Among the things that religion poisons is digestion.

I’ve read that sub-Saharan Africa (along with the Islamic lands of the Middle East) is one of the most religious places on Earth. Apparently it’s not the pre-colonial religions that hold sway, but Christianity, due to the incessant intrusions of Jebus missionaries. Regardless, an article from The Daily Mail (and yes, the facts are verified by the Christian Post) reports another insane manifestation of Christianity, apparently devised by the minister to amuse himself and demonstrate his power.

A South African preacher, Pastor Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre Ministries, has been preaching to his congregation that “humans can eat anything to feed their bodies and survive on whatever they choose to eat.”

Well, I’ll construe that statement as showing conflict between science and religion. Daniel tells his congregation that grass-eating will “bring them closer to God,”

Here’s the good reverend:

There are of course “testimonies” about the healing power of grass-eating:

Doreen Kgatle, 27, of Ga-rankuwa, suffered a stroke two years ago. ‘I could not walk but soon after eating the grass, as the pastor had ordered, I started gaining strength and an hour later I could walk again,’ said Kgatle.

And of course, his credulous flock (an appropriate term) heads for the lawn and start munching the greenery:

The results are absolutely predictable:

Well, I suppose it’s less harmful than handling snakes. But it has, according to the Mail, created a backlash of outraged comments on the ministry’s Facebook page. Pastor Daniel takes it in stride:

The Times Live reported that during a service of at least 1,000 people in a marquee Daniel screamed ‘sleep’ and six people went to sleep. He ordered other congregants to slap and trample on them, tut the sleepers remain rigid and unresponsive until he ordered them to wake up. ‘You can leave them like this for six months. I love this, I don’t want to be bored. You can even make police go to sleep when they come to arrest you,’ he said.

Apparently dispelling personal boredom is one of the pastor’s goals.

Below, in a video from 2012, we see Pastor Daniel apparently rescuing a woman from a “demonic pregnancy”. First she’s pregnant with Satan’s spawn—then she’s not! The demon gone—in seconds!

The YouTube notes, written of course by the Rabboni Centre, say this:

Here we see God’s work at hand through the man of God as this woman receives her deliverance from a demonic pregnancy. The evil one has been put to shame and God has rescued her from the grasp of the evil one. We rejoice with her in this victory in Christ.

Another photo of the good Reverend, looking a bit smug:

This is all a bit amusing to us heathens of course, who can laugh at how crazy religious people can behave, but remember that religion is most powerful among the most disaffected, and I suspect that these people aren’t in a high socioeconomic bracket. Were they not busy eating grass and catering to superstition, perhaps they’d use that time to work toward better living conditions.

The pastor should be made to eat grass!