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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
 Posted - 08/21/2013 : 07:12:47
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Dr. Narendra Dabholkar Has Paid the Ultimate Price for Challenging Irrationality:We lost a real hero yesterday in the worst possible way.
Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, a 71-year-old anti-superstition activist and Humanist leader from India, was assassinated on Tuesday morning, presumably because of his skeptical beliefs...
For 30 years, Dabholkar worked to eradicate the scourge of superstition from a country known for embracing it. The anti-superstition bill that he fought for — but which has not yet passed — was one that went after the real criminals, the ones who used pseudoscience and myth to separate you from your hard-earned money. It was not, as some may think, a way to criminalize religion...
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- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/21/2013 : 08:00:24 [Permalink]
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This is certainly horrific. Fakirs, gurus, swamis, and god-men are a huge, powerful and wealthy industry in India. Legislation to shut down their often deadly and brutal scams is needed desperately in India, lest that developing country be stifled by barbaric anti-science superstition. One or more of these monstrous mountebanks/quacks are behind the assassination, though I doubt the corrupt Indian police will try hard to find the culprit(s).
That said, I must admit I understand little about the legislation that Dr. Dabholkar was sponsoring. I understand the part making it a criminal offense "to punish and to beat mentally ill patients in the belief that they are possessed by evil spirits," but what about making it illegal "to perform Karni, Bhanamati," etc?
Then there's the part that would criminalize actions "to claim to be possessed by divine power or evil power and then perform miracles in the name of such powers." Does both the claim of divine power and the performance of an actual miracle both have to occur?
I think we need someone far more studied in Hinduism and Indian culture than I to explain the bill. Any volunteers? |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 08/21/2013 : 08:33:18 [Permalink]
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India's second freedom struggle by Sanal Edamaruku
| Narendra Dabholkar has died a martyr – now we have to ensure that his brutal murder does not turn a triumph for the enemies of reason. It is the best tribute that we can pay to him, to take up his mantle and go forward. That is what we owe him – and it is what we owe India. Rationalism and scientific temper are crucial for the future of our country. If we want to see our people come out of the choke hold of ignorance, backwardness, exploitation and meaningless suffering and step into a dignified and successful future, then there can be no going back. We are in the midst of a great freedom struggle – India’s Second Freedom Struggle – and it is do or die. |
Sanal Edamaruku is the president of the Indian Rationalist Association and of Rationalist International. He lives in an undisclosed location in Europe, after receiving death threats from Catholic fanatics in Mumbai. This all started in March 2012, when he revealed in a TV program that the “miracle” of a water dripping crucifix in Mumbai was a plumber’s problem. Catholic forces pressed blasphemy charges against him and church officials demanded his apology.
Being a skeptic or rationalist activist in India is really putting your life on the line.
I had the good fortune to meet Sanal Edamaruku. He spoke at TAM this year.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 08/21/2013 : 09:59:55 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
The legislation has passed!
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You beat me to it! |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/21/2013 : 15:28:04 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Kil
Originally posted by HalfMooner
The legislation has passed!
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You beat me to it!
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Good! It's about time I beat someone to something. (I certainly didn't beat my housemates to consuming the comfort food and candy I'd stocked prior to the last two super-typhoons. I got not a bite of it!) |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Assassination
