A Reply to Jean Dreze's ramblings on BJP Manifesto on Times of India

Summary:

Jean Dreze has made several false and misleading statements in the article

‘Interpretation of Dreams’. Almost all her claims were wrong except the one

regarding Macaulay’s statement. The following essay is an answer to Jean Dreze

on the various misstatements made by her.

Essay:

The author has made several false as well as misleading statements in the article.

The author seems to think that ‘occasional famines’ translates into ‘economically

poor nation with hunger being common’. This is a very misleading statement. All we

need to do is to go through Fa-Hien’s as well as other such travelogues to know

that India was definitely a very rich nation. Just because there were a few famines

in a century, a nation will not be a poor nation. After all, famines were ‘exceptions’

and the normal condition was that there were bountiful crops and hunger cases

were very rare. Mahabharata and other Itihasa-Puranas do state about occasional

famines which are few and far in between. But they also categorically state that the

nation was otherwise very rich and state that people lived without the fear of hunger

and chronic poverty. The author as well as Romila Thapar seems to suffer from

selective blindness in that only famine-related passages appear visible to them. If

you consider a text to know about the economic situation in India, you must

consider the text completely but unfortunately, today’s ‘historians’ do not seem to

think so. The fact is that India was a wealthy nation and it is substantiated by both

the Indian and foreign sources.

The author seems to disbelieve the claim that plastic surgery was practiced in India

before 400 CE. I would advise Dreze as well as the readers to go through Sushruta

Samhita. Rhinoplasty was performed in India even in the 18th century when the art

was dying out. In fact, Joseph Carpue used the Indian rhinoplasty method to

perform the first rhinoplastic surgery in Britain in the early 19th century. The method

came to be known as “Carpue’s operation” (sic) in the western world.

Next, Dreze does not seem to give much importance to the testimonies of

Megasthenes. That is perfectly justified. But one cannot simply wish away his work.

After all, the very foundation of Indian historical eras is based on the identification of

Megasthenes’ Sandrocottus with Chandragupta Maurya. It is true that Megasthenes

wrote many fanciful stories but his testimonies in those cases have to be accepted

where we have local evidences pointing towards the same. If such rigorous

methods as prescribed by Dreze are applied to ancient ‘history’ texts, most

contemporary records prior to 1st century BCE have to be completely ignored which

is both impossible as well as foolish to do. Also, Dreze’s statement that Joshi has

not cited local sources makes me laugh. It is a case of ‘die if you do and die if you

don’t’. When local sources are cited, these ‘historians’ pooh-pooh the evidence.

When foreign/neutral sources are cited, they ask for local evidence. BJP’s

manifesto is not a paper on history. It is illogical to expect Joshi to cite each and

every source. In fact, his insistence on neutral sources seems to be a conscious

effort to overcome unnecessary scepticism but even then, people like Dreze

continue to make careless statements.

Similarly, Dreze does not seem to know about the state of mathematics in medieval

India which substantiates the claim that India was far advanced in knowledge due

to Bharatiya tradition. The Kerala school of Mathematics was far advanced than its

contemporary Europe. Many mathematical ‘discoveries’ of the 17th century Europe

were already known in India before the 16th century. This school came to an end

due to the Portuguese, Dutch and Islamic invasions of the 16th, 17th and 18th

centuries. One can see that the discoveries seem to stop with the 16th century

when peace in Hindu Kerala was disturbed by external forces. The book by Dr

Gopalakrishnan of IISH, ‘We Claim These Are Indian Discoveries’, lists the sources

for various such mathematical discoveries made in Kerala. Prof. Dreze will do well

to look at this book once as well as similar books published by IISH. The book

makes us wonder whether the European discoveries were not a case of

‘unacknowledged’ borrowings. After all, there was a huge European presence in the

subcontinent and the chances appear to be very large. Therefore, the claim made

about Indian knowledge is not completely wrong. The author seems to have been

carried away in a European mindset that the Indian nation was neither rich nor very

intelligent during the pre-British era. The mistake of the author in adopting this

stance is even more clearly proved in the statement about Indian literacy rate.

