Shit and religion are, one can say, almost inseparable.
Khepri, the god of the rising sun and rebirth among ancient Egyptians was portrayed and linked to the scarab or dung beetle.
In the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament we read in Genesis 2:7: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” “Ground” in this context stands to mean feces.
Priests of the 5th Dalai Lama in the mid seventeenth century collected his feces, dried, powdered, packaged, and sold them to his devotees. They were used to induce sneezing, as a food condiment, a remedy for diseases, as pills to be eaten, and as protection when worn around the neck as amulets.
It is said that Martin Luther, who was chronically constipated, was illuminated while sitting on the toilet at the tower of the Wittenberg monastery in Germany. “Justice of God. God’s justice ought to be the salvation of every believer. Thank you Holy Spirit for giving me this sweet message!”, screamed the religious leader, while trying to do a number two. Luther’s propensity for scatological language was also documented. When he was sick and near dying, Luther said: “I am like ripe shit and the world is a gigantic asshole. We probably will let go of each other soon”. Luther also envisioned the devil as the embodiment of shit.
Thanks to FridgeRaider from Urbandictionary.com, religions have been associated to the expression Shit Happens (the original title of our film Holy Shit). It has circulated in social media for over a decade.
A universal religious concept:
Taoism: Shit Happens.
Hinduism: This shit happened before.
Islam: If shit happens, take hostages.
Buddhism: If shit happens is it really shit?
Protestantism: Shit happens if you work hard.
Catholicism: Shit Happens, I deserve it.
7th Day Adventist: Shit happens on Saturday.
Mormonism: Knock Knock, Shit Happens.
Judaism: Why does shit happen to me?
Krishnaism: Shit happens, ring a dingy ding.
Jehovah’s Witness: People now living will see shit happen.
Paganism: Each shit has its own name.
Atheism: Bullshit!
TV Evangelism: Send more shit.
Rastafarianism: Let’s smoke this shit.
Sunday School student: I gotta go