Other ancient Maya deities included the sun god K’inich Ajaw, the rain and storm god Chaak and the lightning deity K’awiil, among many others. Sharer also notes that ancient Maya laborers were subject to a labor tax to build palaces, temples and public works. A ruler who was successful in war could control more laborers and exact tribute on defeated enemies, further increasing their economic might. James labels such causes ‘passional’-again, a potentially misleading term, since its intended referents include much more than emotional causes of belief. It is estimated that between 1910-1970, as much as one-third of all indigenous Australian children were taken from their families. Sunnis complain that though there are an estimated 1 million of them in Tehran, there are no Sunni mosques in the capital. There is a universal rule of ‘BENEFIT’ i.e. ‘BENEFIT’ is a driving force behind each of our actions. The “Establishment Clause” states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, and is generally read to prohibit the federal government from establishing a national church (“religion”) or excessively involving itself in religion, particularly to the benefit of one religion over another.

Caves played a special role in Maya religion, as they were seen as entranceways to the underworld. Additionally, the Spanish forced many of the Maya to convert to Christianity, going so far as to burn their religious books. In the past, the Supreme Court has permitted religious invocations to open legislative session (see: Town of Greece v. Galloway), public funds to be used for private religious school bussing (see: Everson v. Board of Education), and textbooks and university funds to be used to print and publish student religious groups’ publications (see: Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia). People from all over Greece might attend one of these gatherings. However, Maya people live on today and can be found all over the world. Ancient Maya religion also included stories of dangerous creatures such as the sea monster Sipak. Ancient astrologers figured this out by watching which sign rose first at night and set last in the morning. Ethnic quotas set for the recruitment of new officers into police academies were observed, but reforms intended to establish a countrywide effective, professional, multi-ethnic police force failed. The Maya believed that each person had a “life force,” and that draining a person’s blood in a temple could give some of this life force to a god.

The movements of the planet Venus appear to have played a particularly important role in ancient Maya religion. Additionally, by “recording the movements of the sky deities (sun, moon, planets, and stars), they developed accurate calendars that could be used for prophecy,” Sharer wrote. The team studied a room containing murals with inscriptions on them at the Maya site of Xultan, Guatemala, and found that the writing of codices took place in the room and that the “taaj” wrote them. Research reveals that at least some of the writers of Maya codices were part of “a specific cohort of ritual specialists called taaj,” a team of researchers wrote in a 2015 article for the journal American Anthropologist. Hallucinogenic substances were also used in religious ceremonies to help the Maya try to contact spirits and seek advice on how to deal with problems or situations. This principle has similarly been applied to those attempting to claim religious exemptions for using drugs. Freedom of religious worship was established in the Maurya Empire of ancient India by Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BC.

The earliest glimmers of recorded religious freedom was established in the ancient Persian Empire by its founder Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC. New departments were founded and influential journals of religious studies were initiated (for example, Religious Studies and Religion). The ancient Maya “were probably doing large-scale ritual activity connected to the different phases of Venus,” said Gerardo Aldana, a science historian in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. However, it is important to note that other Maya cities, such as Chichén Itzá, grew during and after the ninth century, at least for a time. At Chichén Itzá, victims would be painted blue, a color that is believed to have honored the god Chaak, and cast into a well. The rules for the Maya ball game are not well understood, but the increase in ballcourts during the Classic period indicates that the Maya continued to thrive. There are over 1,000 different Maya signs, although scribes only used up to 500 at any one time. In 2022, there were reports of difficulties for Rastafarians regarding use of marijuana for religious reasons and traditional hairstyles in schools. Van der Leeuw emphasized power as being the basic religious conception.