• Nicole Martin Is Summer Ready in Cheeky String Bikini (Nicole Martin Instagram/Bravo)

• Teresa Giudice Apologizes to Andy Cohen After WWHL Appearance (Namaste B$tches podcast/Heavy)
• Teresa Giudice Shows Support For Ex-Husband Joe's New Business (Teresa Giudice Instagram/Bravo)

• Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave Shares Update Following Recent Melanoma Scare (Teddi Mellencamp Instagram/Bravo)
• Check Out Lisa Rinna's Best Swimsuit Styles (Bravo Style & Living)

• Scheana Shay on What Producers Said About Pump Rules Reunion Bombshell, Why Raquel Will Quit Show, Plus She Addresses Raquel Pregnancy Rumors (The Kyle & Jackie O Show/Reality Blurb)
• Lala Kent shows off her plump pout after getting her filler touched up and claps back at critics: 'What my face is poked with does not affect you' (Lala Kent Instagram/Bravo)
• Vanderpump Rules Stars Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney Are Opening Sandwich Shop in West Hollywood (WEHO TIMES)
• VPR Alum Jax Taylor ‘Didn’t Like’ Lisa Vanderpump’s Behavior at the Season 10 Reunion (Scheananigans podcast/Heavy)
• Derek Hough: "Ariana's perfect for 'DWTS'... story fits show's formula" (TMZ exclusive)

• Deola Art Alade wins first AMVCA for 'The Real Housewives of Lagos' (pulse.ng)

• VPR S10E16 🍸
• VPR S10E16 - "Pumped Up Edition" 🍸
• RHONJ S13E16 🍝

/collegebaseball General Discussion Thread - WEEK 15: Part III (2023)

— Rules

— Guidelines

— Get Team Flair

— Inline Flair List

— Line Score Template

1. Forest
   
   1. a rich temperate forest littered everywhere with old trees, little groves, and meandering, lightly-trodden paths seeming leading to nowhere
2. Desert
   
   1. Endless sand, canyons, and wadis, like a semi-arid desert that has not yet had rain this season
3. Mountains
   
   1. ever-expanding mountains with permafrost at the top and pine forest at the bottom. There are many caves and hidden pathways to those who look
4. Space
   
   1. Far below there is a great plane of many colours, above there are infinite stars. Around you there are many asteroids of various sizes gently floating. Some of these could only hold a few houses, others which could house an entire city. (you can breathe just fine).
5. Underwater
   
   1. You are deep below the surface, swimming over corals are many-coloured fish. To your right there is a great sloping wall leading to a surface you cannot sea, to your left there is an eternity of deep, blue ocean. (you can breathe just fine)
6. Pure light
   
   1. You are standing on land you cannot see, as both the ground and the sky are made of pure light. The brightness blinds you for a second, but once you're used to it, you can see as you could normally
7. Pure darkness
   
   1. You are standing on land you cannot see, as both the ground and the sky are made of pure darkness. After a few seconds your eyes adapt, and you can see, but only half as far as normally
8. Yggdrassil
   
   1. An enormous tree stands before you, the roots of which extend in every direction further than you can see. The trunk is almost 100 meters across, and extends well beyond the clouds above. There are many branches of every width and colour at all levels.
9. Endlessly tall treetops
   
   1. You find yourself atop a tree, and as far as the eye can see there are more trees in every direction. You cannot see the ground below, but find easy methods of moving from tree to tree
10. Caves
    
    1. Damp and rot assault your senses as you find yourself underground in a large hall with cave tunnels leading out in 8 directions
11. Statues of Gods long since forgotten surround you and coloured light passes through coloured glass. You find yourself in a temple to a religion you do not recognize
    

1. An ancient red dragon and a dracolich are battling, whilst many people huddle away in various corners far away, watching the fight
2. A mystical castle shrouded in purple mist, with strange creatures of all shapes and oddities move in and out DM note: this is a fairy castle :)
   
