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To: Steelfish
How predictable.

You "conveniently" left this part out:

"Another Hindu priest Bhagat Ashok told media that act of Tekam Das was foolish and it was illegal to offer sacrifice of even animals in the Hindu religion. The incident spread panic in the town of Mirwah Gorchani as hundreds of people gathered at the spot."

What's next, a discussion on paedophile Catholic priests? Or a justification for the ritual mass slaughter of children and infants a la 1 Samuel 15: 2-3?

13 posted on 03/24/2010 2:49:29 PM PDT by James C. Bennett
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To: James C. Bennett
This is unfortunately something that can be justified in Hinduism, although of course most modern Hindus do not do things like this. Hinduism is actually very similar to the religion of pre-Christian Rome, the practice of which depended upon the social and educational level of those involved. At a lower level, they had a multiplicity of gods who needed to be propitiated in various ways, they practiced ancestor and emperor worship, and they also threw in a bit of fertility cult behavior; more educated people, on the other hand, had moved almost entirely into philosophical realm and were more or less monotheist, regardless of the ceremonies they had to perform to satisfy social expectations.

Christianity, more than anything else, set the poor free from their fears.

It also gave the final interpretation to what Christians refer to as the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures, and removed the literal nature of the commands to kill one's enemy and one's enemies children (which had actually already been interpreted allegorically for many years by the time of the arrival of Christ). Jews stopped practicing even animal sacrifice with the fall of the Temple a few decades after the death of Christ.

16 posted on 03/24/2010 3:03:46 PM PDT by livius
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To: James C. Bennett

First, the rules allow no more than 300 words of text. Second, what has the saying of “another Hindu priest” got to do with the slaughter of three innocent kids offered by a Hindu priest as sacrifice to a deity in this day and age? If this doesn’t bring universal condemnation, what will?


25 posted on 03/24/2010 5:17:14 PM PDT by Steelfish (ui)
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To: James C. Bennett; Steelfish; Mark was here

First of all, Kali worship is considered in the Vedas to be inferior, or “shakti” worship - that means worship of the energy of God, not worship of God Himself, which is called “bhakti”. Anyone who worships the creation instead of God is in that sense a demigod or matter worshiper. The Bhagavad Gita actually condemns worship of demigods, of which Kali is one, as inferior, engaged in by materialistic people, and is described thus:

“Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto the demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.” BG 7.20

So anyone who worships Kali is actually disregarding the instructions in the Bhagavad Gita. Second, the man was “worshipping” Kali in a manner NOT prescribed in the Puranas or other shastras that actually detail how to worship the various demigods; he was extremely disobedient in every way. Obviously crazy.

Third, those who worship demigods do so for material benefit - to get wealth, strong health, good husband or wife, power, etc. The benefits (if any, as it is not so easy to do everything) are temporary and shallow. But worship of the Supreme Godhead is the only reccommended path in the Bhagavad Gita, and it is simple and easy. Worship of God Himself gives salvation from the world of birth and death, and love for Him and all His creatures.

“Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary”. BG 7.23

Another very important point to note is that sacrifice of humans is never, ever condoned or taught in any of the vast Vedic scriptures. Ever.

Another point is that demigods are created beings just like humans, but with greater power, they assist in the management of the universe; they are God’s servants. They also die, although their lifespans are very long compared to human beings. They are not God, they are not His equals, and the Vedas describe all this quite clearly. Currently, there are many Hindus who are ignorant about their own scriptures and religion, just as there are many Christians similiarly ignorant. (Think snake handlers, Christains for abortions and “gay” marriage, etc.) The fault in the grisly crime described in this article is not in the scriptures or traditions of Hinduism, but in modern misunderstanding and even more so, personal failure and evil.


47 posted on 03/25/2010 12:43:31 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Asato Ma Sad Gamaya Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya)
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To: James C. Bennett

This is the problem of engaging in lazy superficial quick-internet quotes and biblical passages rather scholarly discourse. The “genocidal” God of the Bible was made up to justify certain forms of aggression. Indeed, this quote from Samuel was four centuries after what purportedly occurred as historical fact.

