Do you remember Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom? Remember when the crazed priest begins chanting “Kali Mata” as he reaches into the chest of his victim and pulls out his still beating heart? Did you really think that only happened in movies?

Well, ripping out the still beating heart and having it burst into flame as the victim is lowered into the lava may be pure Hollywood, but killing in the name of Kali Mata is most certainly not.
In Islamabad a Hindu priest hacked the heads off his three daughters, all under 6-year-old, to please Hindu goddess Kali Mata before turning the knife on himself. According to the article Tekam Das Meghwar took the extraordinary step of sacrificing his daughters and himself when the electrical powered failed after performing pooja (Hindu worship) the entire morning.
What drives a man to commit such a horrendous act? Religion? Maybe. Perhaps this man was certifiably lunatic, perhaps he was strictly adhering to some lesser known passage found in his holy texts. Who knows?
What we do know is that without religion these kinds of unhinged individuals are far more readily identified. Religions at their heart have tenants, dogmas, and teachings which simply cannot be demonstrated, observed, verified, tested, or falsified. No one can show that Kali Mata was NOT pleased by the bloodshed.
Where does that leave the faithful? How can they denigrate this man’s beliefs while simultaneously hold similar unprovable notions (although they may not manifest in such ghastly ways)?
Faith is a word used to hide the fact you have no good reasons to believe. If you ever discover you have ideas for which there is no demonstrable support, think of the young girls heads in a cradle with their father lying in a pool of blood. Lose the thought and the idea.
BBC News – Row over Indonesia atheist Facebook post Priority is to protect marriage | Herald Sun No Fetus Can Feed Us | Unreasonable Faith Alain de Botton: Atheism 2.0 | Video on TED.com
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