Dogma Exposed – Christians Attempt to Smuggle 33 Haitian Children Across Border

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of updates for almost a week. I’ve been hit by a massive surge in schoolwork, and I simply couldn’t find the time to care about my blog. I shall try my best to keep War for Science updated, however.

So what’s the “great” news for this week? See below.

Ten members of a US Christian group may face charges of kidnapping minors and child-trafficking after trying to smuggle a group of children out of quake-hit Haiti, officials said Monday.

Amid growing concern over the safety of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable women and children left destitute after the January 12 quake, the case could also go to trial in the US courts.

Mazar Fortil, interim prosecutor for the main Port-au-Prince court, told AFP the group may also face a lesser charge of criminal conspiracy.

But asked about earlier comments whether the group will be transferred to face charges in the United States, Fortil said it was "too early to tell."

The five men and five women with US passports, as well as two Haitians, were seized late Friday as they tried to cross into the neighbouring Dominican Republic in a bus with 33 children aged between two months and 14 years.

They have defended their actions saying they were only trying to do what was right in the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude quake, but the arrests have again thrown the spotlight on the Caribbean nation's impoverished people.

“For us it is important to clarify how those kids have been given to those people,” Georg Willeit, a spokesman for SOS Children Village where the youngsters are being cared for, told AFP Monday.

“One of the girl, 10 years old, said that her mother went to the bus to say good bye, so we have to clarify the whole situation.”......

from Javno.com

These guys were from Idaho, and guess what, they allegedly tried to send these children to an hotel waiting to be converted in an orphanage without the required paperwork. One must wonder, did they really go to Haiti to help those earthquake victims? Or did they go to spread the word of the Bible and brainwash the victims into accepting Christianity?

The group’s spokesperson claimed that what they were doing were entirely right, but where are the legal papers? Why, according to a Malaysian newspaper, were the parents oblivious to what they were actually doing? And why, if that action was legal, were they arrested? Either they were simply too careless, or they may had other plans for the children. I won’t jump to conclusions here, but it is certainly possible that this is another example of the Christian Taliban in action. And they say that atheists eat babies.

Dogma Exposed - Rape victim receives 101 lashes for becoming pregnant

A 16-year-old girl who was raped in Bangladesh has been given 101 lashes for conceiving during the assault.

The girl's father was also fined and warned the family would be branded outcasts from their village if he did not pay.

According to human rights activists, the girl, who was quickly married after the attack, was divorced weeks later after medical tests revealed she was pregnant.

The girl was raped by a 20-year-old villager in Brahmanbaria district in April last year.

Bangladesh's Daily Star newspaper reported that she was so ashamed following the attack that she did not lodge a complaint.

Her rape emerged after her pregnancy test and Muslim elders in the village issued a fatwa insisting that the girl be kept in isolation until her family agreed to corporal punishment.

Her rapist was pardoned by the elders. She told the newspaper the rapist had "spoiled" her life.

"I want justice," she said.

This was from Telegraph.co.uk. I hoped I was surprised when I heard about this, but no, I am not, unfortunately. The sharia law is so infamous for its sexism and its maltreatment of women, and this is just one in many cases. There is certainly many more cases not reported in the media. Yet, from this we can see how irrational, tyrannical, and sexist extremist Islam is, and anyone who says that sharia law is fair and play should rethink their words. Seriously.

Well, at least it such a law isn’t in the Holy Quran, and we can all agree that this is a case of the extremists misusing the sharia law. But sexists views are still present here and there in the Quran (and the Bible, for that matter).

Women who are divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart, three (monthly) courses. And it is not lawful for them that they should conceal that which Allah hath created in their wombs if they are believers in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands would do better to take them back in that case if they desire a reconciliation. And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness, and men are a degree above them. Allah is Mighty, Wise. - 2:228, Holy Quran

If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you. – Deuteronomy 22:23-24, the Holy Bible (KJV)

PS: Moderate Muslims around the world, there is no better way to prove that Islam is a religion of peace than now! You say that Islamic-phobia is widespread, eh? Then how about this: condemn the extremist and sexist acts. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Why I am Not a Buddhist

Sorry, but I've officially left Buddhism.

