1. BIBLE : TORTURE NON-BELIEVERS

(i) Torture non-believers, but don’t hurt trees

123. “4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.”

- Revelation, 9/4

According to Holy Bible, the value of a man’s life is less than that of the grass, and the trees !

(ii) Don’t kill non-believers, but torture them

124. “5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.”

- Revelation, 9/5

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of America, admits candidly :

“It is between fifty and sixty years since I read the Apocalypse (Revelation), and I then considered it merely the ravings of a manac.”⁷⁶

- Thomas Jefferson

Joseph Lewis, President of ‘Free Thinkers of America’ and editor of ‘The Age of Reason’, states :

“The Bible is not a divine revelation from God. It is not inspired; on the contrary, it is a wicked book .... It has been responsible for more suffering and torture than any other volume ever printed……”⁷⁷

- Joseph Lewis

Ms Matilda Joslyn Gage, an American writer, states

“Boiling heretics and malefactors alive, commonly in oil but occasionally in water, was practised throughout Europe until a comparatively late period.”⁷⁸

- Matilda Joslyn Gage

According to James A. Haught, Pope Innocent IV authorised torture in 1252 A.D. to eradicate heresy.  The efforts to eradicate heresy led to the establishment of the Holy Inquisition.  He states :

“Efforts to stamp out heresy led to the establishment of the Holy Inquisition, one of mankind’s supreme horrors.  In the early 1200s, local bishops were empowered to identify, try, and punish heretics…… Pope Innocent IV authorized torture in 1252, and the Inquisition chambers became places of terror.... Swiss historian Walter Nigg recounted : ‘The thumbscrew was usually the first to be applied : The fingers were placed in clamps and the screws turned until the blood spurted out and the bones were crushed.  The defendant might be placed on the iron torture chair, the seat of which consisted of sharpened iron nails that could be heated red-hot from below.  There were the so-called ‘boots’, which were employed to crush the shinbones. Another favorite torture was dislocation of the limbs on the rack or the wheel on which the heretic, bound hand and foot, was drawn up and down while the body was weighted with stones. So that the torturers would not be disturbed by the shrieking of the victim, his mouth was stuffed with cloth.  Three-and-four-hour sessions of torture were nothing unusual.  During the procedure the instruments were frequently sprinkled with holy water.”⁷⁹

- James A. Haught

“The principle of the Inquisition was murderous…… The popes were not only murderers in the great style, but they also made murder a legal basis of the Christian Church and a condition of salvation.”⁸⁰

- Lord Acton

2. VEDAS : LOVE ALL

The divine knowledge of Holy Vedas dawned on four Rishis, named Agni, Vayu, Aditya and Angira directly from the Creator of the cosmos.  Schopenhour, the renowned German scholar, admits candidly :

“This goes to confirm the popular belief that the Vedas are eternal and not answerable to any human agency and that they emanated from Brahm, the creator himself.”

- Schopenhour

Holy Vedas believe in brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God. According to Vedic philosophy, all men of the earth are brothers to one another.  God is the kind Father of all.  In the eyes of the Lord none is superior or inferior.  He treats all alike bestowing divine bliss and benediction on all, irrespective of caste, colour and creed.  Vedic religion is based on universal brotherhood.  The philosophy of Vedas revolves round fraternity and equality of all men of the globe.  All men have equal rights on the earth.  All belong to Nature and Nature belongs to all.  If Nature is kind to all, why should men hate one another on the pretext of difference of religion ? Holy Vedas. therefore, emphatically urge all men of the earth to love one another from the core of their hearts.

Anyaao AnyamaiBa =ya-ta vatsaM jaataimavaaGnyaa |
                    à Aqava-vaod 3ó30ó1

Love one another
As cow loves her new-born calf.
          - Atharva Veda 3/30/1

In the year 1869 a Frenchman, Louis Jacolliot, who had been a chief judge in Chandernagore (erstwhile French India) wrote a book, ‘La Bible dans I’Inde’, in French which was translated the following year into English.  Jacolliot had said

“Land of ancient India
Cradle of humanity, hail
Hail ! revered motherland,
Whom centuries of brutal invasions
Have not yet buried
Under the dust of oblivision. 
Hail ! Fatherland of faith,
Of love, of poetry and of science,
May we hail a revival of thy past
In our Western future !”⁸¹

-Louis Jacolliot

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“It behoves us all to lovingly devote ourselves with all our heart, with all our wealth and even with our lives, to the good of our country, the land of our birth, the land that nourishes us and will sustain us in future.”

“Mother and Motherland are dearer than heaven itself.  Gods and cows, Brahmins and the faith, these are to be protected.  When faith is dead, death is better than life.”

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