Journal Entry #506
July 19th, 2011
I heard a rerun of a documentary from October 2010 today on CBC Radio Canada today that once again affirmed to me the need to address why religion is not only delusional but harmful.
What exactly is a Rinpoche? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinpoche
It literally means “precious one.
Here is the link to the article and the audio of the broadcast.
Day 6 Documentary: Very Precious Thing
http://www.cbc.ca/day6/add-category/documentary/2010/10/27/day-6-documentary-very-precious-thing
So basically the story was about a Toronto Family whose child was deemed to be a reincarnated high ranking Lama as this is part of the Buddhist faith. So once the child is identified by whatever means they do it the child is then taken away from the family forever to become a monk and fulfill his duties as the reincarnated Lama. This is the short version but I think this pretty much sums it up as everything else will just be filler.
First let me clarify that people have the right to practise their chosen religion and I am not advocating taking away their right to this. I do however deem it important to speak up when I see these practises as harmful and I will challenge the claim especially when it has no basis in reality. I don’t really care how you dress it up if there is no evidence to back it up and it does not fit into how the real world works then it probably is not true.
Now that I have that out of the way… WHAT A PILE OF SHIT / OF NONSESNE that is truly harmful. Where do I begin?
First of all who gives someone the right to think they can take someones child away from even if they do give them permission for such an idiotic reason. As a parent I don’t care what you tell me about my child your not touching him. You can say he is the chosen one, the most important child to ever live to the savoir of mankind, until he /she is old enough to make their own decisions you can go fuck yourself. I am shocked that any parent would allow their child to be taken away. I realize this is part of their culture but really it is a very stupid part of their culture.
To me this was the obvious now let’s address the rest of the issues presented here.
Reincarnation has no basis in reality and the logistics that would bring this about defy all the known laws of the universe so unless you have some magic up your sleeve to provide evidence for this and I do mean good , credible , verifiable evidence then it is just nonsense that people buy into for some measure of immortality. The same nonsense in most religions, somehow you’re going to live forever, please this is just plain stupid to believe in. Great for movies and fantasy stories but reality does not work that way. I don’t care what reason or excuse you’re going to throw out if you believe in this if you don’t have any evidence then your just deluding yourself to be blunt.
What kind of a faith thinks that only certain people are special and that everyone else are below these chosen individuals? Wait a minute I think this is a common theme in all faiths. Who or what decides this determination of being special? What if the person does not want this special designation that is basically forced on them?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/31/dalai-lama-osel-hita-torres Boy chosen by Dalai Lama turns back on Buddhist order.
This is just more religious nonsense that people accept as true when there is no verifiable evidence to back it up in any way. I don’t really care how long these ideas and concepts have been around they are based on lies that we now know better to not think of as true in this modern world.
Sure every religion has its message of peace and oneness and I am all for that so just stick with that and stay awy from all the supernatural nonsense that so many cannot seem to let go of.
Of course if you have reincarnation then you have to have a soul to be reincarnated, another concept with no evidence. So let me ask you this if you believe in reincarnation; if I am the reincarnation of someone then I am not really me am I? My life is not my own as I must have this other life as part of me. How does that work? After how many lives of being reincarnated do you border on multiple personality disorder?
Look anytime you try and fit anything based in fantasy into reality it just never works and that is when the crazy stuff gets crazier as you start to have to make up more crazy stuff to answer the initial crazy stuff. Crazy, right? So here is an idea, how about you start of in a basis of reality a basis of truth and then you will continue along the path of truth.
By the way how come all the chosen ones are never white rednecks living in Kentucky to become Lamas?
I think I have pretty much heard most of the excuses as to why I don’t understand any of these beliefs and none of them make any sense.
I urge Phuntsok ( The Father) to go get Gonpo ( The son) back from the monks and let him enjoy his life. If he wants to chose this path later then so be it but right now he should be with his family. His sister was heartbroken as she should be when a member of your family is torn away from you. This is how religions are harmful when they follow stupid ideologies that make no sense in the real world. Imagine if a government agency stopped at your house told you they needed your child for a very special project and that he would not be returning home, would you let him go? So what is the difference here?
