“Do not pass by my epitaph, traveler. But having stopped, listen and learn, then go your way. There is no boat in Hades, no ferryman Charon, No caretaker Aiakos, no dog Cerberus. All we who are dead below Have become bones and ashes, but nothing else. I have spoken to you honestly, go on, traveler, Lest even while dead I ...
What are the strange and bizarre forms of ritualized behaviour that humans prescribe to, what are the similarities between the faith systems of the world and why do we hold on to them? Anthropologist Pascal Boyer has extensively researched these questions and presents his findings in this enlightening lecture. A full treatment of the material discussed can be found in ...
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” It saddens me that religious humans of the modern age cannot even come close to ...
Rationalist Day 2011 will be held on the 7th of June (tomorrow) at the Namel Malini Punchi Theatre, Borella Sri Lanka. Get the full press release/invite from the Secular Society Of Sri Lanka here The event kicks off at 3 pm although I will probably show up a little later than that! see you there! ...
Before I move onto rebirth I would like to point out another peculiar feature of Buddhism. The ultimate goal, according to Buddha is the elimination of the samsaric cycle of suffering by attaining Nirvana – a state of “enlightenment”. Nirvana has been defined in a very peculiar manner. The Buddha does not go into detail regarding the qualities that the ...
After yesterday’s horrific events I found it highly ironic that Buddhists have been calling for religious observances, Muslims and Islamists have been urging everyone to pray for the victims, and people in general have been urging you and I to pray pray and pray some more. This got me thinking. What is prayer? what does it do? is it any good? ...
“‘Religion is based . . . mainly upon fear . . . fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand . . . . My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as ...
The American Humanist Association launched their most ambitious ad campaign to date titled CONSIDER HUMANISM. The campaign gained a lot of attention during last years holiday season and seems to have angered a lot of Catholic and Christian fundamentalist groups (If you followed the BHAs “Atheist Bus” campaign closely you’ll know what I mean!). Here is Richard Dawkins making an ...
Creationism is the belief that the universe and hence life on earth was created by some sort of supreme being. Seems harmless enough right? Christians, Muslims and Jews have maintained this belief for centuries and it is their central explanation and world-view as to why things are the way they are, all their other beliefs are derivative of this central ...
Sri Lankan blogs that criticize Buddhism and Islam have been under attack during the last couple of weeks. In light of these recent developments I realized that I have a huge problem with Buddhism (not that I’m okay with Islam but lets get to that in due course). I’m outraged at the spiteful behavior of the Sri Lankan Buddhist. This ...
First used in the 1970s to characterize the “Islamists” that questioned the holy texts, the term has evolved over time and nowadays is used to describe pretty much anyone who criticizes Islam. The local pseudo secularist/progressivist Islamic bunch throw this word around a lot these days so I decided to do some digging. Its sounds a lot like Xenophobia doesn’t ...
I’m not sure if it’s Thomas Paine or Havelock Ellis who said this but it is an absolute gem: ”The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.”
I’ve said this a number of times and I’ll say it again, I think we’ve given Buddhist monks too much leeway. The sheer gall, condescension and arrogance they employ when preaching on matters not under their purview is shocking. How dare they presume to tell us what to do and what not to do? we are but free agents capable ...
We have this notion that it is in the application of an idea or concept that the concept itself failed us. Stalinism for example is often quoted as a failed application of the ideas of the time – Communism. The recent Islamic protests against a video on YouTube are also explained away by the “true believers” by claiming that the ...
In this post I will argue that Buddhism has a theistic element and that it is no different than the theistic religions of the world (in a functional sense). Most Buddhists LOVE to talk about how their religion is devoid of metaphysical contrivances. Theistic “explanations” are rejected. In some sense this is a strange development since Buddhism borrowed many of ...
Sri Lankan hypocrisy at it’s best – A “gossip” site celebrates the Buddha Jayanthi (in style) Buddha Jayanthi, Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi call it whatever you want according to the establishment it has been 2600 years since Buddha achieved his ultimate goal. We are the kind of people that gives its ...
I had an interesting discussion with a creationist a few weeks back and I thought I should write up a post. This is more or less what I said to my friend on twitter a few weeks back. Quite a back and forth it was ! Evolution is a fact. Not a theory. Most people think that evolution (“gradual change ...