I left Buddhism not very long ago – it was November 2009 when I started identifying myself as an atheist. Why did I leave, you ask? Isn’t Buddhism nothing more than a philosophy of life? Isn’t Buddhism atheistic/agnostic? I hoped it was so, but in reality, it isn’t. Buddhism is a religion in Malaysia, and is full of superstition. To my Buddhists friends and all those who respect this religion, I apologize, but there certainly are reasons why I de-converted.

What Buddhism is in my society.

While Westerners generally think of Buddhism as philosophical and metaphorical, it is viewed as literally in some ways. Quite a number of Malaysia Buddhists (and possibly other Southeast Asian societies), the Buddha is viewed as god-like, hell and heaven are believed to be literally true, the existences of ghosts are accepted without question and so on. Avoiding association with such beliefs is one of the reasons I left Buddhism. Also note that when I speak of Buddhism, I mean Mahayana Buddhism, which is the one practised the most in Malaysia.

Similarities Between Buddhism and Theistic Religions

The Pure Land of Bliss – Buddhist Version of Heaven

It is taught in Buddhism that life is suffering, and to escape it, one needs to attain nirvana, or enlightment. I’m perfectly at ease with this view, but there is another Buddhism school that teaches differently – Pure Land Buddhism, which is a Mahayana sect. It teaches that Nirvana is increasingly hard to attain, and by chanting the Amitābha Sutra, and constantly devoting to the Buddha, one can get to the Pure Land of Bliss, which is a stepping stone to attaining Nirvana.

So what is there in this realm? Well firstly, suffering ceases to exist in the Pure Land, and there is only bliss. It is a realm rich and prosperous, comfortable and delightful, fertile and rich, and it is crowded with Bodhisattvas, Devas (deities) and humans. No evil beings like asuras, ghosts, hell-beings, and animals (gasp) exist. Expect crystal clear water, golden sands, overwhelming numbers of lotus flowers, trees of jade, warm lights, cotton-soft terrain, beautiful birds singing melodious notes (Wasn’t animals banned? Paradox!), and the chanting of sutras stretching towards all corners of space. Sounds like a great place to go.

Wait a minute, doesn't that sound like praying to Jesus/Allah/Yahweh and getting salvation? And doesn’t the Pure Land of Bliss sound eerily like Heaven as depicted in Christianity/Judaism/Islam? Take a look, is it not identical to the Jannah as depicted in Islam?

One day in paradise is considered equal to a thousand days on earth. Palaces are made from bricks of gold, silver, pearls, among other things. Traditions also note the presence of horses and camels of "dazzling whiteness", along with other creatures. Large trees are described, mountains made of musk, between which rivers flow in valleys of pearl and ruby. – Encyclopaedia of Islam

While many may protest that the Pure Land of Bliss is not meant to be a  paradise, but rather a stop on the way to enlightment, the principle is still there. It’s exactly the tactic used by almost every religion to create mass appeal, in which great bliss is promised to the one who believes in a particular divine being/religion. In Abrahamic religions, it's the escape from hell to Heaven. For Pure Land Buddhism, it's escape from "suffering" in the real world to a perfect land of bliss. Even Buddhist teachings identify this belief as a faith.

The Pure Land of Bliss: Similar tactics are employed by other religions to gain followers.

Prayer Towards Deities

Go into almost any Buddhist temple here, and you will find altars and offerings to the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and other gods. People here kneel down in prayers to the Kuan Yin bodhisattva, the Laughing Buddha, the Four Guardian Kings, the Jade Emperor, and other supernatural deities, hoping that the deities will give them luck, prosperity, safety, etc. Yes, you hear me right. In Malaysia, Buddhism is predominantly polytheistic.

Of course, a lot of you may say: “No! Buddhism is atheistic, as it doesn’t accept the view of a god”. Yes, Buddhists don’t believe in a Creator-God. But Malaysian Buddhists believe the existence of the Buddha/Bodhisattvas/Devas as divine beings, and that they can interfere in our daily lives by blessing us luck. They are more like Hindu deities in this sense, and Buddhism can still be classified as polytheistic.

Viewing of Sexual Acts as Dirty

The Abrahamic religions are frequently criticised as being critical towards sex, but guess what - the Buddhist teachings in Malaysia does this as well. It is said that women are “dirty”, masturbation causes diseases and disorders, and homosexuals are considered as abnormal and in one book – viewed as the cause of AIDs. I realise that this isn’t true Buddhism, but here in Malaysia, it is preached as such.

Reincarnation - Where's the scientific evidence?

