In a recent post I mentioned that some theists are mentally ill and I thought I should clarify here what I mean by mental illness or crazy. For me these two terms are interchangeable and in reality they are by definition. Crazy is a synonym for mad, and mad is defined as mentally ill. But lets leave the dictionary and look at a standard definition. According to the CDC it can be defined as follows.
Mental illnesses refer to disorders generally characterized by
dysregulation of mood, thought, and/or behavior, as recognized by the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th edition, of the American
Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV).
But what is dysregulation of mood, thought and/or behavior? Now get ready to swim as this is where you have start drifting into murky and uncomfortable territory. Basically, this dysregulation means any mood, thought or behavior that is not considered normal by the vast majority of society. So then the question arises, what is normal?
There are two ways to look at normality, either subjectively (personal opinion) or objectively (a professional bodies opinion, which is following their subjective opinions). So either way, normality is subjective. For example, There are many things that I do not consider normal, and so I will call these things insane, crazy, mental illness, etc. But, this is my opinion and my definition of normal probably is very different to that of the American Psychiatric Association. But their definitions I am sure are different to the Swiss Psychiatric Association and so forth.
So do I still stand by my comments from the previous post?
"if a theist or an anti-vaccer is using discredited science or facts over
and over again when the truth has been pointed out, then why should we
not call them idiots or mentally ill."
Yes.
Belief in a god, when you have been pointed out the flaws to me is crazy, it really is either a mental illness or a lack of brain power (idiocy). While, this can be considered painting with broad brush strokes, honestly I don't care much.
Friday 27 February 2015
Thursday 26 February 2015
The Messiah has returned to Anfield
Its not often I get to talk about Atheism and my favorite football club Liverpool FC. For the American readers Football is Soccer. So it was a suprise for me to see that my club has now got the support of the Almighty himself and has decided to send himself to games to cheer us on.
So this fan has been going to Liverpool games dressed as Jesus and remarkably their form has improved. All tongue in cheek its pretty entertaining as the manager was under fire for poor performances and since Jesus entered the stadium things have turned around. Its a miracle.
Scousers have a great sense of humor and this is just another way of showing it.
(Source)
Since Jesus appear in December, Liverpool has yet lose a game in 10 BPL matches. You can't deny His existence. pic.twitter.com/auh0NdofAZ
— IndoLiverpoolFC (@IndoLiverpoolfc) February 23, 2015
So this fan has been going to Liverpool games dressed as Jesus and remarkably their form has improved. All tongue in cheek its pretty entertaining as the manager was under fire for poor performances and since Jesus entered the stadium things have turned around. Its a miracle.
Scousers have a great sense of humor and this is just another way of showing it.
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Christian apologist sliding scale: Craig to Comfort
Lately, I have been giving Christian apologetics some thought or should I say specific arguments presented by certain apologists. While it is clear that there are no good arguments for God, there are certainly good apologists. Good obviously here is a very subjective term, so maybe I need to clarify. When I say good, I mean someone that has put a lot of effort into the argument to try make it water tight and has actually updated their argument to counter rebuttals. By bad, I mean the apologist that just asserts again and again.
So today I present the Christian apologist Sliding Scale, which is based on the Craig-Comfort level. The Craig level being a good apologist, and the Comfort being a bad apologist. For visual aid I will add a graphic below of where I think some apologists fall.
So where does your favorite apologist fall?
So today I present the Christian apologist Sliding Scale, which is based on the Craig-Comfort level. The Craig level being a good apologist, and the Comfort being a bad apologist. For visual aid I will add a graphic below of where I think some apologists fall.
So where does your favorite apologist fall?
