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Miscalany Religion - Tales From The Other Side

Hell Bank Notes

May 1st 2008 21:56

In Chinatown the other day I bought myself a wad of ‘Hellbank’ notes. I thought the name was just one of those cute mistranslations. However, browsing a bit of reading, I found the truth was quite different.

Hell Bank notes are simply paper money with ‘Hell Bank’ written on them. They are not play money though, and have a specific ritual purpose to be used at funerals. When a person dies, the money is burnt, in a careful way (either folded or put in an envelope, due to the concept that burning real money brings bad fortune). The basic concept is, as within other cultures where paper effigies of consumer products are burnt, that the money can be used in the afterlife.

Hell Bank money is never given to other people, as it is seen as wishing their death.

Hell Bank money got its name from a loose translation of the ‘Underworld’, where the departed are said to go to atone for their mortal sins. The term Hell does not hold negative connotations in China.

It is rumored the term was introduced by Christian Missionaries, and adopted with new meaning as a term for the underworld.

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Posted By: Brenton - Category: Pop Culture, Miscalany, Religion

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Equality in an Unequal World

January 31st 2008 13:54

Martin Luthor King claimed that all men were created equal. However, we all know that’s false. Some men are taller. Some are shorter. Some are fat. Some are missing bits. I myself am missing a piece of my kidney.

As some smart arse one said – if all men are equal, why are some in jail?

If all men are equal, why can we send a killer to the electric chair when he is smart, but not when he’s retarded?

The fact is that we are all different and thus not equal. I would never be first choice on a basketball team, would never be welcome in the female loo and would probably not really fit in on a Sydney Madi Gras Float.

What happens though, is we go about trying to make everyone equal. Help enforce equality, even where it is inaccurate to do so. This is politically visible in programs such as Affirmative Action.

Some things that may make us different include – Religion, Race, Political Belief, Class, Ability, Physicality, Education, Sexuality, Taste, Style, Ethics, Moral Compass or Personal History.

Often these elements will be vastly and complexly intertwined – such as a Catholic Ethical system, or the Marxist view of religion.

If we focus of the ways in which we are different and unequal we are never going to get far. We are always going to find ourselves divided and torn apart.

However, in the spirit of Luthor King, we may find ourselves able to focus on that which makes us the same. Not only in the sense that we may match up those things above – connecting with others of our race/class/religion etc, but also by the very fact that we are all humans – to quote the cliché, ‘we all bleed red’. We each are participants in the human experience, familiar with the joys and depressions of what we are. We are each of us on a journey through this life, all travelers together.

Let’s have a look at one particular group who function through division. The Westboro Baptist Church, a group so weird you’ll have to try and work out who slipped the acid in your drink before realizing you’re viewing reality. See here –

http://view.break.com/278059 - Watch more free videos

The Westboro Baptist church focus very clearly on divisions of sexuality (God Hates Fags etc). The interest is in systematically maintaining hatred.

Imagine if instead of simply expressing a hatred of those who are not the same (a hatred not only directed at Homosexuals but at anyone not a member of the Church) this group focuses on inviting people to see how they lived, treating others as equals on a certain level (the level that they are human). Would they attract more change in people’s lives than they do through hate? I believe they would. We imitate those we like. The only people who could like this mob are anthropologists. But then, we do have to remember – they are only human.

As are we all.

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Posted By: Brenton - Category: Politics, Miscalany, Religion

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Hare Krishna Spam

June 19th 2007 11:30

Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga

I got an unusual Email the other day.
Call out Gouranga be happy...
Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga
That which brings the highest happiness!

I was pretty perplexed by this. It wasn’t selling anything. It wasn’t really spam, in a traditional sense anyhow.
I had a bit of a poke around on the Internet. Gouranga is a Hare-Krishna word, meaning ‘Be Happy’. The identity of the Spammer in question isn’t known, but a gentleman contacting the International Society for Krishna Consciousness received this message from not the society itself, but an anonymous individual:

Hello Joe,

I am just very enthusiastic person, who wants everybody to be happy.

))

What an incredible inspiration! The medium of Computer Spam being Hijacked to bring joy, not misery, to give instead of take.
I find it uplifting that there are people willing to do things for no other reason than wanting others to be happy.

Wikipedia Article on Gouranga.

IMAGE

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