Sanal Edamaruku's black magic challenge...

[soulhill]

Sanal Edamaruku challenged a tantrik (black magician) to kill him with a powerful "Ultimate Destruction" spell on Live TV in India. Amazingly, the spell failed!

You may read the details here:

http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2008/20080310/en_1.html

[Gst]

I love how the guy is smiling the whole time.

[steenkh]

This is awesome.

However, I have to revise my thinking of the tantrik Pandit Surinder Sharma: I would have thought he was a fraud, but it turned out he is an idiot! He apparently believes in this stuff himself or he would never have accepted the challenge.

[IXP]

It makes me proud to be a rationalist, possessing the most powerful magic of all!

IXP

[RSLancastr]

I can imagine decades from now, Edamaruku dying peacefully of old age, and this tantrik claiming that his spells finally took effect...

[Whack01]

I was googling to see if i could find a streaming video of this but couldn't. However I did stumble across a somewhat thought provoking essay allegedly written by Edamaruku, I've never heard anyone take 'mother' Teresa to task before, but he apparently wrote an essay attacking her http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/mother_teresa/sanal_ed.htm
(http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/mother_teresa/sanal_ed.htm) I don't suppose anyone could provide context for the remarks he has attributed to her such as

"
According to Mother Teresa's bizarre philosophy, it is "the most beautiful gift for a person that he can participate in the sufferings of Christ". Once she tried to comfort a screaming sufferer: "You are suffering, that means Jesus is kissing you!" The man got furious and screamed back: "Then tell your Jesus to stop kissing."

"The suffering of the poor is something very beautiful and the world is being very much helped by the nobility of this example of misery and suffering,"

"

Although it wouldn't surprise me to find that her nobility has been exaggerated, he didn't cite sources and I'd like to find some context for the above quotes. I'd also like to know if there's anything to the alleged financial allegations as misconduct does not follow from his logic, but I'm uncertain of how to check on financial details.

**sorry for the possible derail incoming.

[RSLancastr]

I've never heard anyone take 'mother' Teresa to task before, but he apparently wrote an essay attacking herChristopher Hitchens wrote an entire book taking her to task: The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and in Practice (http://www.amazon.com/Missionary-Position-Mother-Teresa-Practice/dp/185984054X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206578756&sr=8-4)

[Whack01]

Christopher Hitchens wrote an entire book taking her to task: The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and in Practice (http://www.amazon.com/Missionary-Position-Mother-Teresa-Practice/dp/185984054X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206578756&sr=8-4)

mm I guess the saying don't judge a book by its cover may need to be modified to saying don't judge a book by its title before I purchase that.

I'll look into it but I doubt I'll read on a book written by a man with an agenda in order to source another man with a similar persuasion. A sexually insulting title like that aimed at a woman held by most in good standing smacks of sensationalism which tends not to lend itself to reasonableness or truthfulness.

Supposing I do end up reading it next month I'll probably end up having to source most of it, can you tell me if it includes citations that I could verify via the web or a local library?

[FarSideOfTheMoon]

It's only a small book, I read it in a couple of hours.

Can't remember if it has citations or not, but I also don't remember anything in there that was sensationalist or misleading.

[EHocking]

mm I guess the saying don't judge a book by its cover may need to be modified to saying don't judge a book by its title before I purchase that.

I'll look into it but I doubt I'll read on a book written by a man with an agenda in order to source another man with a similar persuasion.Just because it was written with an agenda in mind, does not necessarily preclude honesty and accuracy from the author.

Richard Dawkins, for instance, definitely has an agenda, but there is very little that he writes that you could dismiss as not being carefully researched.

[Lothian]

I am disapointed they couldn't come up with better magic words than "Om lingalingalinalinga, kilikili"

[Elvis666]

It's only a small book, I read it in a couple of hours.

Can't remember if it has citations or not, but I also don't remember anything in there that was sensationalist or misleading.

You don't think that title is a little over the top? :confused:

[Jekyll]

You don't think that title is a little over the top? :confused:

It's a pun. Why do you find it offensive?

[Elvis666]

It's a pun. Why do you find it offensive?

I don't find it offensive in the least. I also understand the pun. I also realize the title was meant to draw readers, and that is why he used it.

But it is scandalous, especially for anyone who has never considered that MT might be a little less of a saint than advertised. I'm not now nor have I ever been in that group.

[RSLancastr]

I'll look into it but I doubt I'll read on a book written by a man with an agenda in order to source another man with a similar persuasion. A sexually insulting title like that aimed at a woman held by most in good standing smacks of sensationalism which tends not to lend itself to reasonableness or truthfulness.Well, I would suggest reading it before you judge it.

Supposing I do end up reading it next month I'll probably end up having to source most of it, can you tell me if it includes citations that I could verify via the web or a local library?I have not read it, so cannot say. Take a look at it in the store, or iin a library (or use the "Look inside!" feature on Amazon.com) and you might get a feel for that.

If you do end up reading it, let us know what you think.

I am disapointed they couldn't come up with better magic words than "Om lingalingalinalinga, kilikili"Perhaps those are very ominous syllables in India.

Or perhaps they transalte to "Why, I oughtta..."

[steenkh]

But it is scandalous, especially for anyone who has never considered that MT might be a little less of a saint than advertised.
It would probably be more scandalous if the book did not advertise its contents, and the readers would get a shock when finding out.

[hipparchia]

I am also a bit dumbfounded my the magic words they used.

Isn't "Linga" supposed to mean phallus or something?

[quarky]

I'd bet someone else died at the same moment, somewhere.

very spooky