R A T I O N A L I S T I N T E R N A T I O N A L
P O Box 9110, New Delhi 110 091, India.
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RATIONALIST INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN # 24
4 November 1999
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Editor: Sanal Edamaruku
Phone: +91-11-2253255, +91-11-8539526
Fax: +91-11-2256042
E-mail: <edamaruku@yahoo.com>
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2nd International Rationalist Conference:
JEAN-CLAUDE PECKER FROM FRANCE AND
KATSUAKI ASAI FROM JAPAN
TO ADDRESS THE CONFERENCE
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Professor Jean-Claude Pecker, world renowned rationalist and
astronomer (College de France; member of Academy of Sciences)
has agreed to speak at the forthcoming 2nd International
Rationalist Conference on "Rationalism in France: from 18th
century to 21st century." The content of his speech is
outlined by Dr Pecker as follows:
1)Historical Background.
2)The ways and means of the French Rationalists now a days
3)Priorities for the future.
a)Schools: the warning against pseudo-sciences and
dangerous sects.
b)General public: false sciences and dangerous sects
c)International co-operation of the rationalists.
Katsuaki Asai from Japan will speak on:
"Rationalist traditions in the history of Japan
-a foundation for the future."
Shintoism and the Japanese version of Buddhism have strong
elements of rationalism. While Japan is a strict secular
nation, most of the people practice Shintoism (worshipping the
beauty of nature) during their life and become Buddhists for
getting the burial ceremonies done. The Japanese culture
has strong elements of rationalism.
The International Rationalist Conference will be held at
Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala, the southern coastal
state of India from 17 to 22, January 2000. Rationalists
from around the world and from different Indian states will
attend the conference. The international conference marks
the golden jubilee (50th anniversary) of Indian Rationalist
Association, the largest and most vibrant national rationalist
organisation in Asia.
You are cordially invited to join us during the 2nd
International Rationalist Conference. Registration is open
now. For an online registration form and more details,
please write to: <sakthy@giasdla.vsnl.net.in>
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NEW AGE MOVEMENT PLANS "WAVE OF PRAYER"
AROUND THE WORLD
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Increase in peace and freedom, and a general uplifting in the
human race are not far away! To attain them easily, the
leaders of the "New Age" spiritual development movement are
calling for a "wave" of prayer around the world on New year's
eve -with prayers spoken, sung, chanted or even typed into
the electronic realms of Cyberspace.
James Redfield, author of 'Celestine Prophecy' and a leader
of the "New Age" movement wants the global moment of prayer
to begin on December 31 at 11.59 p.m. in the South Pacific
and roll across the Earth as people welcome in the new
millennium. "Every hour a new group in their time zone will
hold a moment of prayer. There will be a wave of prayer
that encircle the globe," said Redfield.
The "New Age" leaders ask everybody to join with everyone
else and pray in their own way. They hope that this will
make a better world in the next century and millennium!
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NASREEN IN INDIA; MAY SEEK ASYLUM
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Taslima Nasreen, Bangladeshi author and member of the
Academy of Humanism, is in India now. She was denied
permission to visit India earlier when she was scheduled to
attend the 1st International Rationalist Conference held
at New Delhi in December 1995, for "reasons of her security."
"I consider India as my home," said Taslima Nasreen. "If the
Indian government, being a secular one, thought what I have
written is true, then I would be granted asylum." Expressing
her desire to stay in India Ms Nasreen said: "I am thinking
of seeking political asylum. I am happy that I have been
given a visa to come to India after so long."
Nasreen said the Hasina government in Bangladesh had not
banned her entry into Bangladesh, but her return was
unlikely under the present circumstance. " I hope to return
to my homeland one day. That is why I have not been able to
settle down in foreign lands", the author of the books 'Lajja'
and 'Amar Meyebela' said. All her works have been banned in
Bangladesh and atleast two cases are pending against her.
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Islamic fundamentalism:
ARABS NEED A MILLION BIN LADENS,
SAYS GADDAFI
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In an interview with the London based MBC satellite television
channel, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi issued a call recently
to fight the US and saying they needed "a million Bin Ladens."
"Let blood flow, let towns be destroyed. We shall live without
electricity, without hotels and without communications, but
our dignity will not be trampled everyday", Gaddafi said. He
continued: "The Arabs must take up guns and fight America
openly."
Gaddafi said that the whole of the Arab world has been
turned into a colony, from the (Atlantic) ocean to the Gulf,
"a colony which needs to be liberated with the gun, and
not by other means."
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Islamic fundamentalism:
ISRAEL MUST DISAPPEAR; CONFLICT REMAINS OPEN,
SAYS RAMADAN ABDULLAH
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Hitting out at the Palastinian Authority of Yasser Arafat,
and accusing him of "selling Palestine", the leader of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement Ramadan Abdullah Shallah
said that the agreements reached between Arabs and Isrealis
had "aborted" the Palestinian resistance. "Israel must
disappear and our objective is struggle", -he said.
Ruling out any possibility of peace or discussions, Ramadan
Abdullah Shallah said: "There will be no final solution, and
the conflict remains open until the liberation of the whole
of Palestine. We have chosen jihad (holy war) and martyrdom",
-he said.
Ramadan Abdullah was speaking at Damascus in a rally
organised to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination
in Malta of their leader Fathi Shikaki. Islamic Jihad blames
Israel for Shikaki's murder. He was shot in the head several
times.
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Christian intolerance:
900 MILLION PEOPLE LOST IN THE DARKNESS OF HINDUISM,
SAYS SOUTHERN BAPTIST PRAYER BOOK
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A prayer book published by the International Mission Board
of Southern Baptist church asks to "pray that Hindus who
celebrate the festival of lights would become aware of the
darkness in their hearts that no lamp can dispel." The
highly arrogant prayer guide describes the Indian city
Mumbai as the "city of spiritual darkness. Eight out of
every ten people are Hindu, slaves bound by fear and
tradition to false gods", it reads. Or: "Satan has retained
his hold on Calcutta through Kali and other gods and goddesses
of Hinduism. It's time for Christ's salvation to come to
Calcutta." The Southern Baptists plan to distribute the
prayer guide to its 40,000 churches across the USA.
The Hindu groups in the USA, shocked by the hatred in the
Southern Baptist prayer guide , are planning to organise
two demonstrations in the coming week in Atlanta and in
Houston to express their protest. Responding to the
Christian call, Shyam Tiwari of Greater Atlanta Hindu
Organisations says: "We pray to God that He may lead the
Southern Baptists from the world of ignorance and hatred
to the world of knowledge, truth and peace."
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Science update:
OZONE LAYER IS SHRINKING,
LATEST NASA IMAGES SHOW
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There is some good news for the environmentalists. Latest
images provided by Nasa show the disturbing and potentially
harmful hole in the ozone layer is shrinking. While the hole
is still a worrying 9.8 million square miles big, the images
show the atmospheric layer that protects the Earth from the
sun's harmful radiation is healing.
Observing that the present area of the hole would just about
cover the entire North American continent, Nasa scientists
add that it is still slightly smaller than last year.
Scientists say it will be a while before the hole disappears
completely, predicting 2060 to be the earliest date by when
such an improvement is noted.
The upper atmospheric layer has thinned worldwide, allowing
more of the sun's ultraviolet light to reach the earth. The
harmful ultraviolet rays have been linked to skin cancer and
cataracts and they also pose risks to plants and marine life.
Thinning of the ozone layer, first confirmed in the 1980s,
was hastened by chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) used in everything
from aerosol sprays to refrigerators. Chlorine molecules from
the CFCs when let out into the atmosphere, demolish the
protective ozone layer.
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