Blind Faith

When does blind faith go too far?  I read a story this morning about a man in Indonesia whose village rested on the slopes of a volcano.  He was the "spiritual caretaker" of the volcano, he made offerings into the volcano to keep the spirits appeased so his village would be kept safe.  His dead body was found Wednesday Oct. 27th covered in white ash from the volcano's recent eruption.  Right next to his body was the body of a Red Cross worker who had been trying to get him to leave.

I have nothing to say about his beliefs, there were his and I can respect that.  Where I stop respecting someones blind faith in any spiritual path and it goes too far is when it impacts other people.  Others in his village stayed because they believed that he could keep them safe and when the eruption started they fled in a panic.  Now, after all is said and done, some of the other villagers are calling him a "hero".  He's a hero who got himself and an innocent Red Cross worker killed because of that blind faith. 

In the USA once again coming to the forefront of the news are religious people following blind faith that leads to the death of the innocent.  You have parents killing their babies so they can "go to heaven and be with Jesus" and letting their children die without doctor's care because the parents choose to pray instead.  Or a religious ceremony inflicts harm on another, babies drowning during baptisms and children dying during 'excorisms'.  And let's not even touch on the Catholic Church and its record with keeping innocent children "safe".

If you are an adult, you have the right to live or die in a way you see fit.  If you want to pray for yourself instead of seeking a doctor's care that is your right, or kill yourself so you can "go home and be with with god", again that is your right as an adult.

But if you are making that decision for a child, or it effects another innocent life.  NO ONE has the right to force their religious beliefs on another person, or allow harm to come to someone else because of what you think is the "truth".


Spiritual Caretaker of Volcano Dies