Mekka

Praying monkey in India

David Pescovitz: A monkey reportedly participated in a Hindu ritual at a temple in the Balasore district of Orissa, India. The monkey allegedly folded its hands, took prasad (sanctified food), and marked its forehead with vermillion. After the villagers adorned it with a garland, the monkey took off into the forest.  From the Indo-Asian News Service:

"When we saw the monkey joining us we were surprised. We did not try to drive it out and it continued praying for nearly an hour amid hundreds of devotees," (Junia village resident Aniruddha) Behera told IANS... "We have not seen any monkey around for the last two years. This is a miracle for us," Behera said.

Link (Thanks, Casey/Monkeys In The News!) [Boing Boing]

7,000 Years of Religious Ritual Is Traced in Mexico

7,000 Years of Religious Ritual Is Traced in Mexico

Archaeologists have traced the development of religion in one location over a 7,000-year period, reporting that as an early society changed from foraging to settlement to the formation of an archaic state, religion also evolved to match the changing social structure.

This archaeological record, because of its length and completeness, sheds an unusually clear light on the origins of religion, a universal human behavior but one whose evolutionary and social roots are still not well understood.

Richard Dawkins on Nilsson/Pelger

Richard Dawkins on Nilsson/Pelger:
Creationists argue that the complexity of the human eye could not have arrisen by random Darwinian natural selection, since it "must be perfect to work at all". The Nilsson and Pelger computer experiment refutes this with a method of awesome beauty, showing that a human-quality eye is not just possible under Darwinian evolution, but nigh-inevitable. This is from Do Good By Stealth, chapter 3 of River Out of Eden, which is maybe the greatest thing I've ever read.

Bill Moyers on democracy excrutiate.

"How do we nurture the healing side of religion over the killing side? How do we protect the soul of democracy against bad theology in service of an imperial state? OVER THE PAST few years, as the poor got poorer, the health care crisis worsened, wealth and media became more and more concentrated, and our political system was bought out from under us, prophetic Christianity lost its voice. The Religious Right drowned everyone else out. And they hijacked Jesus. The very Jesus who stood in Nazareth and proclaimed, 'The Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor.' The very Jesus who told 5,000 hungry people that all of you will be fed, not just some of you. The very Jesus who challenged the religious orthodoxy of the day by feeding the hungry on the Sabbath, who offered kindness to the prostitute and hospitality to the outcast, who raised the status of women and treated even the tax collector like a child of God. The very Jesus who drove the money changers from the temple. This Jesus has been hijacked and turned into a guardian of privilege instead of a champion of the dispossessed. Hijacked, he was made over into a militarist, hedonist, and lobbyist, sent prowling the halls of Congress in Guccis, seeking tax breaks and loopholes for the powerful, costly new weapon systems that don't work, and punitive public policies."

Bill Moyers on democracy excruciate. [MetaFilter]

Hundreds of Mummies Found in Egyptian Caves

Archaeologists have discovered an underground maze packed with mummies from nearly 3,000 years ago. The site, south of Cairo, was most likely an multifamily cemetery, Egypt's top archaeologist said. [National Geographic News]

Maya Culture 'Ahead of its Time'

BBC Science -- Elaborate ritual objects and carved masks have been uncovered in the ancient ruins of a city in Guatemala. Exploration of the 2,000-year-old site has caused archaeologists to question the established chronology of the enigmatic Maya civilisation. The city, Cival, thrived in what is generally considered the "pre-classic" period - but it bore the hallmarks of the more advanced "classic" period. The excavations were supported by the National Geographic Society. ... After several seasons of digging, the researchers believe Cival was one of the largest Maya cities of the time. In its prime - between 150 BC and AD 100 - it had a buzzing population of around 10,000. But it was not just the city's size that made it remarkable. As the archaeologists learn more about life in the city of Cival, they are finding it does not sit comfortably with existing notions of Mayan civilisation. Strictly speaking, Cival flourished in the pre-classic period, which stretches from 2000 BC to AD 240. But it was more advanced than pre-classic societies were thought to be. After several seasons of digging, the researchers believe Cival was one of the largest Maya cities of the time. In its prime - between 150 BC and AD 100 - it had a buzzing population of around 10,000. But it was not just the city's size that made it remarkable.It had kings, complex iconography, grand palaces, writing and polychrome ceramics: all the hallmarks of the later - and apparently more civilised - classic period. "It is pretty clear that 'pre-classic' is a misnomer," said Professor Estrada-Belli. "It's very interesting when we reverse some existing ideas. We thought the pre-classic Maya were a relatively simple society - and they were not.""There was a whole civilization during the pre-classic time we are just beginning to recover," he added. (05/10/05) [Synergic Earth News]

Render Unto Ceasar?

What America Can Learn From Its Atheists -- by Leon Wieseltier. Taking the Supreme Court case being decided on the "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, he wonders what happens to God and religion when it's pressed into service and has all meaning bleached away. For the argument that a reference to God is not a reference to God is a sign that American religion is forgetting its reasons. The need of so many American believers to have government endorse their belief is thoroughly abject. How strong, and how wise, is a faith that needs to see God's name wherever it looks? [MetaFilter]

Removable Media For Our Minds

In my latest article for TheFeature.com, I report on the first baby steps toward "memory prosthetics," systems that could someday enable us to google our entire lives.

"Too often, our memories don't serve us well. We lose our keys. We forget names. As we age, the home movies that play in our heads begin to look like fifth generation VHS copies. But what if we could rewind to yesterday? Indeed, what if we could watch our entire lives flash before our eyes with the click of button? The possibility is not as far fetched as one might think."

Link [Boing Boing]

Our "Matrix" Explained

The Matrix Explained. Here are a couple of essays on the Matrix Sequels. [MetaFilter]

Only 212 days until Burning Man

(photo: Steven Fritz)

You can tell it's only seven months until Burning Man, San Francisco's annual alt.culture answer to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade. The local neo-hippies are all abuzz with the excitement, the unimplementable project plans, and most importantly the social back-stabbing and tribal pissing contests that are necessary (so they tell me) to foster real Art and launch the Revolution against people like ... well, like me.

But if you haven't been before, just go and ignore the whining of jaded seven-timers like myself. The first time is always a memorable experience for everyone. When you get there, just tell everyone you're a psytrance DJ. Trust me on this: No one will ask you to prove it by actually playing any of that stuff. They'll just offer you free food and drugs. But don't take them - bring your own for safety. Tickets go on sale March 1.

P.S. Anyone got a spare flame thrower for this guy? [Paul Boutin]