Mattill makes this point well:

“God commanded the brutal slaughter of the Amalekites four centuries after the Amalekites had attacked the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Think of it! God ordered the killing of men, women, children, and their babies for acts committed by their ancestors hundreds of years before. Why should God punish descendants for the sins of their ancestors? After all, the Lord himself said that “only those who sin will be put to death” (Ezekiel 18:4)

This is how absurd this quote gets when one resorts to out-of-context Scriptural passages in an attempt to mitigate the horrible and grisly massacre by a Hindu prelate of three small innocents girls.

Here’s a careful and intellgent anaylsis of this text.
___________________________________________________________
Annihilate The Amalekites!
A. J. MATTILL Jr.

According to Deuteronomy 25:17-19, Moses said to the Israelites: “People of Israel, do you remember what the Amalekites did to you after you came out of Egypt? You were tired, and they followed along behind, attacking those who could not keep up with the others. This showed that the Amalekites have no respect for God. The Lord your God will help you capture the land [of Canaan], and he will give you peace. But when that day comes, you must wipe out Amalek so completely that no one will remember they ever lived” (contemporary English Version).

Some four hundred years later the prophet Samuel gave to King Saul this message from the Lord: “When the Israelites were on their way out of Egypt, the nation of Amalek attacked them. I am the Lord all Powerful, and now I am going to make Amalek pay! Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and their possessions. Don’t have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, donkeys” (1 Samuel 15:2-3, Contemporary English Version).

So Saul attacked the Amalekites and killed every one of them except their King Agag, whom the ferocious Samuel himself later chopped to pieces before the altar of the Lord (1 Samuel 15:7-9, 31-33).

Now let us scrutinize these scriptures.

1. Crazy Chosenpeopleism.Any sensitive person who reads these passages gets the creeps and wants to upchuck. But before reacting so negatively to these “inspired scriptures” we should note that the Amalekites were so impious that they had no respect for the Israelites, God’s “chosen people,” “the apple of God’s eye” (Zechariah 2:8). God takes what is done against his favorite people as done against himself. How audacious, then, of the Amalekites to attack God’s chosen people. Why, that’s tantamount to attacking God himself. But this whole notion of God’s playing favorites is itself enough to turn one’s stomach.

2. Annihilate the Amalekites! Now we focus on the brutal command of a merciless God: “Don’t have any pity. Wipe out the Amalekites so completely they’ll be forgotten forever. Slay all of the adults and children and even the tender babes in the loving arms of their mothers. Obliterate the savage Amalekites. And don’t stop with the humans, slaughter their animals too.” No reference for life there!

3. Incomparable Injustice. But it gets worse. God commanded the brutal slaughter of the Amalekites four centuries after the Amalekites had attacked the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. Think of it! God ordered the killing of men, women, children, and their babies for acts committed by their ancestors hundreds of years before. Why should God punish descendants for the sins of their ancestors? After all, the Lord himself said that “only those who sin will be put to death” (Ezekiel 18:4)

4. A Genocidal God.The Bible makes it clear that God is a genocidal God, a god who deliberately destroys whole populations. We are seeing that he ordered the annihilation of the Amalekites. God, speaking through Moses, commanded Israel to destroy without mercy the people of seven nations, the Hitites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites (Deuteronomy 7: 1-5, 16; 20: 16-18).

Turning to the New Testament, we see the kings of the world gathering together for the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14-16). Fire comes down from heaven and destroys all the enemies of God (Revelation 20:7-10). could any devil be more cold-blooded? Can anyone in his/her right mind love, serve, and worship such a gruesome genocidal God?

Conclusion. The Bible’s genocidal god was a fictitious idol created by an imperialistic chosen people to give divine approval to their bloody wars of conquest.


73 posted on 03/25/2010 2:46:29 PM PDT by Steelfish (ui)
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