Monday 23 February 2015
Alternative media and skepticism
Alternative media is all the craze and the reason usually given for this is that the main stream media is not to be trusted. Interestingly the idea that the main stream media is not to be trusted is usually supported by alt-media source. There are a wide variety of alt-media news sources and actually I do not think necessarily that all alt-media sources/news reports are bad journalism. But, really skepticism does need to be applied often to alt-news media (and main stream media) as they really can range from the bizarre (InfoWars) to the far left (TYT) to the far right (TheBlaze). Additionally, there are also the simple news aggregation websites (Drudge Report) that pick up news from anywhere and this news then gets considered real, but these are not new sites they simply collect.
I think a lot of the trust in these alt-media websites comes from the discord that they themselves sow in the mainstream media. For example we all know the story of Cenk Uyger that got "kicked out of MSNBC" due to his political views when in fact he refused a new contract. We also know that many alt-media sources believe the so called main stream media sources cover up for the government. This belief is especially true with respect to the Iraq War and Weapons of Mass Destruction cover up. However, the fact is that these cover ups were actually first reported in the Main Stream Media Sources such as The New York, Times, CNN before the invasion, and then covered extensively after by main stream media.
The Iraq problem is in fact one of the reasons to fear alt-media as they use a form of bait and switch. They like to point out that the main stream media cannot be trusted as they did not report the correct news in one aspect (usually, neither did they) and therefore everything they tell you is true. Things like ISIS is funded by the US government, that women are constantly living under a rape threat, the Charlie Hebdo attack was a false flag operation, Obama is the Antichrist, Bush was the Antichrist, etc etc etc.
Alt-media has a place in society, but apply your skeptic hat if you are going to source it. Like I have shown before on this site there is a lot of trash out there that is sold as real news.
I think a lot of the trust in these alt-media websites comes from the discord that they themselves sow in the mainstream media. For example we all know the story of Cenk Uyger that got "kicked out of MSNBC" due to his political views when in fact he refused a new contract. We also know that many alt-media sources believe the so called main stream media sources cover up for the government. This belief is especially true with respect to the Iraq War and Weapons of Mass Destruction cover up. However, the fact is that these cover ups were actually first reported in the Main Stream Media Sources such as The New York, Times, CNN before the invasion, and then covered extensively after by main stream media.
The Iraq problem is in fact one of the reasons to fear alt-media as they use a form of bait and switch. They like to point out that the main stream media cannot be trusted as they did not report the correct news in one aspect (usually, neither did they) and therefore everything they tell you is true. Things like ISIS is funded by the US government, that women are constantly living under a rape threat, the Charlie Hebdo attack was a false flag operation, Obama is the Antichrist, Bush was the Antichrist, etc etc etc.
Alt-media has a place in society, but apply your skeptic hat if you are going to source it. Like I have shown before on this site there is a lot of trash out there that is sold as real news.
Friday 20 February 2015
The Christian God disproved
Multiple times theists will incorrectly turn the burden of proof over onto the atheist and say well prove to me that God does not exist. In this scenario, I am always eager to reply with the question, what god? Usually this claim is thrown at me by Christians, so I thought I would prove here and now why I hold the position that the Christian God does not exist. In fact, it is my opinion that anyone who reads this and follows the logic can conclude that the Christian God (now just God) does not exist.
As with all arguments, we have to accept some premise.
The premise I present is that the Bible is accurate, after all it is the word of God and as such it should be correct.
If you however, reject this premise, then you are either already an atheist, or you are a theist that knows how many lies exist that you will not accept that the bible is accurate. To this theist, I have just one question, "What do you believe if you do not believe the Biblical account?" To the atheist, I say well done.
If the Bible is correct then there are testable claims. If these claims fail the bible fails and god fails. If the bible claims pass the test then go passes the test of existence.
Claim 1. Pray and you shall receive. Mark 11:24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
God Fails: Prayer studies have shown time and time again that prayers are not answered as they should be according to the bible.
