Saturday, May 12, 2012

Debunking Miracles May Get You Jail Time In India

Another normal day in India:

Early in March, little drops of water began to drip from the feet of the statue of Jesus nailed to the cross on the church of Our Lady of Velankanni, down on to Mumbai's unlovely Irla Road. Hundreds began to flock to the church to collect the holy water in little plastic bottles, hoping the tears of the son of god would sanctify their homes and heal their beloved. 

Sanal Edamaruku, the eminent rationalist thinker, arrived at the church a fortnight after the miracle began drawing crowds. It took him less than half an hour to discover the source of the divine tears: a filthy puddle formed by a blocked drain, from where water was being pushed up through a phenomenon all high-school physics students are familiar with, called capillary action. 

For his discovery, Mr. Edamaruku now faces the prospect of three years in prison — and the absolute certainty that he will spend several more years hopping between lawyers' offices and courtrooms. In the wake of Mr. Edamaruku's miracle-busting Mumbai visit, three police stations in the capital received complaints against him for inciting religious hatred. First information reports were filed, and investigations initiated with exemplary — if unusual — alacrity. 


4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. The sad thing is I misread your title as "Indiana," and not until I saw "Mumbai" for the second time did I realize this didn't happen in the US. I don't think we're too far from this now in the US now.

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  3. Sorry I can't seem to spell or write, not going to correct that last sentence a third time! :-)

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  4. no worries about the spelling.. yeah it is scary when the law sides with the lunatics.. :)

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