Sanal Edamaruku — a.k.a. “the Indian James Randi” — has debunked a lot of sacred cows in his life. Last year, after explaining how a statue of Christ could be dripping water seemingly on its own, he was charged with “hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.” The “crime” could have resulted in a prison sentence of up to three years in addition to a fine, so Edamaruku fled from his home before he could be punished (or physically attacked). For the past year, Edamaruku has been in Finland. And recently, from his base in Helsinki, he announced the launch of an international journal (published quarterly) aptly called Rationalist: Read more
Sanal Edamaruku is the Indian skeptic who found himself at the center of a firestorm last year after he was called in to explain how a statue of Jesus was “miraculously” dripping water. After debunking the “miracle” claim, he was charged with blasphemy and faced jailtime. Over the summer, he spoke about his experiences at The Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas, and video of his talk has now been released: Read more
I humbly present to you the first in our series of interviews from The Amazing Meeting 2013. I had the opportunity to sit down with the remarkable Sanal Edamaruku. It became less of an interview and more of me just letting him tell his story (trust me, it was better that way). If you haven’t heard of Sanal, he is the president of both Rationalist International and Indian Rationalist Association and spent years traveling around India busting so-called miracles. Last year, when he was called in to explain a statue of Jesus that was “miraculously” dripping water, his entire life changed. You can read about it if you click on those links, but I recommend listening to him tell his story instead. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Just a quick update with some better news about Sanal Edamaruku, the Indian skeptic who faces jail time for exposing a “miracle.” After being repeatedly asked to turn himself in to the nearest police station, Sanal has decided to whisk himself off to Finland and he is currently staying in Helsinki while he appeals the decision not to grant him “anticipatory bail” (which would keep him in jail until his trial). This means the threat of arrest and imprisonment has gone for… Read more
One person’s holy message is another person’s godawful noise, Samrat reminds us. The name is a pseudonym, and though he or she is a nationally known columnist and satirist in India, Samrat’s bio page is empty and lacks an author picture. It’s safer that way, because when you criticize or mock the faithful, they can be quick to take (sometimes murderous) offense. Samrat’s latest article is about the religious messages that Indian Muslims often blast from loudspeakers. Not a Muslim? Too bad…. Read more
Haven’t we been here before? Time and again, in fact? A bizarrely uncritical news article in the Chicago Tribune relays that an icon in a Greek Orthodox church in Homer Glen, 20 miles southwest of the Windy City, is believed to have been “weeping” or “sweating” oil since last summer. Read more
We know fundamentalist religion is a particularly potent institution; it’s a subset of organized religion characterized by dogma, literal adherence to scripture, hostility to critical thinking, intolerance, indoctrination, and absolute faith. Atheists (and even moderate theists) play a critical role in countering that type of thinking. Unchecked, not only can the power of fundamentalists grow excessive, but a lack of heterodoxy, generally, also stifles overall human progress. South Asia is a particularly religious part of the world. Religious fundamentalists – chiefly Hindu and Muslim, but also others – wield significant power, as do allied charlatans of all sorts, from “godmen” to tantriks to peddlers in black magic. For a heretic in the region, life has always been dangerous. In recent years, however, promoting critical thinking has become a “crime” punishable by death. No fewer than 12 freethinkers have been murdered in South Asia by religious fundamentalists in this decade. Read more
The Faravahar is an important symbol of Zoroastrianism, depicting a guardian angel of sorts. So when Snoop Dogg is sitting on a throne, smoking a joint, with the symbol right above him, you can understand why some religious types might get all offended… Read more
Sanal Edamaruku — a.k.a. “the Indian James Randi” — has debunked a lot of sacred cows in his life. In 2012, after explaining how a statue of Christ could be dripping water seemingly on its own, he was charged with “hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community.” The “crime” could have resulted in a prison sentence of up to three years in addition to a fine, so Edamaruku fled from his home before he could be punished (or physically attacked). Since then, Edamaruku has been in Finland. And according to Samanthi Dissanayake of BBC News, he still can’t go back home: Read more
Those of you with far-reaching memories may recall the series of video interviews that my trusty sidekick Mikey and I put together from The Amazing Meeting 2013. I understand it is now 2014, but we had some technical difficulties (i.e., the computer he was using to edit everything unexpectedly crapped out and we needed to get a new one. Guys, computers are not cheap. Even with this baller blogging money. Apparently, the four-year-old semi-functional laptop I write on is not good enough for his fancy schmancy editing programs. La. De. Dah.) Anyway, now that we have gotten everything back in good working order, Mikey has been able to get back in the swing of things. For our long-awaited relaunch, we’re kicking things off with the remarkable Dr. Karen Stollznow. Though I had missed her talk at TAM, there was a gentleman who was also blogging there who told me that I absolutely needed to talk to her. Holy cow. He was right. Read more
