Another good reason why we need to find a cure for blind faith. Not only are the victims hurting themselves, but children watching this gory ritual could be deeply affected for life. Problems like too much violence on TV look tame in comparison to this shameful spectacle. The Reuters story seems generally factual, but fails to address the root causes of this hysteria, or examine its impact on world culture. Instead, it's a rather shallow, sensationalistic coverage of a serious issue.

The story of radical religious belief driving the faithful to such extreme behaviors is a very important story. Problems such as these belong to religion whether it wishes to own them or not. Than "no one has ever died during the rituals" (the final sentence of this story) seems an attempt to make it less disturbing than it is, and should be. This is exactly the type of behavior that creates the next generation of religious extremists to create more strife in our already weary world. WWJD?

This has been an annual ritual for almost five decades now or even more. The sad twist to this spectacle is the fact that almost all the "volunteers" in these yearly crucifixions believe that performing this extreme sacrifice will result in God's grant of their most fervent wishes. Some of the volunteers are former convicted prisoners who admits having murdered a number of people, some have a wife or child who is terminally ill, others beseech God for wealth and prosperity. A few believe they need to do it to "strengthen a talisman or an amulet" or some paranormal activity. And after this exercise in faith, all actually believe they had been blessed. A convicted killer whom I had interviewed for a news story some time back, ... More »