald McDonald isn’t in keeping with the Church’s mission.”

Vice recieved an official response from McDonald’s, which stated they are occupying “a popular tourist area outside the Vatican that already has many other restaurants, bars, and retail shops… As is the case whenever McDonald’s operates near historic sites anywhere in Italy, this restaurant has been fully adapted with respect to the historical environment.”

McDonald’s isn’t the only chain that’s coming to the Vatican. Hard Rock Cafe is coming to Via della Conciliazione, answering the prayers of millions who want yet another Hard Rock Cafe, apparently.

Enjoy the Vatican, tourists, it’s yours now!

via YouTube

Close to 65,500 Aussies consider The Force their official religion. That's close to all the Sikhs and more than the Seven Day Adventists, Salvation Army, most Orthodox churches in Australia.

Guess which group is the most upset about the Rise of the Force Followers? Yep, the Atheist Foundation Of Australia! Oh, the irony... Atheist Foundation Of Australia!

(IMAGE: GETTY/MASHABLE)

Human-shaped spirit caught on camera, or just another sh*tty, potentially photoshopped picture? These are some of the reactions via Lex 18's Facebook page so far:







NBC's Lex18 reports, 

"The crash occurred 5:30 Tuesday afternoon on Highway 15 near Stanton. Officials tell LEX 18 the person on the motorcycle was the only person involved and he was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Saul Vazquez, the man who took the photo, posted it on Facebook and said he took it from the cab of his truck. It has since been shared over 16,000 times in just 10 hours.

Lots of people are drawing their own conclusions about the photo, but either way it’s causing a huge conversation on social media. LEX 18 reached out to Vazquez, all he would he would say is that the photo has not been altered."

Bentley Yoder was born with the odds stacked against him-- born with a brain outside his skull. Bentley's parents, Sierra and Dustin were told by doctors that discovered Bentley's rare condition called cranium bifidum, that Bentley was simply 'incompatible with life.' 



Bentley's parents refused to quit on him though, and decided to go through with the pregnancy, 'just to see him before saying goodbye.' To everyone's surprise Bentley came kicking and screaming into this world on time, on October 31, 2015. He went on to develop normally, save for the critical parts of his brain on top his head, and left nearly all doctors at a mere loss for words over how this could be so. 

Fast forward four months, and Bentley's parents were actively seeking out the nation's foremost leading authorities on the brain surgery front, with hopes to find a team capable of performing the surgery necessary to relocate parts of Bentley's brain back inside his skull.

They found Dr. John Meara at Boston Children's Hospital, who planned and practiced the pending procedure using 3D-printed models. On May 24th the surgery commenced, and finished with success six hours later. 



A month after the surgery Bentley shows all signs of being just fine, but only time will tell whether things like his vision were impaired for the long run. 

New Zealanders can now be married by a 'ministeroni' of the Pastafarian religion. Karen Martyn is the country's first, and so far only, legally recognized marriage celebrant for The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.  


via Stuff

This means that a wedding performed by Martyn with all the trappings of Pastafarianism (which includes pirate costumes and, obviously, spaghetti) will be legally binding. 

If you're wondering what a Pastafarian wedding would be like, this is a great example:

According to medieval artist/scientist, Richard Neave, Jesus is not the white, long-haired, skinny face you've been seeing throughout your entire life.

Using the powers of science, Neave found three skulls from Israeli archaeological sites and used computerized tomography to construct the best shape for Jesus's face. From his findings, Neave created a black Jesus, with a much broader nose and a new hairdo.

This version of Jesus makes a lot more sense for the region in which Jesus lived. One might think the writers of the Bible would have pointed out the fact that White Jesus may have stood out in the crowd. Maybe not...

So, since there have never been any actual drawings of Jesus discovered, scientists are calling Richard Neave's rendition the most realistic drawing of Jesus ever created.

A lot of the Western world operates under the assumption that the Quran is a violent text, but is it really any worse than the Christian Bible, or are we just being prejudiced? 

Dit Is Normaal decided to test this assumption, and read a few select passages of the Bible to passers-by on the street. People were appalled by the content and had some very critical things to say about its source. The only problem is that they thought they were hearing passages from the Quran. All of the participants were shocked when they found out the truth, and many were unaware of how violent the Bible can be. One man commented, "It's all just prejudice really, I always try not to be prejudiced myself but apparently I already am."

Do you suffer that same prejudice?

What if God was one of us?

Well, he probably wouldn't believe in himself if he was under the age of 30.

According Pew Research Center's 2014 Religious Landscape Study, only half of adults under the age of 30 say they believe in God and overall belief in God is dropping rapidly.

A large majority of Americans still believe in God (89 percent), but there is evidence that absolute certainty of God's existence is falling. It has fallen to 63 percent, down 8 points from 2007.

While there is a trend toward unaffiliation with God and religion, belief in God for certain groups has remained constant.

Evangelical Protestants, members of the historically black Protestant tradition and Muslims all still have high rates of absolute belief in God.

Our world still has hope of not turning into a Godless wasteland where horned creatures and demons roam the streets!