Well, we know that this could not be a reference to the ordinary calls of nature to which we are all necessary slaves on a quotidian basis ... no, this has to do with that other call that is proscribed for those especially desirous of heavenly awards in one shape or another ... news is beginning to come out of the global woodwork like droves of termites, yet, we're a ways away from seeing the edifices that give shelter to such proclivities crumble - in much the same way as houses in this part of the country fall prey to these tiny predators.
Covert sexual activity ... the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) is rumored to be sinking into bankruptcy from paying restitution for tolerating the intolerable - pederasty and pedophilia (and now also abuse of women i.e. nuns in Africa and India) at the 'hands' of its clergy [1] ... the Swami Nithyananda 'scandal' about his romp in the bedroom with an actress ... and the extremely interesting hypothesis that sexual repression has played a significant role in shaping the mind-set of the Al- Qaeda loonies [2]
What can be expected when culture puts its unnatural foot down on the demands of biology? The latter's been around a lot longer than pursuits of piety ... let's take our own romp through this latest quagmire ... progressing (regressing?) from the innocuous to the virulent ...
In the case of an unorganized system as Hinduism, there are no formal strictures against sex ... as far as I know ... celibacy and chastity are not especially close to godliness, so why the need to keep things under cover, behind closed doors (OK ... I take that last part back ... these activities are best left behind closed doors, Khajuraho notwithstanding)?! All guru types are free to live in wedded bliss ... no? In this Nithyananda fella's case, one at least gets to laugh ... particularly at how his transgressions are defined by Indian jurisprudence: IPC sections 295(A) (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy). So, which class, religion, or belief has been insulted and outraged (see, if you subscribe to belief being synonymous with superstition - as we atheists do - you soon realize how risible this assertion is)? 'Rape' (only if the actress was not a consenting adult)? 'Unnatural Sex' ... eh? Unnatural Sex?! I wonder where that is fully defined in the canons of the IPC (would make some interesting reading to see just how anachronistic things can get); 'Criminal Intimidation' & 'Criminal Conspiracy') (OK, these almost makes sense since the 'whistle-blower' was threatened with bodily harm).
In the case of the RCC, one reader suggests that, 'It has to do with the unquestioned power of the Catholic hierarchy. If these priests were married, they'd still be abusing children and raping women. Because they can.' Could very well be ... but I posit the scale would be vastly different (for those of you who will let your fingers walk you over to the link in the references, please take this well-said comment into consideration 'The snarky remark about illiterate tribal people was unprofessional. I suggest the author get a good world history text and read it. Especially read the European behavior of Leopold the II, the French in Rwanda/Burundi, and the British in other places.)'. As you see, there is the requisite hue and cry over the issue ... some of my favorite fellow atheists are demanding that during his impending visit to the UK, the Pontiff be arrested for collusion via his express failure to punish his flock ... I hope he goes on the visit ... I hope they arrest him and toss him in jail ... I hope they throw the keys away (at least the ones to Heaven that he possesses) ...
And now we come to the truly inimical effects of coerced suppression on a social scale - if a Salafi or Wahhabi then this is applicable to all Muslims ... I think males are exempt from dire consequences (married or not) ... which is why the horror that was the Taliban got away with murder ... women had better start praying to their God if they have the misfortune to be caught in flagrante delicto (another time where prayer proves to be inefficacious) ... so, Tawfiq Hamid hailed from a secular family with an atheist patriarch in his father ... he became mesmerized by the Sunni rantings of his senior Al-Zawahiri during Medical School ... within a matter of weeks was convinced that if he only just agreed to self-annihilation, all his sexual needs would be satisfied by the army of virgins chez Allah (I imagine that that would be a slice of paradise unless all those virgins showed up in toto) ... evidently, Shia Muslims (do Sufis even care for such things?) are less apt to be brainwashed, because male sexual needs are satisfied via the concept of 'Muttah' marriage - where a man can opt to be married for anywhere from 5 minutes (!!!) to a lifetime in order to copulate without violating the prescribed tenets of his 'faith' ... therein lies the motivation behind 'Jihad' ... Hamid's conversation is involved but well worth the hour or so it takes to view the video ...