3. A small, little village of no more than 50 people, most of whom seem occupied in preparing for a festival
   
4. Endless rows of monoliths in every direction with text written on them in every conceivable (and inconceivable) language. There is a short, elderly woman walking between them
   
5. a large colloseum, with people streaming in and out. Inside the loud cheers of audiences and the grunts of battle can be heard DM note: to reach the Lord, the players must roll 1d6, and are accepted on a 6+. If they enter the arena, they can fight a number of monsters, each of whcih will add +1 to their eventual roll (adjust to suit level of party, this was for 2 level 6 chars):
   

   1. [Giant Boar](https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/giant_boa) 2. [Centaur](https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/centau) 3. [Berserker](https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/berserke) 4. [Bandit Captain](https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/bandit_captain/) 5. [Hyppogriph](https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/hippogriff/) 6. [Dire wolf](https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monsters/dire_wolf/) 

6. Faceless voids are wandering about, with scared people and animals hiding wherever they may
   
7. 2 magic circles, each surrounded by either blue or red mages, each summoning monsters to attack the other DM note: each circle is headed by 1 Mage ( https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/16947-mage) (adjust to suit level of party, this was for 2 level 6 players (mages would lose spellslots 4 & 5))
   
8. A lost caravan, but the carts and the clothes all seem odd DM NOTE: they're from the future :)
   
9. an eternal armies of zombies, marching in from the north and exiting from the south
   
10. A large city of steam and steal, occupied only by robots DM note:they're scared of fleshy things - the concept of rot and decay is lovecraftian to them
    
11. A grand palace, but everyone inside and out is frozen in place, not moving or responding to any prompt
    
12. A panopticon-style prison
    

1. Find a blue goat and feed him
   
2. there is a bomb somwhere, dismantle it DM note: the players have 1h real-time to accomplish this
   
3. Capture a flaming bird
   
4. Kill the Lord of the system
   
5. Attend a wedding (between sentient creatures)
   
6. Win a competition
   
7. Make the world go dark
   
8. Create a fire 80 meters tall
   
9. Introduce a new festival to the denizens of the region
   
10. Swim in a pool of blood
    
11. Survive DM note: this one's fun, but bery DM dependent
    
12. learn 10 new recipes
    

1. The players become the size of mice
   
2. The players can speak only lies
   
3. NPC's recognize the players (1d6 on attitude):
   
   1. happy
   2. angry
   3. sad
   4. neutral
   5. seeking revenge
   6. afraid
4. All objects the players touch become animals
   
5. 2 previously used wild magics are activated simultaneously (if fewer than 2 have been used so far, instead reveal 1 or 2 wild magics as needed plus any previously used ones)
   
6. The edge of the region is on fire. The fire is slowly closing in
   
7. The players keep changing places with each other DM note: whenever they roll a die, on below a 5 they change places with the player the number rolled
   
8. Players are 6 years old again
   
9. Whenever a player rolls a 1-5 on a d20, a random spell of that level / 2 (1-2: 1; 3-4: 2; 5: 3) is cast centered on the player
   
10. the stars are falling
    
11. There is an assassin in the world, whose sole purpose is to kill the players
    
12. every player rolls a 1d6, they feel super:
    
    1. happy
    2. angry
    3. sad
    4. depressed / hopeless
    5. jealous
    6. overconfident

I lost a good friend today. When that happens and the living are left to reflect on those we love, it can be hard to express with language the wealth of emotions and flavors of anguish that so effortlessly stain our cheeks and make a permanent home in the hidden places of our hearts. Since I can not stop crying, and can not hold him selfishly for one more night, I just wanted to share some of his favorite poems, and ask that anyone who wants to share some of their own favorites please do, the genre or content does not matter, only that it means something to you or did at one time. 

