WHAT IS THE TAOIST (OR, DAOIST) BRANCH OF BUDDHISM ALL ABOUT? [3 of 6] Followers of Taoism vary in beliefs and practices, but among those are biblically abominable necromancy (contacting the dead) and Roman or Egyptian-type polytheism (worshiping many gods—Scripture also calls them idols). Taoists tend to worship mostly on their calendar’s religious holidays, setting food out as a sacrifice to the gods or the spirits of their departed ancestors. The Bible’s Deuteronomy shows us that God has some harsh condemnation for these Taoist practices: "When you enter the land that the Lord, your God has given you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter into the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft or casts spells, who is a medium or spiritist, or who consults with the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. And because these are detestable practices, the Lord, your God will drive out those nations before you. You, though, must be blameless before the Lord, your God.” Obviously, God detests the practices of those who communicate with dead people. Why is that? Well, once dead, if we were Christians, we instantly go to heaven to be with God. But non-Christians suddenly find themselves in hell. From that point, we remain in either place. Thank God we do not get kicked out of heaven, but hell is also permanent. Either way, we don’t travel back to have a chat with living friends or relatives on earth. There is no second chance and we can’t communicate with the living. That said, I believe people who say some spirit entity showed up and communicated with them, but the Bible is clear about what that is: it is not your loved one, no matter what kind of familiar, luminescent, friendly, or helpful demeanor the deceiving entity portrays. Scripture warns that those are “familiar” spirits, just the same old demons that have been duping people for thousands of years. Yet, the religion of Taoism promotes these extremely dangerous encounters.