In one of the villages in the shadow of Merapi, holy men and hundreds of people lit incense and set rice, fruit and vegetables floating down a river in a ceremony they believed would appease the spirits and prevent an eruption.
"It's bound to help," Parsi, a villager who like many Indonesians using only one name, said after the ceremony. "Everyone around here believes in this. It is in our blood."
Although most Indonesians are Muslim, many also worship ancient spirits, especially in Central Java province.
"All the things we are doing here are to try to make us safe," said Assize Asyhori, an Islamic preacher who took part in the ceremony. "Only Allah knows if Merapi will explode."
Idol worship is a huge no-no in the holly quoran*, and here we have an imam making offerings to a volcano.
I'm thinking of those 2,000 year old Buddha statues that the Taliban blew up as I type this.
* the subject line of the death threat email we all received was "why you insult holly quoran?" for those scratching their heads.
1
Do you remember Vinnie, that movie "The kingdom of heaven", this christian priest losing his faith on the verge of defeat.
Convert now repent later, would have caused much amusment amongst leftists.
Sound like the Imam is praying to all Gods, hoping one of them answers.
Posted by: MathewK at May 14, 2006 11:26 PM (pVHqF)
2
Not very islamic of them, but keep in mind that these folks are as remote from Mecca as London is from Jerusalem.
And, by the way, did we all have a nice Yuletide? You know, back on Jesus' birthday, 25 December (not to be confused with Saturnalia, the pagan holiday it superceded.) Do we all have pleasant memories of Christian rituals to mark the occasion, such as hanging a wreath, decorating a tree, telling the kids all about magical old Santa Claus, and so on?
I mention this because back in my Virginian hometown we had some fundamentalist spoilsports among the Christians who refused to observe these traditions, saying they aren't Christian enough. This was particularly annoying because... well, they were right.
Generally, when a religion spreads it overlays and builds upon the beliefs it replaces. Christianity did this with Judaism, the pagan cults of Europe, and the animist cults of Africa. (I get a kick out of listening to the Catholics at work trying to talk religion with the orthodox Christians from Eritrea who work for the janitorial service.) Islam does this too, but if you've got a religion you're not in a position to point fingers and laugh.
Posted by: ShannonKW at May 15, 2006 12:13 AM (dT1MB)
3
So what the big deal eh.... you drink some Orange Crush and jump into the Big Wu.
Posted by: Filthy_Allah at May 15, 2006 04:12 AM (/RE21)
4
Mathewk-
"Sound like the Imam is praying to all Gods, hoping one of them answers."
Exactly
Posted by: mike680 at May 15, 2006 05:54 AM (eTzWm)
5
Isn't "Holly Quoran" a porn star?
Posted by: memphis761 at May 15, 2006 07:41 AM (D3+20)
6
The buddhas there lasted for one thousand years while under the control of muslims.Could such a thing ever have happened, the distruction of idols, under any christian government ? It is most unfortunate that for the last 50 years WE have given such an incredible amount of oil money to the most fundamentalist muslim sect; the wahabis. This has given them an inordinate amount of power over others.
Posted by: john Ryan at May 15, 2006 08:34 AM (TcoRJ)
7
Yeah, it's all our fault, john. Is there anything they've done that they can be held accountable for without bringing the Christians or the US government to bear for it no matter what century you have to dig into to for evidence?
"WE have given such an incredible amount of oil money to the most fundamentalist muslim sect; the wahabis. This has given them an inordinate amount of power over others."
What was the excuse before the first cars were built? Before oil was discovered there? Oh yeah - the Christians.
The fact is they're
losing their power over others. That's partly why the increase in force and radical behavior even over their own people.
Yes, unfortunately we ARE funding them to a degree. Yet, does this mean their behavior is our fault? I only ask because this is always what you allude to.
Posted by: Oyster at May 15, 2006 10:50 AM (Pi3qU)
8
No matter where in the world we try to help we are slapped in the face and our corpses dragged through the streets. Time to think about building a wall and protecting our own.
Posted by: Last gasp Larry at May 15, 2006 12:03 PM (FCC6c)
9
Get the hell out and let 'em self-destruct!
Posted by: Last gasp Larry at May 15, 2006 04:39 PM (FCC6c)
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