Is this insanity or religion?
Sam Harris says, and many other philosophers agree, that when one or a few people commit insane acts, we call them insane. When enough number of people commit the same insane acts, we term the group as a cult. When a large number of people commit the same insane acts (specifically as justified by their group leaders' so-called 'holy' books), we call it a religion. And religion automatically bestows a clearly undeserved sanity upon its followers. Clearly, there is sanity in numbers. Check out the following news article. Ponder over how a man can endanger the life of a toddler simply in the name of his own beliefs. Does a cult or a religion have any true morality?
Man confesses to impaling toddler with 40 needles
Mother tells newspaper she suspected ex-husband had been involved in ‘black magic'
RIO DE JANEIRO — Reuters Published on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009 9:23AM EST
A Brazilian man confessed to putting more than 40 metal sewing needles into the body of a 2-year-old boy in what may have been a cult or religious act, media reported on Thursday.
The boy, whose condition is serious but stable, was being transferred on Thursday to a specialist medical centre in Salvador, the state capital of northeastern Bahia state, after doctors found two needles were dangerously close to his heart.
The boy was brought to a hospital in the remote town of Ibotirama by his mother last week after he complained of pain.
X-rays taken by doctors, and shown on Brazil's Globo news network's website, clearly show dozens of needles deep in his body, some clustered near his lungs and others in his abdomen, neck and legs.
According to Globo television, police in Ibotirama said that the boy's ex-stepfather, 30-year-old Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, had been arrested and confessed to putting the needles into the boy's body. They reportedly said he was helped by two women, one of whom was involved in a religious group.
Surgeons had planned to operate on the boy but cancelled the surgery after deciding it was too dangerous, Dr Fabio Contelle at the hospital in Barreiras town said in an interview with Globo TV. The boy was moved to Barreiras from the smaller hospital in Ibotirama after doctors realized the seriousness of his condition.
The A Tarde newspaper in Bahia quoted the boy's mother, Maria Souza Santos, as saying she suspected Mr. Magalhaes had been involved in some kind of “black magic.”
“My son didn't like to go out with Roberto. I didn't think he was capable of doing something bad to him,” she was quoted as saying.
Police in Ibotirama could not be immediately reached.
Bahia is the heart of African influence in Brazil, where many people practice Afro-Brazilian religions that combine spiritism, indigenous and African beliefs.
Source: Man confesses to impaling toddler with 40 needles - The Globe and Mail
Man confesses to impaling toddler with 40 needles
Mother tells newspaper she suspected ex-husband had been involved in ‘black magic'
RIO DE JANEIRO — Reuters Published on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009 9:23AM EST
A Brazilian man confessed to putting more than 40 metal sewing needles into the body of a 2-year-old boy in what may have been a cult or religious act, media reported on Thursday.
The boy, whose condition is serious but stable, was being transferred on Thursday to a specialist medical centre in Salvador, the state capital of northeastern Bahia state, after doctors found two needles were dangerously close to his heart.
The boy was brought to a hospital in the remote town of Ibotirama by his mother last week after he complained of pain.
X-rays taken by doctors, and shown on Brazil's Globo news network's website, clearly show dozens of needles deep in his body, some clustered near his lungs and others in his abdomen, neck and legs.
According to Globo television, police in Ibotirama said that the boy's ex-stepfather, 30-year-old Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, had been arrested and confessed to putting the needles into the boy's body. They reportedly said he was helped by two women, one of whom was involved in a religious group.
Surgeons had planned to operate on the boy but cancelled the surgery after deciding it was too dangerous, Dr Fabio Contelle at the hospital in Barreiras town said in an interview with Globo TV. The boy was moved to Barreiras from the smaller hospital in Ibotirama after doctors realized the seriousness of his condition.
The A Tarde newspaper in Bahia quoted the boy's mother, Maria Souza Santos, as saying she suspected Mr. Magalhaes had been involved in some kind of “black magic.”
“My son didn't like to go out with Roberto. I didn't think he was capable of doing something bad to him,” she was quoted as saying.
Police in Ibotirama could not be immediately reached.
Bahia is the heart of African influence in Brazil, where many people practice Afro-Brazilian religions that combine spiritism, indigenous and African beliefs.
Source: Man confesses to impaling toddler with 40 needles - The Globe and Mail
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