Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Toto · 11-16-2002, 10:57 AM

<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bali16nov16.story" target="_blank">Balinese Gather to Purge Bombing Site of Evil with Hindu Prayer, Animal Sacrifice</a> (LA Times requires free registration)

Quote:

. . .One priest, seemingly in a trance, slashed the throat of a pig and drank blood from the animal's neck. At a nearby ceremonial site at Kuta beach, other priests took two calves out to sea in small boats, weighted them down and pushed them overboard.

In all, 79 animals were sacrificed for the ceremony, including roosters, ducks, dogs, pigs, goats, cows and water buffalo.

Organizers of the event said such sacrifices are a long-held tradition and were a necessary step in restoring balance to the universe after the bombing. The animals will be reincarnated as humans, they said.

. . .

. . . [M]any Balinese blame themselves for the bombing. Some say they became too lax in praying and holding ceremonies in the Kuta area, one of the more commercial parts of the island.

"We feel responsible for what happened," Dewi Darmawati, 26, said after taking part in the ceremony. "We don't know what we did wrong. Maybe we forgot God, or forgot to pray to God, but we feel responsible for what happened."

Among those attending . . .

"Our hearts go out to the Balinese people for having endured this terrible tragedy," said U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce, who attended the event. "But today's ceremony also marked our mutual commitment to continue the struggle against terrorism."

I don't think you have to be a PETA supporter to be grossed out by this. The pig probably didn't distinguish between being a sacrifice and being sausage, but drowning two calves seems gratuitous.

The idea that the Balinese brought this tragedy on themselves by being lax in their prayers and animal sacrifices is very close to Jerry Falwell's claim that God lifted his veil of protection from America because of our secular humanism.

The psychological motivation behind this is clear. Humans need order and need to imagine that they are in control, and would rather believe that disaster happens because of their own failings than accept that the universe doesn't care about them and bad stuff just happens.

But I wonder what the Christian Right thinks about our ambassador attending this heathen rite.

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