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Threatened with arrest for debunking a miracle
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Kennette Benedict is the executive director and publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. This article is adapted from her column in the Bulletin
One minute with...
Sanal Edamaruku Facing arrest after debunking a “miracle”, the head of the Indian Rationalist Association explains why he had to act What was the so-called “miracle” you recently investigated in Mumbai? The priest and the very active Catholic laity organisations associated with the Our Lady of Velankanni church in Mumbai were promoting the idea that water dripping from the feet of a statue of Jesus was a sign from God. Hundreds of believers flocked to the dripping cross, collecting and consuming “holy” drainage water that they believed would cure all ailments. What prompted you to intervene? I was invited to the Delhi studio of TV9, a Mumbaibased national channel, to comment. During the programme, I rejected the possibility of a miracle, but of course could not give scientific explanations without an investigation. The channel then invited me to come to Mumbai. The church authorities agreed. What did you find? I had a close look at a nearby washroom and the connected drainage system that passed underneath the concrete base of the cross. I removed some stones from the drain and found it was blocked. I touched the walls, the base and the cross and took some photographs for documentation. It was very simple: water from the washroom, which had been blocked in the clogged drainage system, had been transmitted via capillary action into the adjacent walls and the base of the cross as well as into the wooden cross itself. The water came out through a nail hole and ran down over the statue’s feet. You now face possible arrest. Why? Leaders of two Catholic laity organisations have launched charges against me under section 295A of the Indian penal code. This charges a person with “deliberately hurting religious feelings and attempting malicious acts intended to outrage the religious sentiments of any class or community”. It is absurd to claim that I did anything of the sort. What do you fear might happen to you? If it comes to a trial, I have nothing to fear. I would
Profile Sanal Edamaruku is the founder-president of Rationalist International, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, and honorary associate of the UK Rationalist Association
welcome the opportunity to throw some light on the role that the Catholic church played and is still playing today, here in India. The possibility of arrest is threatening, however. Do you have any regrets about intervening? Why would one not intervene when somebody gives gullible people sewage to drink? But my reason is broader. The promotion of superstition and belief in paranormal phenomena dulls people’s minds and establishes dangerous misconceptions about reality in our society. Such efforts have to be countered. Why do people so readily believe in miracles? For many, the regressive belief in superstitions and miracles is an escape from the hardships of life. Once trapped into irrationalism, they become more incapable of mastering reality. It is a vicious circle, like an addiction. They become vulnerable to exploitation by astrologers, godmen, dubious pseudo-psychologists, corrupt politicians and the whole mega-industry of irrationalism. Interview by Jon White
30 June 2012 | NewScientist | 27
prakash singh/afp/getty
ensuing chaos from bringing down, for example, air-traffic control systems, electrical grids and financial markets would cause widespread damage, hardship and even death. We have come to know how nuclear weapons can destroy societies. We have not yet begun to understand how cyberwarfare might destroy our way of life. We do know, however, that the US has much to lose if unrestrained cyberattack capabilities were to spread around the world. In fact, it is so highly dependent on information and communication technology in every sector of its society that the US may be more vulnerable than other countries. That’s why we need vigorous public discussion about these new weapons. The stakes are too high to leave decisions in the hands of military and intelligence officers, or behind the closed doors of the situation room in the White House. In 1945, atomic scientists determined that only international control of nuclear energy could prevent a global arms race. In yet another parallel, computer scientists and engineers have also called for international cooperation to establish institutions to control cybertechnology and protocols to prevent a new kind of arms race. Unfortunately, these recommendations have not been heeded, and once more political leaders appear all too eager to deploy a new and very dangerous class of weapon. How ironic that the first known military use of cyberwarfare is ostensibly to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons: a new age of mass destruction will begin in an effort to close a chapter from the first age of mass destruction. n
Kennette Benedict is the executive director and publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. This article is adapted from her column in the Bulletin
One minute with...
Sanal Edamaruku Facing arrest after debunking a “miracle”, the head of the Indian Rationalist Association explains why he had to act What was the so-called “miracle” you recently investigated in Mumbai? The priest and the very active Catholic laity organisations associated with the Our Lady of Velankanni church in Mumbai were promoting the idea that water dripping from the feet of a statue of Jesus was a sign from God. Hundreds of believers flocked to the dripping cross, collecting and consuming “holy” drainage water that they believed would cure all ailments. What prompted you to intervene? I was invited to the Delhi studio of TV9, a Mumbaibased national channel, to comment. During the programme, I rejected the possibility of a miracle, but of course could not give scientific explanations without an investigation. The channel then invited me to come to Mumbai. The church authorities agreed. What did you find? I had a close look at a nearby washroom and the connected drainage system that passed underneath the concrete base of the cross. I removed some stones from the drain and found it was blocked. I touched the walls, the base and the cross and took some photographs for documentation. It was very simple: water from the washroom, which had been blocked in the clogged drainage system, had been transmitted via capillary action into the adjacent walls and the base of the cross as well as into the wooden cross itself. The water came out through a nail hole and ran down over the statue’s feet. You now face possible arrest. Why? Leaders of two Catholic laity organisations have launched charges against me under section 295A of the Indian penal code. This charges a person with “deliberately hurting religious feelings and attempting malicious acts intended to outrage the religious sentiments of any class or community”. It is absurd to claim that I did anything of the sort. What do you fear might happen to you? If it comes to a trial, I have nothing to fear. I would
Profile Sanal Edamaruku is the founder-president of Rationalist International, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, and honorary associate of the UK Rationalist Association
welcome the opportunity to throw some light on the role that the Catholic church played and is still playing today, here in India. The possibility of arrest is threatening, however. Do you have any regrets about intervening? Why would one not intervene when somebody gives gullible people sewage to drink? But my reason is broader. The promotion of superstition and belief in paranormal phenomena dulls people’s minds and establishes dangerous misconceptions about reality in our society. Such efforts have to be countered. Why do people so readily believe in miracles? For many, the regressive belief in superstitions and miracles is an escape from the hardships of life. Once trapped into irrationalism, they become more incapable of mastering reality. It is a vicious circle, like an addiction. They become vulnerable to exploitation by astrologers, godmen, dubious pseudo-psychologists, corrupt politicians and the whole mega-industry of irrationalism. Interview by Jon White
30 June 2012 | NewScientist | 27
prakash singh/afp/getty
ensuing chaos from bringing down, for example, air-traffic control systems, electrical grids and financial markets would cause widespread damage, hardship and even death. We have come to know how nuclear weapons can destroy societies. We have not yet begun to understand how cyberwarfare might destroy our way of life. We do know, however, that the US has much to lose if unrestrained cyberattack capabilities were to spread around the world. In fact, it is so highly dependent on information and communication technology in every sector of its society that the US may be more vulnerable than other countries. That’s why we need vigorous public discussion about these new weapons. The stakes are too high to leave decisions in the hands of military and intelligence officers, or behind the closed doors of the situation room in the White House. In 1945, atomic scientists determined that only international control of nuclear energy could prevent a global arms race. In yet another parallel, computer scientists and engineers have also called for international cooperation to establish institutions to control cybertechnology and protocols to prevent a new kind of arms race. Unfortunately, these recommendations have not been heeded, and once more political leaders appear all too eager to deploy a new and very dangerous class of weapon. How ironic that the first known military use of cyberwarfare is ostensibly to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons: a new age of mass destruction will begin in an effort to close a chapter from the first age of mass destruction. n