Belief in a God and his non existent angels should be punished
with exile for three months.

    excerpt bbc.co.uk
    At least 50 people in southern India have damaged their sight
by staring at the sun in the hope of seeing a vision of the Virgin
Mary, doctors say.

Hundreds of Indian Catholics reportedly stared at the sun last month
following rumours that a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary could be
seen in the sky.

Soon afterwards, local eye hospitals started receiving patients with
burn damage to their retinas.

The incident happened in the district of Kottayam in Kerala state.

"We were receiving patients until a few days ago who were complaining
of defective vision," Dr Annamma James, an eye specialist at
Kottayam's St Joseph's hospital, told the BBC.

 We are studying the problem as there are not many reported studies
on this phenomenon

Dr Annamma James

"Their retinas were damaged due to direct exposure to the sun," she
said.

Her hospital treated most of the patients.

Unaware of the dangers, many others continued to look at the sun for
three or four days.

Dr Annamma said this was probably the first time in India that so many
people have damaged their vision by gazing at the sun.

Unusual problem

Following reports from the doctors, the local government has now
launched an advertising campaign warning of the dangers of looking
directly at the sun.

Even the churches in the vicinity have been drafted into the campaign.