Religious ritual: Indian babies thrown from tower

[CFLarsen]

Video here. (http://www.religion.dk/artikel/284778:Globalt-nyt--Indiske-babyer-kastes-ud-fra-taarn)

[NobbyNobbs]

No. The title is enough.

I've decided that there are some things I just don't need to see.

[Jackalgirl]

I know nothing of Danish, but I ran this page through a hideous Danish-to-English translation site and the gist of the mangled confusion that came out of it was that people throw babies from the tower to make them strong and healthy -- they're caught on a white sheet. Not quite sure how tall the tower is, or if there is any report of people missing catching the kids.

Am I understanding this correctly? Note that I'm not justifying it. I think it's extremely dangerous and don't like it at all. But I just wanted to make sure that I understood what was going on before I got terribly upset.

[sophia8]

There's an article in English here. (http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Devotees-drop-babies-50ft-for-luck-28483519.html) This has been going for centuries, apparently, so they must be doing it safely.
It sounds a lot better than what some Russian parents like to do to their babies (http://www.childalert.co.uk/absolutenm/templates/newstemplate.asp?articleid=132&zoneid=1).

[Bikewer]

I saw this yesterday on, of all places, "Attack Of The Show". They had an English voice-over explaining that the folks believed the "ritual" improved the health of the infants... Said they'd had no injuries in over 500 years.

I suppose, in a country with a high infant death rate, even such apparently idiotic practices might be seized on by parents as improving the chances of the kid's survival.

[Big Les]

I just saw this on the news (UK's Channel 5). Ridiculous, but probably (I stress probably) not harmful given the sheet-type thing they throw them onto. Depends how consistent they are with heights and impact media, I suppose :eek:

[CFLarsen]

It's 49 feet.

Imagine what happens if the baby lands just a little head first.

[RobRoy]

It's 49 feet.

Imagine what happens if the baby lands just a little head first.

I'd rather not.

I watched a similar report a few years ago, but I wasn't the parent of a 7 month old then. I can't watch that kind of thing now. I can barely contemplate it. My son falls 6 inches on his Pampers Swaddlers covered bottom and I gasp in fear and feel guilty.

I'm getting better though, it used to be 3 inches.

[Big Les]

What was shown on TV was nothing like that high - they fell a short distance, on their backs, onto the sheet.

49 feet? I was wrong. This is ridiculous AND dangerous.

[sinclairmcevoy]

Shudder....

[Skeptical Greg]

I'd like to know more about the thinking behind this ..

Are they trying to see if they can find one that can fly ?

[Cactus Wren]

CNN video (no narration) here (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/05/01/india.baby.toss.cnn).

[Rasmus]

There's an article in English here. (http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Devotees-drop-babies-50ft-for-luck-28483519.html) This has been going for centuries, apparently, so they must be doing it safely.

Whatever leads you to that conclusion?

The running of the bulls like the one in pamplona has apparently been documented since the late 13th century. Does that make it safe?

[Darat]

Whatever leads you to that conclusion?

The running of the bulls like the one in pamplona has apparently been documented since the late 13th century. Does that make it safe?

For a given value of "safe" yes!

[Darat]

What I'm always curious about is how did this sort of crazy ritual start? Mind you I do have to say this is one of those with a kernel of truth in it. After all any kid that doesn't survive the fall is certainly not going to have a healthy life!

In the beginning:

"Next baby please"

Splat!

"See!!! He'll not grow up to be healthy! Next baby please...."

[Rasmus]

For a given value of "safe" yes!

Which one would that be?

Safe: Will not drive the entire population extinct?
Safe: Your baby is safe enough that you will just about expect it to live rather than die?

Mind you, I am not arguing about the actual safety of the event. I just don't get the conclusion that just because it's been done for long enough, it must be safe.

[CFLarsen]

What I'm always curious about is how did this sort of crazy ritual start? Mind you I do have to say this is one of those with a kernel of truth in it. After all any kid that doesn't survive the fall is certainly not going to have a healthy life!

In the beginning:

"Next baby please"

Splat!

"See!!! He'll not grow up to be healthy! Next baby please...."

Of course!!

I used to play this a lot back then. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/164/Bouncing+Babies.html)