The author seems to think that Mahatma Gandhi was wrong in stating that India

became more illiterate under the British rule. I would ask the author as well as the

readers to read the book ‘The Beautiful Tree’ written by Sri Dharampal. Dharampal

has cited the British archives to conclusively prove that every village had a school

in the Madras as well as Bengal provinces and that India’s literacy rate was higher

than that of England during the early 19th century. What is more important is that he

has shown that these schools were open to all castes and students from every

community including the lowest castes who were allowed to learn at these places.

Jean Dreze has made a huge mistake by simply parroting European fantasies

rather than the ground realities. The truth is that in the first half of 19th century, India

was stripped of her village schools by the British administration and hence, it

contributed to an increase in illiteracy. In fact, the increase in the literacy gap

between the higher and lower castes was due to this British vandalism. The author

will do well to read the sources before stating ‘opinions’.

Finally, Prof. Dreze has got one issue right. Macaulay did not make any such

statement in the British Parliament. Sri Joshi seems to have been carried away by

its ubiquitous presence on the Internet. But this does not excuse Joshi’s act of

quoting this fabrication. Any person should be careful about the sources and verify

them before quoting them. Joshi has definitely made an error in this case. But then,

Prof. Dreze in haste to prove Joshi wrong seems to have forgotten the fact that it is

absolutely necessary to check the sources before stating ‘opinions’. Dreze has

made the same mistake as that of Joshi and that too, in a far huge manner.

I wonder whether we will ever get any ‘real historian’ outside these Habibs,

Thapars, Drezes etc. We need a historian who does not impose his/her beliefs on

the sources/evidences but actually cite the evidences and go with the inherent logic

conveyed by the same.

Ravilochanan G

(A student of MBA from Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad)

21, Rupal Park Society, ESI Hospital Road, Near Gothri Road, Vadodara.

Jiziya imposed on Sikhs by Pakistani Taliban

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=5f3598b0-86cc-47cc-845e-c4f0d2dfa283&Headline=Sikhs+in+Pakistan+pay+Rs+20+mn+to+Taliban

Pakistan’s Sikh community in Orakzai Agency has been forced to pay Rs. 20 millions as Jiziya (religious poll tax on non-Muslims) by the Pakistani Taliban. They have been threatened that, unless they pay Jiziya, their lives and property will be forfeit and no security shall be provided to them.

This is exactly what Islam is. I had thought that such practices have been destroyed by the advent of the 21st century. Unfortunately, these Islamic mullahs seem to have never come out of the medieval ages. Reforms in religion are very important. Religion must be moulded to suit the society’s needs. The Muslim leaders do not believe so and whenever any one of them becomes ‘progressive’, the radicals bring him/her down and re-impose the Shariat.

The Sikh community in Pakistan has faced the reality of an ‘Islamic’ nation. While it is true that many Islamic nations have anti-minority policies, this is the first time that Jiziya has been imposed in a country claiming to be a democratic nation. The current Government of Pakistan has not raised its voice against this extremism which shows that they are partners in the crime or they simply do not care about the non-Muslims.

This episode is a warning bell to the entire world. If we do not heed to it, we may be forced to see a rule similar to that of Aurangzeb where jiziya on non-Muslims and destruction of temples will be the rule of the land.

May India wake up to this reality and protect herself so that such things do not occur in India’s Muslim majority areas. After all, similar incidents are already taking place in India. 

There is a municipality in Tamil Nadu called Melvishaaram and it is a Muslim majority locality. The municipality has a division called Raasathipuram which is populated by the Hindus. This ‘Hindu area’ is not provided with basic amenities like road, water etc by the municipality. The Muslims have openly stated that those people should convert to Islam if they wish to have access to basic amenities. A legal case has been filed by the Hindus of the area to demand the partition of the municipality so that the Hindu area becomes a separate Panchayat unit. Political parties in Tamil Nadu do not even speak about this issue for the ‘fear’ of losing ‘minority votes’.

Such situations will occur again and again until we, Hindus, wake up to the reality and stop such atrocious activities. We are being victimised in our own nation. When will we wake up?