Posts in the series:

• First: Here
• Second: Here
• Third: Here
• Fourth: Here (Unplanned)
• Fifth: Here
• Sixth: Here
• Seventh: This

Brief recap

• Christianity (2.4B)
• Islam (2.0B)
• Hinduism (1.2B)
• Voodoo (60M)
• Sikhism (30M)
• Mormonism (16M)
• Judaism (14.5M)
• Spritism (5 to 15M)
• Korean Shamanism (5 to 15M)
• Caodaism (5 to 9M)
• Baha'i Faith (5 to 7.3M)
• Cheondoism (3 to 4M)
• Tenrikyo (2M)
• Tengrism (1.2M)
• Druze (1M)

Hinduism

• Criterion 0 (God reference): PROBLEMATIC. While Hinduism does have many deities. The issue is that it's not a single religion, rather, it's an umbrella word that covers diverse beliefs that don’t agree on the Gods involved and their roles. It also encourages differences in belief, and clearly states that no one has a claim on the truth. Consequently, it cannot be a communication from a judging and fair God who must communicate in a clear unambiguous way since judgement is involved.
• Criterion 1 (Living religion ): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. It doesn’t warn of any judgment, so it is safe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It’s not universal. It is mostly bound to India, as 95% of Hindus live there (1). The remaining 5% covers both immigration of Hindus, as well as actual conversions. Another issue is that it is not simple to understand. The reader is encouraged to go over to its dedicated page here on Britannica for example and attempt to understand the core beliefs. We saw that simplicity is one of the core foundations of universality.
• Criterion 4 (Past references): FAIL. It doesn’t reference previous religions. Rather, it claims to be eternal. However, it has considerably changed over time to the point that Gods lost influence, while others rose. How? Why? Who decides?
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. It doesn’t align with reality well. Depending on the branch of Hinduism one follows, the Gods are different, and have different roles. There is no way to tell which version is true, and they can’t all be true since they don’t agree, sometimes on the same Gods. How can various and distinct versions of a story all align with reality at the same time?

Voodoo

• Criterion 1 (Living religion ): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. Voodoo borrows concepts from multiple religions, including the God of the Bible, called Bondye (from French: “Bon Dieu”, literally “Good God”), who is viewed as the creator of everything, but one who doesn’t judge. In Voodoo, spirits (called Iwa) are to be served in exchange for protection, health and favor. It doesn’t speak of any judgment and is consequently safe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It’s far from being universal, as it is geographically and ethnically bound.
• Criterion 4 (Past references): FAIL. It borrows concepts from many religions (1) , but it doesn’t reference any past religions that it might have taken over from.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. It cannot align with reality well since it’s born from a mix of multiple different and incompatible worldviews. For example, the God of the Bible cannot possibly create spirits to be worshiped instead of himself. If he did, he wouldn’t be the God of the Bible. One might say, “well, the Bible is wrong about its own God, and Voodoo corrects that mistake”. Ok, fair enough! But why would it reference him as the God of the Bible then?! Voodoo borrows a popular God only to redefine him but doesn’t end up being more successful than the original and supposedly false definition.

Tengrism

• Criterion 0 (God reference): FAIL. Tengrism does reference a God, the sky God Tengri, as the highest deity (it has other deities). However, it isn’t a deity in the sense of other religions. Rather, it’s an abstract phenomenon.
• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. It doesn’t warn of any judgment, so it can be safely dismissed.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It’s far from being universal and is geographically and ethnically bound.
• Criterion 4 (Past references): FAIL. It doesn’t reference any past religions it would have taken over from.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Like Shinto, it doesn’t align with reality well. Its cosmology aspects demonstrate a local understanding that is linked to Earth. For example, it defines Gods that are specific to local concepts, like wind, clouds, sun, moon, thunder… It’s one thing to state that a God created everything including these concepts, it’s a whole other to assign a God to each one of these concepts (1). Is the God of clouds for example responsible for clouds on any planet? Where was he when clouds didn’t exist anywhere yet?

• Christianity (2.4B) x
• Islam (2.0B) x
• Hinduism (1.2B)
• Voodoo (60M)
• Sikhism (30M)
• Mormonism (16M) x
• Judaism (14.5M) x
• Spritism (5 to 15M)
• Korean Shamanism (5 to 15M)
• Caodaism (5 to 9M)
• Baha'i Faith (5 to 7.3M) x
• Cheondoism (3 to 4M)
• Tenrikyo (2M)
• Tengrism (1.2M)
• Druze (1M) x

Sikhism

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. Sikhism doesn’t warn of any judgment, consequently it can be safely dismissed. This also means that the God of Sikhism cannot be the judging and fair God we are looking for.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. Sikhism is far from being universal. 90% of Sikhs are in India where it first appeared. The next four major communities of Sikhs are located in Canada, the U.K, the U.S and Australia (1). All of which are popular destinations for Indian immigration, suggesting that Sikhism is heavily bound by ethnicity, on top of being bound by geography.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): FAIL. Sikhism doesn’t explicitly reference any previous religions from which it has taken over. What about the people who died before Guru Nanak was even born? Did the One God of Sikhism not communicate with them? This questions the fairness of the God of Sikhism.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. There are two elements that seem disconnected from reality when it comes to Sikhism: First, if it started with Guru Nanak, what about the people who died long before him? The One God of Sikhism has always been there, so why wait until Guru Nanak to teach people the path of salvation? After Guru Nanak, there was a continuity of Gurus who supposedly helped show people the way. It all ended with the scripture being the last eternal Guru. This means that Sikhism covers the timeline from Guru Nanak onward. What about before? Second, it was born in a time of religious persecution. It takes elements from both Hinduism and Islam. It claims that the Gods of Hinduism, as well as the God of Islam, are references to the same One God (2). This essentially goes against the foundation of both Hinduism and Islam, which extend back in time before Sikhism was even born. If the One God sent Guru Nanak to correct both of these religions, it didn’t happen. So not only did the One God ignore people before Guru Nanak, he couldn’t or didn’t want to establish Sikhism as the correct worldview, leaving people at the mercy of supposedly wrong, but more universal worldviews. It doesn’t make sense.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): FAIL. Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in Northern India, and yet, there is very little information about him. It’s impossible to reasonably authenticate the man. When someone has a considerable impact on their time, they become a person of interest and a subject of scrutiny, which translates to many words spoken and written about them. We have more information on Buddha and Confucius, who were born a long time before Guru Nanak, than we have on him. The story of his life was written 50 to 80 years after his death by followers without any regard to historical accuracy (3), Why? Why would a God choose a messenger who is unknown or difficult to authenticate?!
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. He was raised a Hindu as part of the Sant tradition, which were known for their poetry and composed hymns about the divine. This makes him violate the non-involvement rule on two accounts: First, he founded a religion that had many similarities with a tradition of Hinduism that worships the God Vishnu (4). Second, he used his poetry skills to compose hymns that later became part of Sikhism scripture (5). Both of these are natural progressions.
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. What little is known of his life doesn’t show any sudden change in his life direction after he was supposedly contacted by the One God. Again, why? Being contacted by some God is an exceptional event, why are there no known markers in the life of this man?
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): FAIL. There was no particular resistance to Sikhism to demonstrate any form of devotion.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. Guru Nanak couldn’t widely spread Sikhism. It is still concentrated in the place of its inception and is relatively unknown.

