Sunday, September 16, 2007 | Reason : Wingnut News | print version

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Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

by MSNBC

Reposted from:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20590374/

KATHMANDU - Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due to the problem.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.

"The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights," said Raju K.C., a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

Local media last week blamed the company's woes on an electrical fault. The carrier runs international flights to five cities in Asia.

It is common in Nepal to sacrifice animals like goats and buffaloes to appease different Hindu deities.

Posted: Sunday, September 16, 2007 | Permalink

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1. Comment #70784 by EastCoastAtheist on September 16, 2007 at 10:58 pm

Now this is funny. (Well, not for the goats)

How do you fix a plane? Just kill some goats...and then fix the electrical system. But killing the goats is an essential step!

I liked this line:

"The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions"

I guess they mean that the way the goats were killed was in accordance with tradition. The wording makes it sound like the whole process (killing goats in front of planes, to fix the planes) is Hindu tradition. It wouldn't be a very old tradition.

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2. Comment #70785 by He'sAVeryNaughtyBoy on September 16, 2007 at 11:05 pm

Mwahahaha, you wait until I tell this to my lot at work. Don't worry, her majesty's finest shall be held together by araldite, speed tape and a .. err .. dead goat!!

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3. Comment #70792 by toomanytribbles on September 16, 2007 at 11:27 pm

last summer, i had 7 car accidents within two months. one of them was my fault. the rest were hits from others, while i was fully stopped or parked, from behind. i scattered the story, trying to rid myself of self-pity through humor. i inevitably got advice:
'get an evil-eye bead'
'here's an icon of a saint for your car'
'go to the priest to get it blessed'
'sell it.. it's bad luck'

it got too much for me, so i created an automated response to each suggestion:
'i'm going to slaughter a goat and pour its blood all over the car.' that, inevitably, was rewarded with their nervous smile.

these guys did it for real.

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4. Comment #70799 by petermun on September 17, 2007 at 12:13 am

As someone who is going to fly with this airline from Kathmandu in 3 weeks time I have suddenly developed an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach!

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5. Comment #70803 by eric.malitz on September 17, 2007 at 12:41 am

stuff like this really makes me angry; a modern airline, sacrificing animals??? Why not humans?

Of course you could use a story like this to make a case against religion in general, and anyone who counters "but.." would only be adding biased, racist, or just hypocritical views about what religion is and whos is better or right.

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6. Comment #70805 by HunterZolomon on September 17, 2007 at 12:52 am

One of my all time favorites already. What's next?

"Ladies and gentlemen this is the captain, we have a small problem with the engine. Would any virgins please report to the large gentleman with the cleaver in front of the plane. Thank you."

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7. Comment #70817 by Theocrapcy on September 17, 2007 at 2:23 am

Are they KIDding?

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8. Comment #70818 by Aquambulus hirsutus on September 17, 2007 at 2:26 am

At least all those 'give a goat for Christmas' schemes are paying off.

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9. Comment #70828 by Crazymalc on September 17, 2007 at 3:21 am

KIDding? *groan*

This reminds of flying on Brunei Airlines.

At the start of every flight they play a prerecorded Muslim prayer. Now if Allah actually did care about just a pre-recorded not-from-the-heart prayer, then playing the prayer a million times would be advisable. If he didn't, then why bother playing it?

Methinks it was more for the passangers than for Allah.

The nifty inflight system also has a little arrow that always points to Mecca, just incase you wanted to prostrate yourself in the aisle.

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10. Comment #70833 by irate_atheist on September 17, 2007 at 3:38 am

Crazymalc -

Did they also have a safety announcement detailing what to do if a winged horse flies past?

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11. Comment #70838 by Crazymalc on September 17, 2007 at 4:00 am

Ha!

No, but they didn't have a "Shit, we were wrong" message ready to go if a whole bunch of naked Christians started floating by.

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12. Comment #70847 by Philip1978 on September 17, 2007 at 4:18 am

Hahaha can you imagine the new and improved safety talk at the start?

"This is your Captain speaking, in the event of Armageddon could the Christians strip off and jump out from these doors indicated, Muhammed will be parking his fiery chariot alongside the plane for all those worthy. As a special service today the Norse Valkyries will be past to pick up anyone who wants a scrap at Ragnar�k"!

Cheers, Philip

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13. Comment #70864 by stephenray on September 17, 2007 at 5:26 am

What worries me is the next step.

Sack the mechanics, buy a buncha more goats...

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14. Comment #70873 by Johnny O on September 17, 2007 at 6:00 am

I hope they at least made a nice curry with the goat that could be served on the flight...

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15. Comment #70886 by Alkal on September 17, 2007 at 6:58 am

My computer is not working... now where do I find a goat?????

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16. Comment #70899 by CruciFiction on September 17, 2007 at 7:38 am

Applying ignorant caveman mentality on 21st century bleeding edge technology. Surreal.

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17. Comment #70915 by konquererz on September 17, 2007 at 8:36 am

My parents once prayed over our car that wouldn't start and then it started up. Its kind of the same thing right? LMAO

Silly, nothing but silliness!

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18. Comment #70918 by He'sAVeryNaughtyBoy on September 17, 2007 at 8:38 am

Actualy we used to keep one of them magic 8-balls around our office for when we had a realy complicated radar snag. It makes about as much sense as anything else when you're dealing with waveguide theory.

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19. Comment #70919 by Bonzai on September 17, 2007 at 8:39 am

At least they didn't nail someone to a cross to cleanse the world's sin.

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20. Comment #71022 by bluebird on September 17, 2007 at 2:23 pm

CruciFiction, Succinct; sad but true (*sigh*).

Comment #7, good one :))

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21. Comment #71026 by steveroot on September 17, 2007 at 2:46 pm

"The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said."

I wonder if they were sacrificed in front of _the passengers_ !!

"Folks, we can now accommodate a few more standby passengers!"
Steve

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22. Comment #71080 by Mercury on September 17, 2007 at 7:19 pm

I find this practice really BAAAAAAA - d.

Sorry guys, but someone had to say it!

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23. Comment #71341 by bentleyd on September 18, 2007 at 1:26 pm

I first saw this story on Fox News where the anchor man's tone of voice seemed to smugly criticize this Hindu sacrifice. (Implying the Christian religion is smarter than this). I imagine the cost of sacrificing two goats is very small compared to the Christian tradition of tithing 10% of your income to the church. Less morbid but just as wasteful and useless.

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24. Comment #71830 by EastCoastAtheist on September 19, 2007 at 6:20 pm

I've been wondering...Why isn't praying good enough for these people? It's just as effective as a blood sacrifice, but without the mess!

They could rub their stomachs and pat their heads while standing on one foot. They could walk up and down a street ten times without stepping on any cracks. They could get creative and make up any superstition they want. I know my first choice would not be to slaughter something.

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25. Comment #71832 by EastCoastAtheist on September 19, 2007 at 6:22 pm

Oh, and I know it's tradition....But why weren't the creators of the tradition more creative? (and less wasteful)

Also, these present day people are making the choice to follow tradition.

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26. Comment #115829 by Recalcitrant on January 24, 2008 at 10:07 pm

Wow! This makes waiting 3 hours at Bush Intercontinental for union workers to change a circuit breaker in the cockpit of a 737 look better and better. Wonder if they'll keep a spare goat for in-flight emergencies or does it pull double duty as the in-flight entertainment and if so is it like waiting in line for the lavoratory?

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