Claim 2. The Israelites fled Egypt through the Red Sea parted by Moses. Exodus 14:21 "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,"
God Fails Again: There is strong evidence that the Israelites never were enslaved in Egypt in the first place so the were seemingly no escaping as they were not there. Additionally, all so called evidence of chariots by the psedu-archeologist Ron Wyatt has been debunked and of course the evidence went missing. Seems rather handy for a fraudster.
Not looking good for God there on two strikes.
Claim 3: Jesus said he will be back in at least some of the the disciples time. Luke 9:27 "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
God Strike three you are out!
Unless I missed it, seems Jesus did not come back. As such you are the biggest loser of the week and you are forthwith stripped of your deity status. That same deity status that was all just good old magic tricks to cause confusion and cash stream anyway.
As with all arguments, we have to accept some premise.
The premise I present is that the Bible is accurate, after all it is the word of God and as such it should be correct.
If you however, reject this premise, then you are either already an atheist, or you are a theist that knows how many lies exist that you will not accept that the bible is accurate. To this theist, I have just one question, "What do you believe if you do not believe the Biblical account?" To the atheist, I say well done.
If the Bible is correct then there are testable claims. If these claims fail the bible fails and god fails. If the bible claims pass the test then go passes the test of existence.
Claim 1. Pray and you shall receive. Mark 11:24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
God Fails: Prayer studies have shown time and time again that prayers are not answered as they should be according to the bible.
Claim 2. The Israelites fled Egypt through the Red Sea parted by Moses. Exodus 14:21 "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,"
God Fails Again: There is strong evidence that the Israelites never were enslaved in Egypt in the first place so the were seemingly no escaping as they were not there. Additionally, all so called evidence of chariots by the psedu-archeologist Ron Wyatt has been debunked and of course the evidence went missing. Seems rather handy for a fraudster.
Not looking good for God there on two strikes.
Claim 3: Jesus said he will be back in at least some of the the disciples time. Luke 9:27 "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
God Strike three you are out!
Unless I missed it, seems Jesus did not come back. As such you are the biggest loser of the week and you are forthwith stripped of your deity status. That same deity status that was all just good old magic tricks to cause confusion and cash stream anyway.
Wednesday 18 February 2015
God will not protect the unvaccinated
Mondays post dealt with vaccinations and pseudo science in general, so here I present to you some pictures. These pictures should make sense to any anti-vaccers who thinks vaccines are unsafe. If you can look at these pictures ans not see that vaccines are important, then you are an idiot and nothing I ever could say would make you stop believing that vaccines are unsafe, NWO, mind control medicine. These pictures I got from a recent editorial and news piece in Nature magazine regarding the recent Measles outbreak in Disneyland.
It does not take a PhD, or any study at any school to be able to see that the more vaccinated people the less outbreak of preventable disease such as Measles.
Please share, as a picture does really say more than a thousand words.
This is even more important when governments are considering letting parents get out of vaccinating children due to religious or moral objections. Th only way to get out of a vaccine should be medical safety. Your god and your moral conscience are not something viruses care about. Your moral conscience and your god will not save you, you will/may get sick and you may die.
It does not take a PhD, or any study at any school to be able to see that the more vaccinated people the less outbreak of preventable disease such as Measles.
(From top to bottom: Figure 1 2012, Figure 2 2000, Figure 3 1990, Figure 4 1980)
Left column is Measles cases (dark colors indicate higher numbers) and Right column is vaccinations (dark colors indicate higher numbers). Grey colors indicate no data available.
Please share, as a picture does really say more than a thousand words.
This is even more important when governments are considering letting parents get out of vaccinating children due to religious or moral objections. Th only way to get out of a vaccine should be medical safety. Your god and your moral conscience are not something viruses care about. Your moral conscience and your god will not save you, you will/may get sick and you may die.
Monday 16 February 2015
Using discredited science
Let me ask you a simple question. If you step off of the observation desk of the Empire State Building, what will happen? Will you
(a) float.
(b) fly upwards.
(c) fall.
