New book on origins of Christianity details the outrageous suffering of children at the hands of ancient religious leaders

Secular News Daily - August 25, 2010

Historian releases “Sex Rites: The Origins of Christianity”


Historian Diana Agorio has released Sex Rites: The Origins of Christianity.

Sex Rites describes the evolution of religious rituals involving sex, drugs, and human sacrifice as the foundation of Christian myth and ritual. Diana’s description of the religious rituals and myths which led up to Christianity is far more damning than the typical atheist critique of religion. In particular, it describes the outrageous suffering of children at the hands of ancient religious leaders. She describes rituals in which children were mutilated, raped, drugged, and killed, as acts of faith. She also highlights positive aspects of ancient cultures, which were the origins of humanism and secular government. ....

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2010/08/25/book-launch-announced-for-sex-rites-the-origins-of-christianity/

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Amazon Product Description

Sex Rites describes the evolution of religious rituals involving sex, drugs, and human sacrifice as the foundation of Christian myth and ritual. This story begins with the oldest known religious sexual concepts in Sumer, modern day Iraq. It reconnects Christianity with its' ancient roots in Palestine, Egypt, Anatolia, Greece, and Rome. Religious changes are described in historical context, identifying political and economic conditions as driving forces. Ancient myths, including Bible stories, are illuminated by tracing their path through the sky, as rediscovered in the star lore of ancient astrologers. These myths were used by ancient priests, including Christian clergy, to justify their rituals. These rituals included raping, mutilating, drugging, and killing children. The myths remain part of Christian theology to this day.

Sex Rites


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FROM THE AUTHOR'S BLOG

If Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens are The Four Horsemen; then, Diana Agorio is The Whore of Babylon. She is an unabashed anti-theist with a peculiar interest in ancient Babylon. She began her studies of West Asia as a conservative Christian kid in Alaska. After living in Israel; then, traveling and studying ancient history for the last 25+ years, she ended up a liberal atheist. But, unlike many other atheist critics of religion, Diana knows and loves the ancient cultures which invented the Abrahamic faiths. No theist can accuse her of reading the Bible like a fundamentalist. She has an in depth knowledge of the political and economic environment which shaped the minds of the Biblical authors. The first rule of historical research is to “know thy author.” The Four Horsemen make valid criticisms of religion in general; but, they lack the expertise to produce an expose of the ancient origins of the Bible.


Diana graduated magna cum laude with a BS in History. Her primary fascination is with the cultures of the Bronze Age and Iron Age Levant. But, she is a generalist with historical interests ranging from Sumer, to Anatolia, to Egypt, to Greece, and Rome. Her methodology is based on meme theory, following changes in cultures as fashions, avoiding racial descriptions. This method provides a powerful new understanding of ancient peoples, describing their evolution in dynamic terms, rather than as static ethnicities. Diana makes extensive use of primary source material and cites experts in the fields of archaeology, theological studies, and Art History in scholarly journals and peer reviewed books.

Her goal with Sex Rites is to provide atheists with a sophisticated understanding of how the Abrahamic religions developed. She hopes to dispel the atheist notion that the Bible is Bronze Age mythology. Actually, it is Hellenistic Period mythology, which was significantly different from Bronze Age religious notions. The Bible was not the product of “the people” of the Levant. It was produced by priests with particular political and economic ambitions. Diana’s description of changes in the religious rituals and myths which led up to Christianity is far more damning than the typical atheist critique. In paritcular, it describes the outrageous suffering of children at the hands of ancient religious leaders. She also highlights positive aspects of ancient cultures, which were the origins of Humanism and secular government. Readers, atheist and religious, will feel better and more secure in their modern ethics, after exploring the world of their ancient ancestors with Sex Rites.



http://ancientmeme.blogspot.com/