Caodaism

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. Caodaism doesn’t warn of any upcoming judgment, nor does it detail any conditions of success or failure. It is safe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It is far from being universal. It was born in Vietnam, and it stayed in Vietnam. There are some communities in some countries, but they remain among the diaspora. Caodaism couldn’t spread and is bound by geography and ethnicity. If this was a communication from a judging and fair God, the least that can be said is that it wasn’t good communication.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): FAIL. Caodaism doesn’t reference any past religions. Instead, it is a syncretic religion, which means that it mixes concepts from multiple religions to build a unique worldview. However, since it borrows concepts from religions that are not compatible with each other, it ends up at odds with those it borrows from. For example, Caodaism claims that God sent many prophets, including Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and Victor Hugo (Yes, Victor Hugo!!), to name a few. Buddha doesn’t speak of any God nor any judgment, while Jesus and Muhammad do. Buddha speaks of reincarnation, while Jesus and Muhammad speak of an afterlife. Also, Victor Hugo never claimed to be a prophet (Vietnam was colonized by France!), neither did many people that Caodaism claims they were prophets.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. As with all syncretic religions that borrow contradicting concepts, Caodaism doesn’t and cannot align with reality well. In addition, the fact that there were four prophets only made it worse, as they didn’t even agree amongst themselves. Sending four messengers at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): FAIL. It’s surprising that there is very little information about the founders of Caodaism even though it was founded recently compared to most of the religions mentioned in this book. One of them died as late as 1971, and yet, very little information is available. Why? How can we authenticate these people? How can the people that will be born 100 years from now authenticate these people if there is so little info? You can check their respective pages, they’re nearly empty.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. They all violate the rule of non-involvement. There is very little info, but among the info that is available, it shows that they were involved with existing religious activity. The first founder was interested in Chinese folk religion and developed a fascination with Spiritism (1). The three other founders were actually trying to contact spiritual entities using table-tapping, so basically looking for revelation (2).
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. They seem to have genuinely believed they actually received revelation. Their lives seem to have changed drastically afterwards. That said, they were all looking for it!
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): FAIL. The first prophet of Caodaism, Ngô Văn Chiêu who supposedly received a revelation in 1921, fails the complete devotion criterion. He didn’t like the religion becoming mainstream in his city, so he left the movement and established an independent and more restricted branch (3). If this is a God communicating, the whole point is for the message to reach as many people as possible! As for the remaining prophets, their devotion wasn’t really tested.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. The four prophets of Caodaism failed to spread their message and created division themselves.

Spiritism

• Criterion 0 (God reference): FAIL. Spiritism does reference a God, but it sees him as a supreme intelligence and a first cause of everything. He’s not necessarily an active actor in existence and who would communicate.
• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. Spiritism doesn’t warn of any upcoming judgment, so it is safe to dismiss. It was also considered a science by its founder, although the mainstream scientific community didn’t agree.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It is far from being universal. As a standalone religion, the number of its followers is rather small, and are mostly located in Brazil (1). As an “add-on” religion, for example to Catholicism, it has more sympathizers.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): FAIL. It does reference other religions, but not as past instances of communications, no! Rather, since Spiritism is mostly a description of the world, it aligns itself with several figures, like Jesus, Paul the Apostle, Buddha and Ghandi, to whom it delegates its moral component. The problem is that it ends up referencing incompatible concepts. Jesus and Buddha might agree on many moral concepts, but they view the world in extremely different ways.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. Nothing really keeps Spiritism from being a possibility. However, delegating its moral components to various people, like Jesus and Buddha, who viewed existence in extremely different ways, makes it impossible to be a coherent worldview.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. Spiritism was founded by the French teacher, educator and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail in the 1850s. It is the result of a study of mediumistic phenomena. Needless to say that he violates the non-involvement rule on multiple accounts. The religion isn’t a result of some God communicating, it is the product of the founder’s own search. Also, before he started his study, Rivali became interested in séances (attempts to communicate with spirits), which were a popular entertainment at the time (2).
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. His life didn’t take any sudden drastic turn. He did a study which had some results, he incorporated said results into what he called Spiritism, then published a book.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): FAIL. He doesn’t show any particularly strong devotion towards his findings. He viewed them as science that he tried to have recognized, but it wasn’t. He didn’t have to face danger or death for his “cause”.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. He failed to spread Spiritism.