Its obvious what the answer to this question is as every sane person on this planet knows how gravity works. Everyone knows that Newtons theories of gravitation are universal, and yes they are theories as there are no such thing as scientific facts unless we accept a scientific fact as 99.9999r percent correct. Now, if this is so easy to understand, then why do anti-vaccers and theists cling to fake science and facts?
We all know that anti-vaccers love to cite the now retracted manuscript which incorrectly showed that the MMR vaccine causes Autism. This same manuscript that led the lead author Andrew Wakefield to get his medical license revoked. Although to be fair, it was not just the manuscript that got him into so much hot water.
We also all know that Christians love to tell the tale of the Israelites exodus from Egypt under the guidance of Moses. Yet, all evidence shows that this never happened, and it certainly does not show that Moses parted the Red Sea. Yet, you still get theists that argue this is real and they will sometimes even go so far as to used debunked evidence to "prove it".
In fact, if anti-vaccer theists believed scientific theories/facts, then we would not be having isolated outbreak of preventable diseases in their churches, schools or summer camps etc. These people are, as I have stated before, a threat to society and need to be stopped. What they are doing to not only their children but other children verges on child abuse. Actually, I would like to say it is child abuse however not every unvaccinated child is going to get infected with a preventable disease so it would be a false analogy.
Remember, if someone believes that they are going to float or fly when they jump out a window, we will call them idiot or get them serious mental health help. In this same vain, if a theist or an anti-vaccer is using discredited science or facts over and over again when the truth has been pointed out, then why should we not call them idiots or mentally ill.
(a) float.
(b) fly upwards.
(c) fall.
Its obvious what the answer to this question is as every sane person on this planet knows how gravity works. Everyone knows that Newtons theories of gravitation are universal, and yes they are theories as there are no such thing as scientific facts unless we accept a scientific fact as 99.9999r percent correct. Now, if this is so easy to understand, then why do anti-vaccers and theists cling to fake science and facts?
We all know that anti-vaccers love to cite the now retracted manuscript which incorrectly showed that the MMR vaccine causes Autism. This same manuscript that led the lead author Andrew Wakefield to get his medical license revoked. Although to be fair, it was not just the manuscript that got him into so much hot water.
We also all know that Christians love to tell the tale of the Israelites exodus from Egypt under the guidance of Moses. Yet, all evidence shows that this never happened, and it certainly does not show that Moses parted the Red Sea. Yet, you still get theists that argue this is real and they will sometimes even go so far as to used debunked evidence to "prove it".
In fact, if anti-vaccer theists believed scientific theories/facts, then we would not be having isolated outbreak of preventable diseases in their churches, schools or summer camps etc. These people are, as I have stated before, a threat to society and need to be stopped. What they are doing to not only their children but other children verges on child abuse. Actually, I would like to say it is child abuse however not every unvaccinated child is going to get infected with a preventable disease so it would be a false analogy.
Remember, if someone believes that they are going to float or fly when they jump out a window, we will call them idiot or get them serious mental health help. In this same vain, if a theist or an anti-vaccer is using discredited science or facts over and over again when the truth has been pointed out, then why should we not call them idiots or mentally ill.
Friday 13 February 2015
I am a creationist I am not amused
I found this article a while ago on that creationist website called evolutionnews.org, whose name I still cannot wrap my head around. In this article the creationists take exception to the "Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses" saying that evolutionists should not try be funny as these ideas sound like real evolution ideas.
For those of you who don't know the Bad Ad Hoc festival is based on the idea that you present a horrible hypothesis for some evolutionary event. It all started out with a comic which poked fun at Darwinism by saying that babies are more aerodynamic so they can be kicked far to spread genes further. This is obviously an absurd idea, but its amusing if you have a brain and can see the idiocy of the idea.
