{"product_id":"9781934708699","title":"50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf you're waiting for the world's \"Holy Men\" to tell you the truth about their religions, do you suppose they'll mention that:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Tao Te Ching was only created because Lao Tzu was thrown in jail by a disciple who didn't want to let him leave town without writing down his teachings?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"Passover\" celebrates God killing all firstborn Egyptian kids while Jewish homes were \"passed over\" by the angel of death?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShinto, a nature-loving, mellow religion, was transformed by the Japanese government into a nationalistic ideology promoting \"holy\" war?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdding to its popular \u003ci\u003e50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know\u003c\/i\u003e series, Disinformation has teamed with Daniele Bolelli—writer, professor of comparative religion, and renowned martial arts practitioner and philosopher—to tackle an ever more serious and important topic: popular misconceptions about religion. Among other revelations:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCarpocrates, an early Christian, argued that sex orgies were a key to heaven.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProstitution was a religious duty in Mesopotamian temples.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe two major Chinese religions (Taoism and Confucianism) are completely at odds with each other and yet are often practiced together.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDespite having persecuted Jews for 2,000 years, Christian fundamentalists are Israel's biggest supporters.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eCapturing just the right balance of in-depth knowledge, respect, humor and irreverence, Bolelli takes an ecumenical approach to the task, revealing surprising, shocking, and little-known facts about the \"big three\" religions but also many more, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and, of course, the increasingly popular non-religion: atheism.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Red Wheel\/Weiser","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47040429097200,"sku":"9781934708699","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781934708699_p0.jpg?v=1763655220","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781934708699","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}