May Goddess Bharati lead us to a peaceful future where we may live in pride and without fear.

Jiziya imposed on Sikhs by Pakistani Taliban

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=5f3598b0-86cc-47cc-845e-c4f0d2dfa283&Headline=Sikhs+in+Pakistan+pay+Rs+20+mn+to+Taliban

Pakistan’s Sikh community in Orakzai Agency has been forced to pay Rs. 20 millions as Jiziya (religious poll tax on non-Muslims) by the Pakistani Taliban. They have been threatened that, unless they pay Jiziya, their lives and property will be forfeit and no security shall be provided to them.

This is exactly what Islam is. I had thought that such practices have been destroyed by the advent of the 21st century. Unfortunately, these Islamic mullahs seem to have never come out of the medieval ages. Reforms in religion are very important. Religion must be moulded to suit the society’s needs. The Muslim leaders do not believe so and whenever any one of them becomes ‘progressive’, the radicals bring him/her down and re-impose the Shariat.
The Sikh community in Pakistan has faced the reality of an ‘Islamic’ nation. While it is true that many Islamic nations have anti-minority policies, this is the first time that Jiziya has been imposed in a country claiming to be a democratic nation. The current Government of Pakistan has not raised its voice against this extremism which shows that they are partners in the crime or they simply do not care about the non-Muslims.

This episode is a warning bell to the entire world. If we do not heed to it, we may be forced to see a rule similar to that of Aurangzeb where jiziya on non-Muslims and destruction of temples will be the rule of the land.

May India wake up to this reality and protect herself so that such things do not occur in India’s Muslim majority areas. After all, similar incidents are already taking place in India. 

There is a municipality in Tamil Nadu called Melvishaaram and it is a Muslim majority locality. The municipality has a division called Raasathipuram which is populated by the Hindus. This ‘Hindu area’ is not provided with basic amenities like road, water etc by the municipality. The Muslims have openly stated that those people should convert to Islam if they wish to have access to basic amenities. A legal case has been filed by the Hindus of the area to demand the partition of the municipality so that the Hindu area becomes a separate Panchayat unit. Political parties in Tamil Nadu do not even speak about this issue for the ‘fear’ of losing ‘minority votes’.

Such situations will occur again and again until we, Hindus, wake up to the reality and stop such atrocious activities. We are being victimised in our own nation. When will we wake up?
May Goddess Bharati lead us to a peaceful future where we may live in pride and without fear.

Islamic Intolerance in India - Another Example

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090314/808/tnl-procession-sparks-communal-violence.html

A Religious procession sparks communal violence in Nanded, Maharashtra.

A Hindu religious procession consisting of a deity and the devotees was attacked by the Muslims because it passed by a street where a mosque stood. Stones were pelted at the procession from inside the mosque. Note that the procession occurred on the street and that no one entered the mosque. The Muslims seem to believe that wherever a mosque stands, the entire street belongs to them. Can we apply the same rule to Hindu temples? Then almost no Muslim procession can ever occur in most streets of India. Why should we have this double standard?

The most deplorable issue in this case is that the mosque is only about 100 metres from the police station. They had no fear of police stopping them or taking stern action against them. This is because of the vote-bank politics in this country. Somehow, when Muslims indulges in communal violence and hurts or kills Hindus, the ‘secular’ parties do not view it as acts of ‘vulgar communalism’ or ‘intolerant Islam’. They seem to become blind towards these issues. Even when more than 100 people (mostly Hindus and Christians) were killed and thousands were driven out of their homes by the Muslim mobs in Assam, no one seemed to care about it. Even media does not give coverage to such inhuman brutalities.

Why do we see this effort to ‘whitewash’ all the acts of Islamic intolerance in this country? It is time to stop this annoying drama and face the truth. Let us make it clear that such intolerance does not have a place in our nation. This is not Pakistan. This is secular India with a Hindu character.

