A glimpse at the irrationality of the ex-archbishop of Greece

In the pre-blog era, I used to maintain a number of interesting facts, related to lack of logic and rationality, on my university web pages. That was a time when blogs were not so wide-spread and when I, erroneously thought, that every academic, in a scientific field, was rational. (I was mistaken. Irrationality and lack of logic exists in universities, even amongst science people.) I will transfer some of them to this blog.

The ex-archbishop of Greece, His Beatitude, Christodoulos, was known for often maintaining stupid things. Below is one of them, captured by a video. The background of the story is this: at the time (2004), he had written a book titled "Proselyte Greeks: The transition from antiquity to Christianity". In it, he maintained that the transition to Christianity was a smooth one. The irrationality of his arguments was captured in the video clip below, in which he states:

"...The [early] Christians respected the faith and religion of their ancestors and sanctified their temples which were dedicated to idolatric deites, they sanctified them by using them as Churches or by using their materials in order to build Christian Churches."

Here is a short bio of him:

His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Christodoulos Paraskevaides, was born in Xanthi in 1939. He completed his studies in the Law School (1962) and the School of Theology (1967). While a student (1961) he was ordained deacon and priest (1965). He served as a preacher, senior spiritual father (Church of Assumption [sic] of Virgin Mary) and as a Secretary of the Holy Synod. He obtained a doctorate in Theology, has degrees in French and English, and also speaks German and Italian. He is the author of many scientific [sic] and constructive books. He became Bishop of Demetrias (1974) and was Archbishop of Athens and all Greece (1998-2008).

And an amusing fact from his life:

Greece had a seven-year military dictatorship (the `junta', 1967-1974). Human rights violations were, of course, a commonplace back then, occurring on a daily basis. Christodoulos was a priest during that period. Nevertheless, he stated he was completely unaware of anything going wrong then. He had no idea of human rights abuses because `he was busy studying'. Despite his being busy studying and not being aware of any abuses, he used to accompany the dictators in public, as the following images show.

North Korean "god" dies

Kim Jong-il, died today. He was a vile dictator. His country is a hell-hole. People are starving. Gulags, concentration camps. Torture. Total lack of freedom. You name it. And yet, the cult of personality enjoyed by Kim Jong-il is amazing. North Koreans are grieving. They lost their god. Look at this:

And a similar video at BBC news.

This is religion. The same kind of unreasonable attachment to the irrational which makes people revere gods and obey, like sheep, is the one which makes the young woman in the first video declare:

I will change sorrow into strength and courage and remain faithful to respected comrade Kim Jong-un [Kim Jong-il's son, who is expected to be his successor; she has already chosen her next god.]

Women's rights in Saudi Arabia

Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. Quran 4:34

The passage above from the Qu'ran is, supposedly, what makes women be (much) inferior  to men in Saudi Arabia and other theocratic regimes. This article from wikipedia describes the situation well. Saudi Arabia is one of the worst countries in the world regarding gender equality. What a striking difference from Sweden! Women are, literally, owned by men, just because a text written some 1500 years ago says so. There is child marriage too. Just like Mohammed married Aisha when she was 9 or 10 years old... The head veil which covers most of the head is not the worst thing that can happen to women there. Some women do want their heads to be covered (some don't, but they have no choice).

Stoning is still being practiced in Saudi Arabia. A woman found to have any relationship outside her marriage may be subject to the brutal punishment of death by stoning. By contrast, a man will not be punished in the same way. The suspicion alone of a woman’s wrong-doing can be enough for her to be subject to violence in the name of honor. In 2007, a young woman was murdered by her father for chatting with a man on facebook. Women lack in education, and, many times, education means memorization of large parts of the Qu'ran.

To be continued.

Stoning in Iran

I wrote about stoning before. In particular, we noticed that stoning, although present in the Deuteronomy, has been eliminated in Judaism, but not in Islam. I'm sure there are Muslims (the majority I hope?) who are appaled by what some of them are doing, but the crux of the matter is that stoners, e.g. in Iran, are doing so in the name of their god and their law: they justify killing a person in this most brutal manner by convincing themselves that it is their god who told them so, or it is the god who told their lawmakers, and the stoners are acting as agents.

I saw the link and the pictures below in this blog. I repost it, albeit brutal, because I think we should all be aware of what kind of barbarism humans are capable of, in the absence of rationality, and with the help and support of their religious and political (which are identical in the case of Iran) leaders.

Actual source of graphic images: National Post. See also article on Iran's stone age justice system.

Nigeria and Congo

Two very disturbing postings from "a Nadder!" below.

Witch Children of Nigeria
Children are being accused for being witches. As a result they are being beaten, tied up, denied food, burned, cut, stabbed, burnt with acid or simply murdered by their parents. Over 10,000 have been abandoned, kicked out onto the streets where they are prone to disease, malnutrition and starvation, gangs and sexual slavery.

Tale of a Phone
A graphic description of organized crimes in central Africa and the double Congolese genocide for peace in Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2009 people in the Congo are still dying at a rate of an estimated 45,000 per month (half being children under 5), and 2,700,000 people have died since 2004. An estimated 200,000 women have been raped. 20,000 hippopotamuses have been killed. Brutalities include burning and boiling alive, chopping human parts off and cannibalism.

Schocking images from the Tibetan unrest

Thanks to http://justar-lawblog.blogspot.com/, I became aware of the following. We are all aware of the Chinese oppression in Tibet, but to watch the video below is particularly upsetting.

The first images from the oppression in Tibet- Nouvel Obs
The images in this video, at times shocking, were given out by the Tibetan government-in-exile. One can see Tibetans beaten up by police forces. Particularly hard to look at are the images of a young man, apparently tortured and eventually killed by his severe wounds.

Obama orders Guantánamo closure

Two months ago, Obama promised he'd close Guantánamo prison. He has now signed an order that this should happen within a year from now. This shameful prison, established and maintained against all international laws and outcries, is going away. Now, here is a politician who keeps his promises.

On a lighter side, Obama knows how to speak English. He *can* pronounce the word "nuclear" as ˈnü-klē-ər. (Won't we miss Bush and his -isms?) Listen to it here, along with a promise to the muslim world that they will find an extended hand from the US if they unclench their fist.

No to Guantánamo, Yes to Guantanamera

“As President, I will
close Guantánamo,
reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions”
– Barack Obama, 8/1/07


Therefore, now that he is president, we ask him: Close Guantánamo and end military commissions. In fact, let Guantánamo be a place where guantanamera comes from; it is songs we need, no war, no torture, no hatred: