Religion makes people do horrible things, pt. 2

Did you hear about the Islamic cult living underground in Kazan, Tatarstan (part of the Russian Federation)?  Some of the children had apparently never seen sunlight.  It makes you think of that Ray Bradbury story.  You know the one.  I'd like to add that Kazan is not some podunk little bizarre Russian village.  It's got over a million people, so likely it's bigger than where you are living now.  And it's a pretty normal city.  I know people from there, and people who have been there.  They are all normal, sunlight-loving people.  (Well, most of them are, anyway.)

Well, I guess some of the story was quite exaggerated, particularly the state of the cells.  However, they were without any sort of power, water, or central heat.  The follow-up articles do not address whether some children never saw sunlight, only that some rooms indeed had windows.  I consider the jury still out on this one-- I think the headline calling it a lie was a bit exaggerated itself.

Religion makes people do some weird things...

... such as squeezing the demons out of toddlers.

Seriously, who thinks that strangling a kid is going to make them more sane? And what is with the mom being covered in blood? These are some messed up folks.

For more exorcism goodness (this time in Romania), check out this movie, The Untyings.  It's a documentary made by a Romanian man who came to America and is returning to his home country to find out more about the surprisingly common practice of exorcism, and to learn why he himself was subjected to one as a young man.  There are mass exorcisms (including babies being exorcised!), travelers coming from incredible distances to be exorcised by the best, and bizarre reasons for exorcising your kid.

Overall it was a bit slow, and I wish it would have delved more into the bizarre.  But it was very interesting and worth the time to find and watch.

Rating: 3/5 skulls

The Hunger

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted, and it's finals week, which can only mean one thing-- a double post!! Hurrah!

Way up there on my list of "Ways I don't want to go" is this one (straight out of Hannibal)-- being eaten alive by pigs.

A three-year-old boy near New Delhi walked off from his family November 29th. A little later, his mother noticed some pigs chewing on something.

Then she recognized her son's clothing.

Only the son's limbs were recovered.

You can read the story here.

Also, I posted about Marlie Casseus in the previous entry. If you'd like to read about her progress, see pictures from after her latest surgery, or donate to the charity that sponsored her surgery, you can go to her page at the International Kids' Fund.

Rapist getting off to an early start

A boy under the age of 7 is accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate with his fingers and then a stick he found on the playground. Jesus Christ. What is our world coming to? What is wrong with this kid? The truly horrible thing is-- this boy might still be at this same school. Of course, the school district is going to take measures to "keep the two children separated." Right, that will work well, I'msosure.

Link (with video of news broadcast).