"Would you let me worship a naturally formed stalagmite? I don't care if bombs are exploding around because my faith is much stronger, and if I die, I will undoubtedly be rewarded for dying worshipping the holy stalagmite."
Quote:Amarnath Yatra begins amid tight security, devotees undeterred by terror threat
Garlanded with flowers and greeted with traditional Kashmiri hospitality, the pilgrims — part of a 5,892-strong batch — were flagged off from the Jammu base camp at Bhagwati Nagar early morning by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha. A convoy of 310 vehicles carried the devotees toward the sacred Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir.
“Undeterred by recent terrorist activities, devotees of Lord Shiva are arriving in huge numbers, demonstrating their immense faith,” said Sinha. “I hope this year’s yatra will be even more historic than previous years.”
The pilgrimage, running from July 3 to Aug 9, is taking place amid heightened security following the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26, mostly tourists.
Among the first-day pilgrims: 1,043 women, 31 children, 16 trans people, 335 sadhus, and 72 sadhvis. Many will trek on foot or via ponies, palkis, or helicopters toward the 3,888m-high cave shrine that houses the naturally formed ice Shivling.
“No matter how many bombs are hurled, devotees will not be deterred,” said Sarvanand Patel from Gujarat. Ramesh Chander added: “We pray that everybody gets darshan in peace. Army and security forces are here.”
Manoj Kumar from UP echoed the sentiment: “There is no fear among us. We have faith in our Baba Amarnath-ji and the forces.” Ram Prasad, another UP devotee, said terrorist threats will never shake their spiritual resolve.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi...212051.cms
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
