Tantric Witch Doctor fails to kill atheist via witchcraft on live TV

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Tantric Witch Doctor fails to kill atheist via witchcraft on live TV

http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2008/20080310/en_1.html

 

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On 3 March 2008, in a popular TV show, Sanal Edamaruku, the president of Rationalist International, challenged India’s most “powerful” tantrik (black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was the beginning of an unprecedented experiment. After all his chanting of mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the “ultimate destruction ceremony” on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of the black magic ritual. India TV observed skyrocketing viewership rates.

...


After nearly two hours, the anchor declared the tantrik’s failure. The tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very strong god whom Sanal might be worshipping obviously protected him. “No, I am an atheist,” said Sanal Edamaruku. Finally, the disgraced tantrik tried to save his face by claiming that there was a never-failing special black magic for ultimate destruction, which could, however, only been done at night. Bad luck again, he did not get away with this, but was challenged to prove his claim this very night in another “breaking news” live program.

 

These people have been running around for centuries claiming that their witchcraft could hurt people and people actually believe them. How did it take so long for them to be discredited like this.

 

 


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Thanks, I hadn't laughed so

Thanks, I hadn't laughed so hard in months. Maybe he should just get a show on the christian TBN network and try to heal people instead. I am sure the participants will be more cooperative.

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that is just too damn funny

that is just too damn funny Smiling

awesome!! Smiling


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The follow-up challenge

The follow-up challenge should have the roles reversed:  The atheist shoots the tantrik at point-blank range, and the tantrik relies on his black magic to save himself.

There are no theists on operating tables.

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Perhaps it's possible for

Perhaps it's possible for this to work if you believe it can. If you honestly believe a curse can kill you, then your brain might just do it. Obviously an atheist with no belief in it would be unaffected. I've seen christians ' miracoulsy' get better after someone prays and tells them a curse on them has been broken. They were imaging the ailments in the first place, and afterwards they believe they're healed.

 

Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible

dudeofthemoment wrote:
This is getting redudnant. My patience with the unteachable[atheists] is limited.

Argument from Sadism: Theist presents argument in a wall of text with no punctuation and wrong spelling. Atheist cannot read and is forced to concede.


HisWillness
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Atheist magic

 Of course, he forgot to note that atheists have special magic that protects us. I think it's called "reality", but that's a technical term that I wouldn't expect Captain Voodoo there to understand.

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fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence


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HisWillness wrote: Of

HisWillness wrote:

 Of course, he forgot to note that atheists have special magic that protects us. I think it's called "reality", but that's a technical term that I wouldn't expect Captain Voodoo there to understand.

 

Classic!

This is the reason why no one will take Randi's challenge, they know they are frauds who can't reproduce their claims. It makes me wonder if this guy really did believe what he was doing was absolutely real, because if he did, then he's an attempted murderer, and if he didn't he is more of a fool than most of the charlatans who only try to con those who can be conned.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda


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HeyZeusCreaseToe wrote:It

HeyZeusCreaseToe wrote:

It makes me wonder if this guy really did believe what he was doing was absolutely real, because if he did, then he's an attempted murderer, and if he didn't he is more of a fool than most of the charlatans who only try to con those who can be conned.

The best part is that if the guy really did die, Voodoo Boy there would probably go to court and his lawyer would argue "Oh come on, your honour, what reasonbable person actually believes this stuff? It was a coincidence!"

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fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence


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So true HisWIllness....so

So true HisWIllness....so true.


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Tantric witch doctor? Isn't

Tantric witch doctor? Isn't tantra a kind of yoga, focused on sexual exercises, like maximal pleasure, and so on?

By the way, the "tantrik" was not only a liar, but lying even to himself. These things just doesn't work in three minutes, they're very slow, it takes quite an effort to get things moving. Also, every possible result would always look like a coincidence, traffic accident, or an unsurprising heart attack. It has no sense to bet anything on an immediate result.
I don't judge if a "psychic attack" is possible. A person can die also of a psychosomatical cause, by losing a will to live, the mood affects some hormones and enzyms, hormones affects blood quality, substance exchanging (gaining nutrients from food, waste removing, and so on) and the body degenerates. Finally, blood can become too condensable and a clump of condensated blood may appear on a wrong place, like heart or brain, causing a death. This is a death caused by mind, the closest to a woodoo treachery, what science knows. But it is a very slow process, only a bullet is fast. Any woodoo guy with the least bit of practice would know it.

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Agreed. While reality does

Agreed. While reality does offer a whole new host of problems for humans, it is an excellent defense against silliness like voodoo. The next time someone tries to voodoo me, I'm going to sit and laugh, and continue doing what I was doing.

Cheers!

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So since the tantrik

So since the tantrik actually believed it was going to kill him - could he be accused of attempted murder?


Luminon
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..

fluffz wrote:

So since the tantrik actually believed it was going to kill him - could he be accused of attempted murder?


Accused yes, but desire for a murder isn't considered as a crime and doing a weird mumbo jumbo around a "victim" as well, so he wouldn't be seriously judged. If the ritual would have a dead body as a result, it would be something else.

 

Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.


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I find it funny that they

I find it funny that they even went on live tv to get embarassed like that in the first place.

It's almost as if they didn't even know what they were practicing was fake, lol.

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"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called Insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called Religion." - Robert M. Pirsig,