Archive for August 2008
About 200,000 people attended a rally in downtown Seoul, South Korea, yesterday — right in front of its City Hall.
They were protesting the religious bias they accuse the government of holding against Buddhists. Read my original article about the Jogye Order, the denomination leading the protest.
Among the 200,000 people, police estimated 60,000 of them were Buddhists (including 7,000 monks).
They issued a resolution asking the president (Lee Myung-bak) to take notice of religious bias, to stop religious discrimination, and to unify the nation.
Read more about the South Korean Buddhist protest on BuddhistChannel.tv.
PETA is asking for a New York state investigation into kapparot, a ritual performed by some Jews before Yom Kippur.
It involves swinging a live chicken over one’s head, then slaughtering it.
The idea is that, since the Hebrew word “gever” means both “man” and “bird,” a bird can substitute for a man. Thus, during the ceremony, some Jews believe they can transfer their sins to the bird, which is then slaughtered. The meat is then given to the poor.
Some Jews oppose the ritual, claiming there would be no need for a Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) if a bird could take your sins away.
But animal rights group PETA is opposed for another reason.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) charges that thousands of chickens were thrown away in the trash last year following the ritual in Brooklyn. Such dumping is a violation of Jewish law and animal rights, and puts a burden on sanitation workers, PETA says.
Learn more about PETA’s letter and the rabbis response.
Do you practice kapparot? What do you think of PETA’s response? Leave your comments.
The letters represented in a tetragrammaton, YHWH, are the four consonants of the ancient Hebrew name for God Himself.
It is Jewish practice to never pronounce the four-letter name of God. And according to the Vatican, early Christians did not pronounce the four-letter name either.
But as time went on, Christians adopted various names for God. Large groups of Christians made something of the four letters – the name “Yahweh.” Others refrained from translating the letters and used translations of “Lord” (Adonai, Kyrios, and so on).
In June, the Vatican announced it will return to tradition and stop pronouncing the name of God. The change is now in effect. While this change won’t affect official liturgy, it will mean several songs and texts will need to remove the name – perhaps replacing it with Adonai.
Refraining from pronouncing God’s name is, according to the Vatican, an “expression of the infinite greatness and majesty of God.”

