Buddhism teaches that all beings have an eternal soul, as opposed to a finite body. When we die, we are reincarnated into another body. The exact realms in which we will be born into is determined by our karma. Despite the wishful belief of reincarnation, there is little (if any) scientific evidence for it, and I choose not to uphold this belief. I will explain the problems of the soul in my following posts in detail, but for now, let’s just say that the brain is the core of consciousness, not the soul, and that we cannot survive materialistic death.

Karma - It's simply superstition.

Karma, or known as “报应 (bao ying)” in Chinese, is core to Buddhism. Karma, in its most basic form is simply cause-and-effect, in which no one can deny in its existence. But for Malaysian Buddhists, it goes one step further.

Here, karma takes a supernatural meaning. It is all to familiar to hear: “You’re going to hell for lying”, “Curse people and you will be reborn with a crooked mouth”, “Look down upon people and you shall be reborn as a ghost”, “If you do bad deeds, accidents will fall upon you” etc. Karma in this context moves way beyond casual determinism. It’s like a omniscient, omnipotent force, constantly monitoring what you do, and blessing you with prosperity or cursing you with accidents and deformations if you do “bad” things. I know that’s not the best analogy, but the word “karma” is quite different from the deterministic cause-and-effect model.

Evolution – Not Compatible with the Six Realms of Existence

The Six Realms of Existence is the one of the core beliefs of Buddhism. There are the realm of the Devas, which are blissful; Asuras, which are more blessed than humans but full of rage, anger, and jealously towards the Devas; the realm of Homo sapiens sapiens; the realm of the Animalia kingdom; the realm of Hungry Ghosts, where they are always hungry and suffering, with a fire-like sensation burning in their throats; and Hell, where “bad souls” get punished for what seems like an eternity through fire, metal birds pecking, dismembering, metal snakes going through one eye and coming out of another, and in the case of the Uninterrupted Hell, it lasts for 3.39738624*10¹⁸ years long. Alright, I’m getting off-topic.

A main problem I have is the distinction between humans and animals. Yes, we have evolved advanced thinking abilities in contrast to other members, so we are different from most animals in that way. But from when, I ask, are we to be considered human? Homo sapiens? Homo hablis? Australopithecus? Ardipithecus? What about Neanderthals, who co-evolved with Cro-magnon? The fact that Homo sapiens have only existed in the last few ten thousand years when life existed for billions of years makes the sudden distinction between the 2 realms even more illogical. And I’m not going into why bacteria, plants, and other living organisms were left out.

Conclusion

In this post, I summarized the main reasons why I left Buddhism. Well I agree with a lot of Buddhist teachings, these problems were too large for me to ignore, and I decided that being non-religious was the way to go. This list isn’t exhaustive, and will be subject to update. If I had any misconceptions on Buddhism, please correct me. Thanks.

Throwing Molotov Cocktails doesn't improve your rating, extremist Muslims.

If anyone hasn’t heard of the “Allah” word controversy in Malaysia by now, I’ll give an brief introduction. So a Bible was written in the Malay language, and it used the word “Tuhan” for “Lord”, and “Allah” for “God”. Not surprisingly, this raised quite a number of objections by the Muslim community, and the Malay Bible was banned initially. Yet the Court lifted the ban after that, and said that the word “Allah” is free for use by other religions (with the term that a warning that the book was for non-Muslims be placed on the cover of the Malay Bible). Now this sparked a great controversy in Malaysia. As the fights (on paper) went on, a few fanatics decided to take it one step further, and voila, there have been 8 churches under attack from Molotov cocktails so far. Oh the humanity.

Jan. 10: Police officers inspect damage at the All Saints Church in Taiping of Perak state, Malaysia.

Seriously, what’s this all about? Firstly, the word “Allah” is the Arabic term for “God”, and has been in use since pre-Islamic (aka pagan) Arabia, in which it referred to the creator-god, and is still in wide use by Arabic Christians/Jews. Why the controversy? Secondly, it is surprising that there are guys who think that by throwing Molotov cocktails at churches, they are fighting for Islam as a whole. Please. You extremists are most certainly embarrassing the Islamic religion, your much more rational/moderate Muslim peers, and Malaysia. Lastly, I’m still waiting for the mullahs around the world to give their opinions on this issue. So far, there’s none.

Alright, enough of my rants. I’m going to write about science in my next post. I promise. Anyway, what’s your opinion on this topic?