Why is any of this so? Robert Sapolsky (professor of biology & neurology at Stanford University, a vegetarian and hell of a funny guy - he is an atheist after all!) has an intriguing explanation in his essay 'The Cultural Desert' [3] ... an excerpted synopsis:
'a basic dichotomy has emerged between two types of societies from different ecosystems ... between people who live in rain forests and those who live in deserts ... there are exceptions but these correlates are still reliable ... rain-forest dwellers specialize in a proliferation of spirits & gods, whereas monotheism was an invention of the desert. This makes a kind of sense. Deserts teach big, singular things, like how tough of a world it is, a world reduced to simple, desiccated, furnace-blasted basics in every realm. "I am the Lord your God" and "There is but one God and his name is Allah" and "There will be no gods before me" - dictates like these proliferate ... monotheism doesn't always come with one supernatural being-the world's dominant monotheistic religions are replete with angels, djinns, and Satan ... In contrast think of the tropical-rain-forest people, in a world with a thousand different species of ants in a single tree than you would find in all the British Isles. Letting a thousand deities in the same sort of equilibrium must seem the most natural thing in the world. What's more when you do encounter monotheistic rain-forest dwellers they're much less likely to believe that their god sticks his or her nose in other people's business-controlling the weather, being responsible for illness, and so on. In contrast, in the desert, a locust swarm or an oasis that dries up can be a death sentence ... breeds a belief in an interventionist God with his own capricious plan ... Desert societies with their far-flung members tending to goats and camels, are the classic spawning ground for warrior classes ... death in battle as a guarantee of a glorious afterlife ... If you are a woman, you'd much rather stay away from those desert folks ... among desert cultures, women typically have the difficult tasks of building shelters and wandering in search of water and firewood, while the men contemplate the majesty of their herds ... rain-forest cultures are less likely to believe in the inferiority of women; you are not likely to find men there praying thanks that they were not created a woman (as is the case in at least one notable desert-derived religion) ... Finally, desert cultures are likely to teach their children to be modest about nudity at an earlier age ... and to have more severe strictures against premarital sex ... Desert cultures, with their militarism, stratification, mistreatment of women, uptightness about child-rearing and sexuality, seem pretty unappealing ... At various points, the desert dwellers have poured out of the Middle East and have defined large parts of Eurasian culture ... Our scattered enemies, the Taliban, and our well-entrenched good friends the Saudis, created societies of breathtaking repressiveness. In Jerusalem, in recent years, Jewish Orthodox zealots have battled police, trying to close down roads on Saturday ... to impose their restrictive version of belief ... our exceptions to rules are far more numerous and dramatic than you find in other primates. After all, the same mean ol' Judeo-Christian/Muslim world I've been ragging on has also produced Quakers and Sufis ... we are even beginning to glimpse a biology of religious beliefs itself-some types of neurological injuries cause religious obsessions, types of neuropsychiatric disorders associated with "metamagical" thinking ... When our forebears pondered life's big questions, did they do while contemplating an enveloping shroud of trees, or an endless horizon?'
Reformation has ostensibly happened in Christendom; it's an alien concept and unneeded in Eastern beliefs; it is way overdue in Islam. Or you could go my way and jettison the whole danged lot! Then all those calls of nature will be in harmony ... and all will be well with the world ... well, almost ...
[1] http://www.salon.com/news/catholicism/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/04/23/next_catholic_priest_abuse_scandal
[2] http://www.google.com/search?q=the+roots+of+jihad+tawfik&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADRA_en&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=dznTS_-JCo-8sgO83KmhAw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBsQqwQwAw
[3] 'MonkeyLuv', pp 161-170
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