Sri Lanka – Atheism in its future?
Must Watch: Religulous
The movie that inspired the name of this very website. Some might say its an outright rip off even. Never mind. Bill Maher, the American talk show host and comedian, wrote and starred in this comedy/documentary which probes organised religion and associated beliefs, in a satirical manner of course. Memorable parts of the film include an interview with Pastor John Wescott whose aim is to ‘help people overcome’ homosexuality, interview with Jose Miranda who has his cult following as he claims to be the second coming of the Jesus, and also when Bill visits the ‘Holy Land Experience’, a Christian theme park in Orlando, Florida.
Maher, an outspoken atheist himself, doesn’t give religion any slack in this film. Perfect.
If you have trouble finding it, here’s a hint, ’surf the channel’.
Not a gift from heaven
Question. Say you wake up one fine morning and you switch on the news and Lo! the woman with the plastic smile informs you that all religions have been abolished and that all the devotees of this good earth have gone back to doing more sensible things like (please insert sensible human activity of your choice / or what you would rather see the devotees doing if they were not bogged down by ritual – mine involves flamingos – don’t ask!)
What would you miss the most? which aspect of organized religion would you look back on with innocent nostalgia? say whenever you see a picture of Santa in the local museum and mutter to yourself “man those were the days..”
Personally I’d miss that oh so delightful feeling of feeling morally superior to the pious. Its what puts a smile on my face whenever I hear a fatwa declared in my name.
Religurd Forum
A forum has been just set up for more engaged and varied discussion, please feel free to join in. There are’nt many topics created at the moment, but please go ahead if you want to start one.
Religion and Politics – The Unholy Alliance
Religion has played a large part of politics and policy making in the world. In the past decade or so, there has been a resurgence of it in Sri Lanka. The election of clergy into parliament has made it clear at least a sizeable minority of Sri Lankans want to expand the powers of religion in mainstream policy making. There has been pandering by politicians towards certain religions in the past, such as in the creating of the Sri Lankan Constitution which has a separate chapter on Buddhism.
The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e).
Reproduced from the Constitution – http://www.constitution.gov.lk/constitutionSL1978.shtml
Though this might not be seen by most people as being an oppression by most people, consider it if the words “Buddha Sasana” were replaced by a political party or a specific race or by another religion for the Buddhists. Would most people take it with the same magnitude of apathy towards this article? Why are our taxes used in this way? What would a non-Buddhist Government or President do? This may not be comparable to constitutions of countries such as Afghanistan where you could be put to death for not believing in a certain religion.
This being said, the religious faction of our government is hard at work trying to pass rules and regulations to suit their world-view. These new programs include censoring our thoughts and actions. This downward spiral could continue to such an extent that only die hard followers of these religious of these pious leaders will enjoy the full rights that we now hold.
Falling Bo tree kills two devotees in Sri Lanka
Oct 04, Monaragala: At least two persons were killed and many more injured when a branch of a Bo tree fell on to a group of devotees at Sri Sambodhi Viharaya in Monaragala last night. Monaragala police said the Bo tree branch fell due to the gusting winds blowing across the area when the devotees were engaging in religious activities last nigh to mark the Vap full moon Poya day. Nearly 25 devotees, who received injuries in the incident, have been admitted to Monaragala and Badulla hospitals.
Posted from Colombopage.com
Let There Not Be Light by Jeremy Clarkson
This was an article by Clarkson in the Sun
A Jewish couple are suing their neighbours because, they say, the security light which comes on automatically when they step into the communal hallway in their block of flights is a breach of their human rights.
Apparently, Orthodox Jews believe that a ban on the lighting of fires on the Sabbath means that they also can’t ignite the filament in a bulb.
Yes. But is it not the human right of all the other people in the block of flats not to trip over a kid’s bicycle because they couldn’t see the bloody thing in the darkness?
Meanwhile, we heard this week about the tragic story of a Roman Catholic woman who suffocated her new-born baby out of shame, and then died herself.
And it can’t be long before another Muslim blows himself up at a Tube station.
Religion. Honestly. What is the point?
Buddha Phone – buddhism on the go for you tech savvy Buddhists
I thought bling in religion was mainly reserved to diamond encrusted crosses on chains hanging around necks of rappers and hats embroided in gold on the heads Catholic priests. Apparently not. Buddhists don’t have to despair any longer, they can be fashionable too! Behold the Odin 99, the gold coloured, incence burning (simulated of course) MOBILE PHONE. It comes with a charm and animated altar of Buddha on the screen, it will simulate purification rites, and will also play music to help meditate. I’m sold already!
And it comes with two camera’s too, if you ever need to video conference a Pirith. Only available in China at the moment, but don’t worry, it will find its way to Sri Lanka.
Why We Don’t Believe – Absurdity : Would YOU believe this?
One of the core components of all religions is the belief in absurdity. I could give a list of these elements (such as the magical underpants of the Mormons, the transubstantiation in Christianity, the bodily ascended Mohammed or the worship of a statue of the Buddah), but that would be beside the point and I shall stick to only types of these preposterous ideas (I will illustrate more on specific religions on latter posts). Almost everyone understands that these claims are absurd, but since these stupidities are in the religious nature, we are asked to overlook them (only in the case of their inherent religion). Why do people laugh at Mormons and Scientologists for their beliefs? Is the idea of a supreme galactic overlord any less ridiculous than the idea of a talking snake? Most average religious folk tend to dismiss these ideas by stating that they come from ancient texts or that the authors were would have meant them to be metaphorical. Why stop there, why not the whole religion? What criteria is there to separate the metaphors from the “actual religion”?
Some of the absurdity is actually in rituals. Take prayer for instance. Every religious person does it. They pray for all types of things, but when they do not get it, “Its just god’s will” or “God moves in mysterious ways.” Why bother doing it in the first place? Imagine the millions of Jews praying Hitler to die or the millions of Sri Lankans praying for peace all these years. God took his sweet time didn’t he?
Then there is the “scientific” nonsense in religion. There are creationists museums in the United States that depict modern humans living with dinosaurs, well the Flinstones could be shown as a documentary then. Are these not products of the religious irrationalities? There was even a Bishop Usher who calculated the creation of the universe to 23 October 4004 BC.
To make these absurdities apparent to believers, many non-theists have created “pseudo-religions.”, two of the most popular being the Churches of The Flying Spaghetti Monster and that of the Invisible Pink Unicorn. These are meant as lampoons on “real” religions, but are they?
Hundreds of Catholic priests ‘to be implicated in child abuse report’ – 2500 victims of abuse
Gang rape as well? Are you serious?
A major investigation into allegations of child abuse in Irish state-run institutions is set to implicate ‘hundreds’ of Catholic priests today.
The country’s Child Abuse Commission is publishing a report containing evidence from 2,500 victims of abuse following the Irish Republic’s largest-ever investigation of religious orders
Latest comments