Thai editorial: Banned for disclosing an uncomfortable truth

[Praematura]

Sequel will have Suthep play himself.

[HaleySabai]

An insult to Buddhism?

It's an insult to Buddhism when, every day, millions of people go to a temple to 'make merit' in return for winning the lottery.

The Doi Kham temple in ChiangMai has become a frenzied gold-rush since last year when a few people apparently won the lotto after visiting this temple.I live nearby and previous to this occurrence there was very little going on,the temple was admired for its nice elevated views of the area and that was about it.

Literally overnight the place was transformed into a full-on "giving to get" bonanza with a steady stream of cars,trucks,buses,motorcycles along side folks limping,walking,crawling,running,jumping.....all the way up to the top of the hill in hopes of receiving an individual blessing of good fortune.

Just the other day a guy actually bestowed 10,000 fragrant flower garlans upon the temple and in return apparently did win....so guess whats happening now.

...there is a reason to why its called "Thai-Buddhism".....and I don't mean this with any condescending tones.

[dhream]

The problem is that all religions get this hall pass everywhere. Even the author claims it's 'laudable' to defend your faith, really? Can't your God(s) defend themselves?

Religion is a mass delusion at best. In the past, it served to keep societies cohesive, it was a fait authority, law, and police. It's now more or less defunct, at best a 'comfort' when people face uncertainty and the unknown, but that's about it.

Every single religion started with a human being. Merely someone with the charisma and smarts to claim and convince others they had some sort of divine hotline to God, and this back when there was no Science, massive superstition, and all but a handful of people could read and write. And from there the mass kool aid swallowing began and continued by means of forced conversions on pain of death. Nice.

Scientology reveals that even now, with all we know about the vastness of the universe and the minds of men, many 'want to believe'.

Why should Christ be granted any more credibility than L. Ron Hubbard when you stop to really think about it? All the stories around Christ have never been verified by any Scientific means, nor any of the prophets before or after him.

Scientology has been thoroughly debunked as a caper. Yet continues to flourish. In a few generations, Hubbard is likely to be deified and credited with 'Miracles' just because people refuse to accept they can get by on their own, without some imaginary friend looking down from Felix's Baumgartners balloon.

Religions, Meh, they all should be chucked in the bin, time we accepted each individual is sovereign over himself. The day some guy or gal actually performs miracles that are verifiable, recordable, and Scientifically beyond doubt is the day I get my God on, until then... keep prayin suckers!