Save our Wildlife; Don't kill them

http://dailypioneer.com/161792/Jalpaiguri-villagers-lynch-leopard.html

- - Jalpaiguri villagers lynch leopard (The Pioneer, 10 March 2009)

In another unfortunate incident, the villagers of Jalpaiguri (in West Bengal) have clubbed and lynched in a brutal manner because they saw that as a ‘threat’. Meanwhile, the Meghalaya forest officials are ‘hunting’ for an elephant which went ‘berserk’ and killed four people. The wildlife of India is in a great danger of extinction. The way we are killing our endangered species, we might make all these animals extinct in a decade or so. The ‘justification’ given by the villagers and the government officials (who sometimes order the killing of ‘dangerous animals in human areas’) is that these wild animals enter ‘human inhabited areas’ and as such, these ‘dangers’ have to be executed.

But then aren’t we, humans, trespassing and occupying the areas inhabited by our brothers and sisters (wild animals) of forests? Shall we say that those species, which are threatened by our occupation, have the right to kill (or eliminate) us – ‘dangers to their environment and living conditions’? Shrinking forest cover and deforestation are the major reasons for these occasional ‘wild’ trespassers. Instead of taking measures to stop such things, the government is focussing on even more destroying the ‘natural wealth’ of the nation.

The situation in India right now is explained by the line ‘Throwing the baby out with the bath water’. Let the government and the people get their heads out of the sand and do something constructive to protect the wildlife. Else, I am afraid that our grandchildren will be shown only pictures and videos of the majestic lifestyle of tigers, leopards etc.

‘Optimist Obama’ takes steps towards absolute destruction

Obama has decided to reach out to the ‘moderate’ elements of Taliban and ask them to ‘reconcile’ with the Afghan government. Can anything be more dangerous and ‘recklessly optimistic’ (that it borders on utter foolishness) than this?

Taliban calls for a ‘global Islamic empire’ in the 21^st century. What does he Obama mean by ‘moderate Taliban’? Does he mean that if some ‘Mujahedeen’ are ready to remain satisfied with an ‘Islamic Asian Empire’, they can be called ‘moderates’? The timing of this call is also an invitation for utter disaster. Just now, Taliban has deepened its claws into Pakistan. Swat Valley has come under its control. The government and the army have capitulated to the Taliban extremists in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan. Obama’s call will be seen as a sign of ‘weakened’ USA. This is certainly not desirable for the humanity as it is another nail in the coffin of ‘freedom of thought and expression’ in the Afghan land. The Taliban extremists will be emboldened to increase their efforts for ‘world domination’ as they will see this capitulation of USA as a ‘gift of Allah’ for the Mujahedeen.

The Democrats of USA seem to have lost their brains regarding how to deal with Islamic extremism. Leaving behind half-baked cakes (unsolved problems) will not serve anyone’s purpose. In fact, such decisions will come to bite US’ arse in future. The threat of Taliban is more acute than that of even the erstwhile Nazi Germany. Nazism was restricted to Germany alone. Taliban is using conservative Islam as its ideological weapon. Muslims form about one-fifth of the world population. As such, if Taliban succeeds, we will be forced to deal with a billion ‘extremists’ (which is a very huge number compared to a few million Nazis). The problem with the politicians of both the West and the East is that they are unwilling to see the reality. They are afraid to accept the imminent huge danger. They seem to think that if they close their eyes to the problem, it will go away. Unfortunately, such childish wishes do not make any difference in this world.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, has welcomed Obama’s call. Karzai is currently facing a huge problem from the popularity of the Taliban. He thinks that if the ‘moderates’ are brought to the side of the Afghan government; he will be able to exercise considerably more authority in the nation. But it seems that he has not considered the effect of having these ‘moderates’ working in the government. Afghanistan will see another Swat Valley sort of government. Is that what Karzai wants? I hope he has not stooped to such an extent that he will give up his ideals for the sake of power.

Any attempt for dialogue with the Islamic extremists will be seen as a sign of ‘enemy’s capitulation/weakness’ by the Jihadists. Obama will do well not to take this extremely ridiculous step in the name of ‘peace’. If goes through with this step, he will become nothing but a modern Chamberlain.

