Religurd Forum
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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
Joint NGO Statement on Danger of U.N. “Defamation of Religions” Campaign
(Some grim news from the UN. Visit the site on the link to read the whole document with signatories)
Deeply concerned by the pervasive and mounting campaign by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to produce U.N. resolutions, declarations, and world conferences that propagate the concept of “defamation of religions,” a concept having no basis in domestic or international law, and which would alter the very meaning of human rights, which protect individuals from harm, but not beliefs from critical inquiry;
Deeply concerned by the attempt to misuse the U.N. to legitimise blasphemy laws, thereby restricting freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press;
Deeply concerned that “defamation of religions” resolutions may be used in certain countries to silence and intimidate human rights activists, religious dissenters, and other independent voices;
Alarmed by the resolution on “defamation of religions” recently tabled at the current 10th session of the UN Human Rights Council;
Alarmed by the draft resolution on freedom of expression circulated by Egypt, whose amendments seek to restrict, not promote, protections for free speech;
Alarmed by the recently-announced initiative of the U.N. “Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards” to amend the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) by adding a protocol on “defamation of religions”;
Alarmed by provisions in the latest draft outcome document of the Durban Review Conference that, through coded language and veiled references, endorse and encourage these anti-democratic initiatives;
1. Call upon all governments to oppose the “defamation of religions” resolution currently tabled at the UN Human Rights Council, and the objectionable provisions of the freedom of expression resolution;
2. Call upon all governments to resist the efforts of the “Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards” to alter the ICERD;
3. Call upon all governments not to accept or legitimise a Durban Review Conference outcome that directly or indirectly supports the “defamation of religions” campaign at the expense of basic freedoms and individual human rights.
Posted from UNWATCH
Special religious ceremonies to protect the visitors to Sigiriya
Apr 09, Sigiriya: A special religious ceremony has been held at the Sigiriya rock fortress to invoke blessings on the visitors to save them from wasp attacks.
According to the sources the religious ceremony was held at the foot of the world famous Lion Rock of the Sigiriya fortress in accordance with ancient religious rituals.
Following the religious ceremonies the staff of the Sigiriya Project at the Central Cultural Fund as well as the residents of the area has offered a milk-based meal to the Pidurangala Vishnu Devalaya seeking protection for the visitors from wasp attacks.
Visitors to the Sigiriya Rock were attacked by wasps on three occasions last month. As a result of those wasp attacks the site was closed temporarily to remove the wasp nests from the premises.
Reposted from Colombopage http://www.colombopage.com/archive_09/April9143206RA.html
Why We Don’t Believe – Morality : The Immoral Minority
The phrase “The Moral Majority” is a self confirmation of most religious groups. They claim to have the moral high-ground, but do they? A lot of moral things that they do include punishment of the “immoral.” Stoning and beheading are commonplace in Saudi Arabia. This happens in a watered down version of lynching in some western countries. Sri Lanka accommodates these idiocies by changing laws to suit these religions(eg. banning selling of alcohol and meat on Poya Days).
Lets look at some of the so called morals. Well, there’s the 10 commandments, five precepts, the 5 pillars, seven deadly sins and you can go on and on listing all the thousands of religious moral codes in the world. Which one is the right one? Obviously, any religious person answering that will say, “Mine is.” If that is the case, we can instantly assume there isn’t an ultimate moral code. If we look at the commandments as an example(I will go into the others further detail in another series), we can see that most morals are about obeying and believing in God(s). The few good morals listed are not that important to believers as it shows in the current state of the world. George Carlin had a better set of Two Commandments: 1. Don’t kill, 2. Don’t be dishonest. There is a better version that I have heard, which is “Don’t be bad.” and bad defined as whatever is considered bad at the time.
There are some who say atheists have no morals .I have heard amoral people being called atheists, in Sri Lanka. If that is the case, the jails of the world should be filled with atheists and no religious person should(or is it the case that we are so ingenious to evade the law). And even if religious people are moral because of their belief in their religion, will they start killing and stealing if their belief is shattered.
Religions have in the past(and even in the present) been used to justify genocide, misogyny, homophobia, slavery and torture. Are these the morals that are superior to the secular sense of morality that we all share? There is even a correlation of the opposite. The terrorists that planned and carried out the attacks on the New York Twin Towers were devout fanatics; Catholics and Protestants killing themselves in Northern Ireland; and what about those priests molesting little children.
Current understanding of evolution states that most of these morals are not necessary to be in the “holy” books. There is a huge evolutionary advantage of being “nice” since this attitude is likely to be reciprocated(will go into detail in a later post). Furthermore, even the “Golden Rule” that is in both Christianity and Buddhism(in a abstract sense) were pre-dated by the philosopher Confucius. Moral philosophers are doing a far better job than any religious text, but these do not have the rigidity of religious text and can change with the moral zeitgeist. So, who are the moral ones, the ones who do good deeds because of their fear of a God and their afterlife, or the ones who are moral just because it is a good thing to do?
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