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25 Nov 09

Animal Sacrifice by Hindus at Gadhimai Fair in Nepal – Thoughts and Reactions

Interesting opinion piece on the Ghadamai (Nepal) sacrifice, going on now. The author rejects animal sacrifice as a false interpretation of Hindu teaching, but blames middle-class, educated Indian Hindus for failing to spread true teachings among rural communities, often seen as backward, primitive, and embarrassing.

www.hindu-blog.com/...ice-by-hindus-at-gadhimai.html - Preview

hinduism opinion commentary ritual sacrifice animals violence rels327 post:facebook(source) south_asia religion

  • It is easy to blame the animal sacrificing Hindu as uneducated, superstitious believing in witchcraft and tantrics. Educated Hindus impatiently tries to distance from such events and talk loftily about Yoga, Upanishads and the scientific achievements of ancient Hindus.

    The real culprits here are educated Hindus, modern day Hindu Gurus and Saints, Hindu leaders, Hindu organizations and the government. Majority of the Gurus and Saints are only interested in working among the middle class and the rich. The Gurus go all the way to talk about Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita in United States and Europe but never venture into the rural areas of India where there is no electricity and proper educational facilities.

    Only a few Hindu organizations work in rural India. Majority of the organizations are often confined to a particular caste or area.

  • You can never blame a Hindu who goes to sacrifice an animal for personal wish fulfillment or as a thanksgiving for his/her prayers heard. Because he/she comes from areas in India where there is no electricity, no proper roads and not even good water to drink. His sole refuge is in a local deity who can be appeased with his personal wealth and that is quite often his domesticated animals.
24 Oct 09

At n+1 Panel, the Cat Got Douthat's Tongue on Topic of of Gay Marriage | The New York Observer

A tiny little column that opens up a really interesting issue, when conservative -- sort of -- commentator Ross Douthat admits that he opposes same-sex marriage but is "uncomfortable discussing the issue in public," mainly because he can't think of a non-religious reason for his views. Fascinating example of the way public and private discourses can collide in one individual's experience.

www.observer.com/...hats-tongue-topic-gay-marriage - Preview

glbt marriage same-sex commentary conservatives religion church_and_state possible_blog_post

  • At first Mr. Douthat seemed unable to get a sentence out without interrupting himself and starting over. Then he explained: "I am someone opposed to gay marriage who is deeply uncomfortable arguing the issue in public."
  • Mr. Douthat indicated that he opposes gay marriage because of his religious beliefs, but that he does not like debating the issue in those terms. At one point he said that, sometimes, he feels like he should either change his mind, or simply resolve never to address the question in public.
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Fascism’s new faces (and new facelessness) in the ‘post-fascist’ epoch

"These people were proud of their work. They were convinced of being engaged in an act of purification. They called Auschwitz the anus of Europe. Europe had to be cleansed. They were responsible for the purification of Europe. If you cannot get your head round that you will understand nothing at all."

home.alphalink.com.au/...theory6.html - Preview

fascism history commentary disturbing wwii

21 Oct 09

Patrice Higonnet: On Harvard's Financial Crisis

Patrice Higonnet excorates Dean Michael Smith (FAS, Harvard), for the University's decision to lay off several hundred employees without bothering to explain or justify that decision to the faculty. "Your report should have two additional paragraphs. I urge you to add them as a footnote to your pages. The first would provide us with a precise figure: it would be a statement regarding the exact amount of money that we secured by inflicting woeful pain on the University's staff, together with your justification of that decision. Had we kept them on, how far now would we be below our current 26 billion mark? A calculation made by exact tenth of one percentage point would be welcome."

www.counterpunch.org/higonnet10212009.html - Preview

harvard higher_education financial_crisis letters commentary via:facebook

  • Your report should have two additional paragraphs. I urge you to add them as a footnote to your pages. The first would provide us with a precise figure: it would be a statement regarding the exact amount of money that we secured by inflicting woeful pain on the University's staff, together with your justification of that decision. Had we kept them on, how far now would we be below our current 26 billion mark? A calculation made by exact tenth of one percentage point would be welcome.
17 Oct 09

Swine Flu Shots Revive a Debate About Vaccines - NYTimes.com

Excerpt: "According to a CBS News poll conducted last week, only 46 percent said they were likely to get the [H1N1 flu] vaccine... Web sites, Twitter feeds, talk radio and even elevator chatter are awash with skeptics criticizing the vaccine, largely with no factual or scientific basis. The most common complaint is that the vaccine has been newly formed and quickly distributed without the benefit of clinical trials; in fact, the swine flu vaccine was made using the same techniques as seasonal flu shots over the last two decades... There are also claims that the vaccine contains adjuvants -- sometimes added to make vaccines more effective -- although they have not been used in this one. In addition, there is fear that the vaccine could lead to Guillain-Barré syndrome, as was suspected the last time a swine flu vaccine was distributed, in 1976; flu vaccines are now much purer than they were, minimizing the risk, and Guillain-Barré is far rarer."

www.nytimes.com/...16vaccine.html - Preview

swine_flu vaccination medicine health commentary debate news post:facebook(source) post:twitter(source)

Swine Flu Shots Revive a Debate About Vaccines - NYTimes.com

Excerpt: "According to a CBS News poll conducted last week, only 46 percent said they were likely to get the [H1N1 flu] vaccine... Web sites, Twitter feeds, talk radio and even elevator chatter are awash with skeptics criticizing the vaccine, largely with no factual or scientific basis. The most common complaint is that the vaccine has been newly formed and quickly distributed without the benefit of clinical trials; in fact, the swine flu vaccine was made using the same techniques as seasonal flu shots over the last two decades... There are also claims that the vaccine contains adjuvants -- sometimes added to make vaccines more effective -- although they have not been used in this one. In addition, there is fear that the vaccine could lead to Guillain-Barré syndrome, as was suspected the last time a swine flu vaccine was distributed, in 1976; flu vaccines are now much purer than they were, minimizing the risk, and Guillain-Barré is far rarer."

www.nytimes.com/...16vaccine.html - Preview

swine_flu vaccination medicine health commentary debate news post:facebook(source) post:twitter(source)

12 Oct 09

Anglican Mainstream » Blog Archive » “Simply Unprecedented” — President Obama and the Gay Rights Movement

  • You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.
    • Notice that he did NOT say that he would press for legal recognition of same-sex marriage. He seemed to be pretty careful about that. - on 2009-10-12
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11 Oct 09

Modernity’s Fraternity < Killing the Buddha

Notes on Freemasonry in American history and popular culture, and Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol."

killingthebuddha.com/...modernity%E2%80%99s-fraternity - Preview

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