Reference:

Karzai welcomes Obama call to reach out to the Taliban - The Associated Press

url:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD96PRI0O1

Bring Saudis to the 21st Century - Abuse of women is NOT pious

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3321637.ece

February 7, 2008

- Religious police in Saudi Arabia arrest mother for sitting with a man

(from 'The Times')

A lady has been arrested, strip searched and abused by the 'Mutaween' (religious police of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) because she sat with an 'unrelated' male (who happened to be her colleague) in a Starbucks coffee bar. The police called her a sinner and proclaimed that she will rot in hell for this sin.

Does it appear even a single bit sensible? What sort of police and courts are there in this country? Do they think that they are still living in the 7th century CE when Islam was invented by Muhammad? Where are the Human rights groups and the United Nations? Why are they allowing such practices to continue?

It is high time that such 'ultra conservatives' are brought kicking and crying into the 21st century. Neither the police nor religion has anything to do with a person's individual behavior. No one has the right to curtail the personal freedom of an individual. It is deplorable that the women of Saudi Arabia are forced to live in a medieval world. If we allow this to continue, it is a shame on the entire humanity.

Nagaland - Is it a part of India or not?

The leaders of Nagaland do not seem to be consider the state as an integral part of the Indian Union. The CM of Nagaland pleads for a peaceful dialogue with India as cannot be defeated in a war. Perhaps, he has forgotten that he is the Chief Minister (CM) of the Indian state, Nagaland not a leader of some 'alien Nagaland'. A recent article in 'The Pioneer' opens our eyes to the political reality in Nagaland. It is the height of hypocrisy that those parties which harp on secularism do not even think about condemning such secessionist activities which are clearly based on religion (Muslim majority Kashmir Valley, Christian Majority Nagaland - the Baptist Church of Nagaland is an active supporter of such anti-national activities). Perhaps, for these 'sickular' parties, secularism means 'anti-Hindu' and nothing else. The hard truth is that despite being a secular country, people do view this nation as a 'Hindu nation' - be it various Islamic nations or our own 'minority dominated' states. It appears that the best way out is to recognize India as a Hindu nation (not necessarily as a Hindu theocratic state but recognizing its Hindu nature and as such the need for its preservation as such). After all, this nation of great diversity is held together by the common thread of Ramayana and Mahabharata binding the people together. When people lose the touch of this thread, they wish to make themselves separate from the national stream. May God help the eyes of the idiots in this nation to open. May this nation remain united. If we do fail to wake up to the realities staring at our face, we may to too late to save the nation from another partition.

Refer the article below:

http://dailypioneer.com/160719/Give-peace-a-chance-Naga-diaspora.html

"...... Nagas have three clear choices before them, the Chief Minister said. The first option is to wage war against India, defeat her and achieve sovereignty; second option may be approach a third country to intervene and pressurise India to recognise the political rights of the Nagas; and third option is: Negotiate with India through peaceful dialogue and political negotiations based on mutual trust and understanding to achieve a lasting and honourable settlement acceptable to the Naga people."

Racial Disparity in Human Rights? Kosovo and Pakistan

5 Top Serbs found Guilty of War Crimes in Kosovo

- New York Times, 26 February, 2009

url:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/europe/27hague.html?_r=1&ref=world

About 700,000 civilians (ethnic albanians) of Kosovo were expelled to Albania. Many were killed, raped and robbed by the Serb forces. Justice has been delivered in this case. But whatever happened to the war crimes committed by Pakistani troops in 1971? The Hindu minority population of East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) was literally massacred. Millions fled to India as refugees. It is estimated that more than few million Hindus were killed. May I know the steps taken by the international community to bring these criminals to justice? Perhaps, skin color and nationality does matter. Despite repeated statements to the contrary, we see that the lives of whites and citizens of the Western world do have a greater value than that of Oriental and African people.

As far as I can see, the so called equality of all humanity is a farce. It is certainly not practiced in India. The plight of Kashmiri Pandits has not attracted the attention of the international community. Even within India, the same kind of attention, given to Muslim victims of Post-Godhra riots in 2002, is not given to the Hindu victims nor do the Sikh victims of 1984 get that much attention in media/politics.

Perhaps it is time for the 'international community' to wake up. Either they must act like they say or they must accept that 'certain lives are more equal than others'.

