Gullibility around the world
• Superstitious Folly
[Soccer World Cup] ... When Pakistan lost the match, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who became prime minister in 2004, had an interesting explanation. In his view, "the PTV (Pakistan Television) song that boasted that we would win, did not contain the word Inshallah. That is why we lost." ...
In India, superstitious beliefs were actively cultivated by the BJP and its allies. These included the creation of astrology departments, promotion of "Vedic" mathematics and cosmology, and a revamping of the school curricula. ...
For example, certain American cattle tycoons have for years been working with Israeli counterparts to try and breed a pure red heifer in Israel, which, by their interpretation of chapter 19 of the Book of Numbers, will signal the coming of the building of the Third Temple. If they were to succeed, it could intensify the already strong movement within Israel to rebuild the Temple, the event of which would ignite the Middle East, as any new Temple must be built on the Temple Mount current home of the Dome of The Rock, a Muslim holy site. ...
Extracts from a long essay by Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of physics at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad: Miracles, Wars, and Politics