INDIANSKEPTIC

7th National Conference of Federation of Indian R ationalist Associations

(FIRA)

INDIANSKEPTIC

No. 01/01 January 2010

Indian Sk eptic

Indian Sk eptic

Bangalore Sk eptic turns Indian Sk eptic!

Th is is s ue s h ould h ave be e n th e 25th is s ue of Bangalore Sk eptic. Inste ad, our e zine w ill h e nce forth be k now n as Indian Sk eptic.

M ost of th e re ade rs of Bangalore Sk eptic m ay be aw are th at Basava Pre m anad us e d to bring

out a m onth ly m agazine (in print form at) title d Indian Sk eptic. W h e n Pre m anand fe ll s e riously ill (h e pas s e d aw ay on 4th Octobe r 2009 ), h e discontinue d its publication, th us snapping pe rh aps th e only link conne cting

various rationalist groups and activists in our vast country.

During th e 7th National Confe re nce of Fe de ration of Indian Rationalist As sociations (FIRA), it w as sugge ste d (by Prof Nare ndra Nayak ) th at Bangalore Sk eptic s h ould h e nce forth be publis h e d as Indian Sk e ptic and th is

w as supporte d by oth e r de le gate s of th e confe re nce . It s h ould h ow e ve r be note d th at

th is e zine Indian Sk eptic is not a continuation (in th e le gal s e ns e ) of th e m agazine publis h e d

by Pre m anand, but a re birth (!) or a ne w avatar (!) of Bangalore Sk eptic, but sure ly

uph olding th e spirit of Pre m anad’s vis ion of a s e cular India.

Th ough th is e zine is not an official organ of FIRA, it w ill w ork as an unofficial one ! From th e ne xt is s ue onw ards , th e re w ill be a colum n by Prof Nare ndra Nayak in h is capacity as th e Pre s ide nt of FIRA. Th is w ill be in addition to h is usual contributions th at th e re ade rs of

Bangalore Sk eptic are fam iliar w ith .

Editor

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INDIANSKEPTIC

No.01/01 January 2010

Dipping bare h and in "boiling oil" - W ill exposing "H indu M iracles" b e exploited by Ch ristian M issionarie s?

2. Are you a H indu?

1. W h y are you e xpos ing 'H indu' m iracle s only?

3. W h y don't you re form th e oth e r re ligions?

4. W e H indus are a tole rant lot th at is w h y w e put up w ith w h at you say.

5. You h urt th e s e ntim e nts of H indus w h e n you criticize our god m e n

Magician Vik ram expos e s "Psych ic Surgery" (a "Ch ristian M iracle"!) at th e 7th World Ath e ist Conference in Vijayaw ada

6. You de ny th e e xpe rie nce s of m any of us w h o h ave w itne s s e d th e m iracle s .

Prof Narendra Nayak is th e Pre s ident of Federation of Indian Rationalist

As sociations

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W e h ope for th e e m e rge nce of an inte lle ctual culture th at w ould

be rationalis t but not dogm atic, s cie ntifically m inde d but not

s cie ntis tic, ope n-m inde d but not frivolous , and politically

progre s s ive but not s e ctarian.

Alan Sok al & Jean Bricm ont(Inte lle ctual Im poste rs)

Ath e ist EveAth e ist Eve

Ath e ist Eve Indian Sk e ptic

O nce th e total re h abilitation fell under th e control of orth odox M uslim ch aritie s, th ey started im posing retrograde norm s on th e com m unity. Th e m osque s w h ich gave th em sh elter also im posed a version of Islam alien to m ost of th e Gujarat M uslim s. Th e m ost

glaring exam ple of th is w as m anife st in th e h ousing pattern w h ich cam e up in due course . Th e dw ellings w ere com paratively sm aller

w h ile th e m osque s w ere b igger. O ne also noticed th at th e pre sence of M aulanas b ecam e m ore dom inant in th e se com m unitie s.

BS

"Tam aso M a Jyoth irgam aya"

“to de ve lop th e scie ntific te m pe r, h um anism , and th e spirit of inquiry and re form ”

vastu

“A Rational Approach to th e Irrational

Be h aviour of Indians ” Bangalore Sk eptic

God M ark e t

Ks h atriya – Brah m in – Bania Ne xus"

Becom ing an Agnostic

Vipras

th irth a

puja,

'th irth a'

puja

Curious b e h aviour of m oth s!

God De lus ion

O n Budd h ism & Caste System

"prjna""k arunya”

Vaidic Puroh its

ch aturvarna k arm a-k anda

Tim e exposure at floodligh t s h ow ing m oth fligh t path s

'M utts '"adw aita”

“gana h om a” ‘satyanarayana pooja” '

“rah uk alam ”

puroh its’

Ks h atriyas Vaidic Brah m ins

Kam asutra

k s h atriyas

State -Tem ple- Corporate -Com plex

God M ark e t

A Be tte r India, A Be tte r World

Th e Evolution of th e Ide a of God,

BS

Our age is a diffe re nt one ; it is an age of dis illus ion, of doubt and

unce rtainty and q ue s tioning. W e can no longe r acce pt m any of

th e ancie nt be lie fs and cus tom s ; w e h ave no m ore faith in th e m ,

in As ia or in Europe or Am e rica. So w e s e arch for ne w w ays ,

q ue s tion e ach oth e r and de bate and q uarre l and e volve any

num be r of ‘is m ’ and ph ilos oph ie s . As in th e day of Socrate s , w e

live in an age of q ue s tioning, but th at q ue s tioning is not confine d

to a city lik e Ath e ns ; it is w orldw ide .

Jaw ah arlal Neh ru

Dr K Veeram ani, Pre s ident, Dravida Kazh agam , inaugurating th e Conference

R esolutions

Courte s y: Th e M odern Rationalist, January 2010

BS

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Th e Fine Art of Balone y De te ction

Th e De m onh aunte d World: Scie nce as a Candle in th e Dark

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