Terrorism in Bible – John

John

3.36 – If you do not believe in the ‘son of God’, you shall suffer the wrath of God forever. (If God wants everyone to believe only Him, then why the hell did He allow so many religions to come up? Why the hell does He allow people to be born in the families of non-believers? I can't believe these to be the words of God. They sound pretty sadistic to me.)

12.48 – If you don’t believe in Jesus, you have a ‘one way ticket’ to hell.

15.6 – If you do not believe, you will be cast into fire and burned.

15.22 – As Jesus has come, the non-believers have no right/excuse not to believe in the ‘true doctrine’ preached by Jesus. (Great statement!!! One man visits a tiny desert country and preaches some ‘doctrine’. It wipes away the ‘right to use the brains’ from the entire humanity.)

Rampant anti-Semitism is found in the following areas of this Gospel:

5.16-18, 7.1, 7.13, 8.44, 11.8 and 20.19

The whole chapter 19 is hell bent on blaming the Jews for the ‘crucifixion’ of Christ. These ‘statements’ have lead to the persecution of Jews over several centuries. Let us use some common-sense in this case. If the Jews did crucify Jesus, didn’t they do a favour to humanity as per the Christian doctrine? After all, they ensured that the ‘Son of God’ dies and thereby, washes away the sins of humans. So, why should the Jews be condemned? Shouldn’t their work be praised? But then, the ‘authors’ of the Gospels do appear to lack ‘common sense’ and ‘rational thinking’. Therefore, it is too much to expect from them.

Terrorism in Bible: Mark and Luke

Mark:

6.11 – If your city does not receive the message of Jesus’ apostles, it will be destroyed in a manner worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. What a great mercy!

16.16 – If you do not get baptized and do not believe in Christian doctrine, you will be damned (i.e. sent to hell).

Luke:

3.17: “.....the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” It is stated that Jesus will burn the damned souls with unquenchable fire. It certainly does not appear merciful. Anyone who is not baptised is damned and then, they will be thrown to hell for eternal suffering. So, even His Holiness Dalai Lama, who has not harmed a single life, is damned to such a suffering according to this book.

10.10-15: Once again (like in Mark), the cities that do not receive the apostles’ message are damned to a fate worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah (whose entire population was butchered by God).

11.23: “He that is not with me is against me...” Doesn’t the so called God speak like the leader of a terrorist gang??

13.24-28: Very few people will go to heaven. Others will suffer eternal damnation in hell. It certainly does not appear to be a ‘merciful, loving God’ to me. If this is the meaning of the words ‘mercy’ and ‘love’ according to the Christian scholars then there must be something very wrong with their thinking process.

19.27: The parable of talents – God orders that those who do not accept ‘His reign’ over them shall be slain before His eyes. It looks like an order to kill unbelievers.

Terrorism in Bible – New Testament Gospels – Matthew:

There is a claim made by some Christian ‘scholars’ that New Testament is a book of peace. Their claim is that violence is found only in Old Testament. The doctrine of modern Christianity is found in New Testament and that New Testament is void of such bloodthirsty passages. If so, why is that Christianity killed millions in the Americas and other Pagan lands. Why it is that Inquisition was a reign of terror in Goa? Why is it that Portuguese and French destroyed Hindu temples in the name of Christianity in South India? The very claim that New Testament is a ‘book of peace’ is wrong. It is as bloodthirsty as other texts. Moreover, it was the New Testament which gave the ‘verdict against Jews’ which has been used by the Christians to massacre the Jews throughout several centuries.

Let us have a look at the ‘Holy Gospels’ now.

Matthew:

8.12: The children of kingdom (Jews) will be cast out of Israel. Perhaps, God is not satisfied with the Jews’ inhuman killings. After all, they did not indulge in some massacres which were ordered by God. Whatever, God condemns the Jews to a miserable living.

10.14-15: Jesus says that those cities, which do not receive the message of his disciples, shall suffer a fate worse than that of Sodom and Gomorroh (which were completely destroyed by God – even little children were not left alive).

10.21: “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.” Jesus seems to be a destroyer of families. Is this the person whom Christians refer to as ‘lamb’?