Cheondoism

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. It doesn’t warn of any upcoming judgment (1), it is consequently safe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. It is far from being universal and is bound to South Korea.
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): FAIL. It doesn’t reference any past religions, which makes its God unfair towards all the people who died before it came along.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. It is syncretic religion that combines many different religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Korean shamanism, as well as Roman Catholicism, from which it borrows its monotheistic view (2). Again, like other Asian religions, it is combining incompatible concepts and attempting to make a unique worldview out of them.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): FAIL. There isn’t enough information on the social reputation of Ch’oe Che-u. Even less than Guru Nanak!
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. He violates the non-involvement rule on many accounts. Before he made his claim to be contacted by the Lord of Heaven in 1860, he was involved in Buddhism quite extensively (3). He also felt motivated to counter Christianity that was gaining adoption quickly (4). The motive was already there, and he was working towards it long before the claim occurred.
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): FAIL. His life doesn’t show any abrupt change in direction that might be caused by the contact from a God. Rather, he was motivated in countering Christianity with a local religion that will supposedly make Korea stronger, and that’s what he sought to do.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. He was arrested and executed in 1864. There is no better test of devotion than dying for one’s cause.
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. He failed to spread his message. He claims to have been sent by the Lord of Heaven to spread Cheodoism. He clearly stated that he was countering Christianity, which from his point of view, couldn’t be a true religion, and yet Christianity stands strong in Korea today, while Cheodoism doesn’t. What does this say about Cheodoism and its Lord of Heaven?

Tenrikyo

• Criterion 1 (Living religion): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Warning of judgement): FAIL. Tenrikyo states that God isn’t here to judge humans, only to help them live a joyous life. This makes it safe to dismiss.
• Criterion 3 (Universality): FAIL. Why isn’t Tenrikyo universal? Why is it bound to Japan and Japanese people? Why couldn’t it spread outside of Japan since the concepts it preaches are universal?
• Criterion 4 (Past reference): FAIL. It doesn’t reference any past religions. Why hasn’t the God of Tenrikyo communicated before? Why wait until the 1860s to help humans lead joyous lives? Nakayama, the founder of Tenrikyo, doesn’t seem to explain why. What about all the people who died before Nakayama was even born? Didn’t they deserve to also know how to lead a joyous life? This questions the fairness of the God of Tenrikyo.
• Criterion 5 (Alignment with reality): FAIL. If the God of Tenrikyo wanted all humans to have a joyous life here on Earth, there are many things he could have done to make that happen: First, he would have made sure to constantly communicate with humans to show them the way. Instead, he waited until 1860 to do that. Why?!! Second, he let false messengers and prophets achieve a far wider reach of message than Nakayama, and let them spread different worldviews that sometimes caused conflict and wars. Three, he could have removed the elements that make our lives here less joyous, like illness, pain and aging, maybe even death.

• Criterion 1 (Impeccable social reputation): PASS.
• Criterion 2 (Non-involvement rule): FAIL. She violates the rule of non-involvement on multiple accounts. First, she was heavily involved with Buddhism and even wanted to be a nun (1). She also received revelation while practicing a ritual of another religion (2), even though it was an event that clearly surprised and changed her. From her point of view, this really seemed like a real communication. However, that would mean that the God of Tenrikyo have chosen a ritual of an existing and supposedly false religion to reveal the true one?! The mere act of sending a messenger with a new religion while they were heavily involved with an existing and supposedly false one is suspicious, let alone do it while they were practicing a ritual of said false religion!!!
• Criterion 3 (Sudden self-produced life direction change): PASS. After the first revelation, Nakayama’s behavior changed. She locked herself in a storehouse for three years, gradually gave away all her possessions, then asked her husband to dismantle the house (3). This life direction change is self-produced. It wasn’t dictated by her environment.
• Criterion 4 (Complete devotion): PASS. Her devotion wasn’t tested to the maximum, which only happens under the threat to personal safety and death. However, the life of poverty she chose to lead after supposedly receiving the first revelation, shows that she was devoted to her mission. A pass is fair!
• Criterion 5 (Wide reach of message): FAIL. She failed to spread Tenrikyo to the world, even though it is supposedly destined for all humans, making it unlikely to be a communication from some God.

• Christianity (2.4B)
• Islam (2.0B)
• Mormonism (16M)
• Judaism (14.5M)
• Baha'i Faith (5 to 7.3M)
• Druze (1M)