10.34: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” – Jesus says that he has not come to send peace. What more proof is necessary?

10.35-36: “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.”

11.21-24: “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” Jesus condemns entire cities to death and a horrible fate. Surely, it looks like a proclamation of Devil (if there exists one) than God.

23.31: Jesus condemns the Jews. He calls them as the children of those people who killed the prophets. Perhaps, he thinks that children must be punished for the parents’ mistake. What a great sense of justice!!

25.41: If Jesus does not like someone, he will cast them into everlasting fire. We have seen that it takes very less to make Jesus ‘dislike’ you. It also appears that Jesus does not believe in second chances. What sort of Devil has New Testament invented for a God?

27.25: “Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.” This verse has been used by the Christians for several centuries to vilify the Jews and persecute them. But I think that crucifixion could not have occurred as shown in the Gospels. If Jesus had committed religious heresy, the Jews had every right to punish him. They would not have taken him to the Romans. So it appears that Jesus (if at all he is historical) committed a secular crime for which he was crucified by the Romans. Moreover, the Roman governor (Pilate) is recorded as a ruthless ruler and almost inhuman in the historical documents. Only the Gospels show him as a man of peace and justice with a very humane face. It looks like the writers of the Gospels wanted to gain favor from the Romans and hence, they vilified the Jews and commended Pilate in their ‘Gospel lies’. Finally, the Roman system of justice was so strong that even a inhuman person cannot condemn someone without proper evidence. As such, this scene could have never occurred in a Roman court. The entire 'Passion of Christ' is filled with lots of loopholes and mountains of lies.

Terrorism in Bible - Isaiah

Isaiah

2.18: God will utterly abolish the idols. (May I know why God suffers from such insecurity?)

5.24-25: God will tear the bodies of those who do not follow the rules laid down by Him. (Note that God does not say about ‘hurting fellow humans’ warranting such punishment but simply not following the ‘rules’. Those very rules also include killing entire races as per God’s command!!)

9.17: God hates the widows and children of the hypocrites. He punishes them for the misdeed of their husbands/fathers. (What sort of justice is this?)

9.19 – 20: When God gets angry, he will force the people to burn their brothers and eat their flesh. (Terrorise the followers into following His orders blindly)

13.15 – 18: God will not only kill the sinners but kill their children and rape their wives (what a ‘pious’ act!!). Even the children and the pregnant women with their foetuses will not be spared from God’s (more like a devil) anger.

14.21: God will kill the children for the iniquity of the fathers.

Isaiah 15 and 16 are full of God’s tales about how Moab shall be destroyed. He will destroy the entire land and its population. If anyone survives, God will send lions to finish them off. Complete destruction of Moab in 3 years is prophesied.

Isaiah 17 is about God will destroy Syria with its capital Damascus. (God says that Damascus will never be inhabited again. But it is even now a very highly populated city and the capital of Syria. Perhaps Biblical God must improve His divination skills.)

Isaiah 18 is about God will destroy the nations beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.

Isaiah 19 is about how God will destroy Egypt.

19.1: God will destroy the idols of Egypt. He will destroy the country.

19.2 – 4: God shall make the Egyptians fight one another (brother against brother, neighbour against neighbour etc). He will make them live under a cruel king.

19.5: God says that Nile (river of Egypt) will go dry. It has never occurred in history and is still flowing with water around the year.

Isaiah 24 is about the Apocalypse. God will turn the earth upside down (??!!). Burn all the inhabitants of earth except a few. He will even make the earth reel like a drunkard as he will weaken the foundation (earthquakes). [God seems to be very fond of terrorising His followers into following His commands. After all, no normal thinking human will even consider following the commands of such a ‘God’.)

[Note: I think that I will stop citing from Old Testament for the time being. I’ll start with the New Testament. I am disgusted with these ridiculous and cruel writings. Now that we have seen the amount of cruelty and terrorism inherently present in Old Testament, we will look at the New Testament. (Only a part of Isaiah (chapters 1 to 24) is covered in this post. The chapters from 25 to 66 have not been covered)]