However, creationists are not amused as they say that some of the ideas presented last year were what real evolutionary biologists would accept as real. Ideas such as "Increased competition among humans for food drove bugs to become ever more disgusting to keep people from eating them" and "We evolved to yawn to catch bugs to eat"....... Yes, you are allowed to be in stunned silence. If they really think these ideas would qualify as evolutionary ideas, then they have zero concept of evolution or they know some basement dwelling evolutionary biologists that I do not know. FYI, basement dwelling evolutionary biologists is secret code for the Creation Institute. It is obvious these ideas are not real evolution, as they use subjective words like disgusting. Science does not use subjective words they use words that can be measured.
What really is disconcerting is that creationists are always trying to make fun of evolution by throwing out there "I am not a monkey hypothesis", so why are they so angry that evolution is mocking itself. Perhaps they are angry because a satire event on evolution gets more publicity than anything a creationist ever presents. If only they understood that the reason behind this lack of interest is due to the inaccuracy and absurdity in their so called "science".
For those of you who don't know the Bad Ad Hoc festival is based on the idea that you present a horrible hypothesis for some evolutionary event. It all started out with a comic which poked fun at Darwinism by saying that babies are more aerodynamic so they can be kicked far to spread genes further. This is obviously an absurd idea, but its amusing if you have a brain and can see the idiocy of the idea.
However, creationists are not amused as they say that some of the ideas presented last year were what real evolutionary biologists would accept as real. Ideas such as "Increased competition among humans for food drove bugs to become ever more disgusting to keep people from eating them" and "We evolved to yawn to catch bugs to eat"....... Yes, you are allowed to be in stunned silence. If they really think these ideas would qualify as evolutionary ideas, then they have zero concept of evolution or they know some basement dwelling evolutionary biologists that I do not know. FYI, basement dwelling evolutionary biologists is secret code for the Creation Institute. It is obvious these ideas are not real evolution, as they use subjective words like disgusting. Science does not use subjective words they use words that can be measured.
What really is disconcerting is that creationists are always trying to make fun of evolution by throwing out there "I am not a monkey hypothesis", so why are they so angry that evolution is mocking itself. Perhaps they are angry because a satire event on evolution gets more publicity than anything a creationist ever presents. If only they understood that the reason behind this lack of interest is due to the inaccuracy and absurdity in their so called "science".
Wednesday 11 February 2015
Life, it truly is amazing
A criticism that some atheists may at times receive is that we cannot look at the world and just be awestruck by the amazing beauty that exists. Its as if when you are a theist, this magically gives you a special insight which opens your eyes and allows you to see more vivid colours and hear more beautiful music. However, life is truly more amazing than anything a theist who believes a god created life can ever dream about.
To me the creation of life is truly the most amazing thing I can ever consider. Even before life started, really to me it is amazing that atoms whirling about created the planets, galaxies, moons, stars, etc. But I digress lets return to Earth and let me explain my amazement further. Have you ever thought how incredible it is that separate atoms on Earth came together to form simple molecules? If we consider for example a single sugar molecule (C12H22O11) it is confounding to think that 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms and 11 oxygen atoms came together in a very specific way to form this simple yet elegant molecule. Yet, something very similar to this happened in the Earths early life beginnings.
So, we have a simple molecule. So what, who cares? True no one should care, but these molecules started doing something incredible. These molecules started to effectively have babies or what is more commonly referred to as self replicate. Now self replicating reactions are nothing new to chemists and biochemists around the world. But the idea, if you actually think about it, is utterly amazing. What you have is something which we would call dead effectively creating another copy of itself. It is in essence making babies, yet we classify it as not living. But that is fine you can call it dead, I really don't mind. The reason I don't mind is that these reactions are the basis for life and let me elaborate a little.
In every cell in your body and my body there are millions of reactions doing self replication and other reactions. These reactions are necessary to supply us with energy, make sure we don't get sick, when we get sick fight infection,....... and yes even make babies. Importantly, the making babies part relies heavily on self replication which is important in DNA transfer and the growth of a fertilized embryo. The growing embryo is what most people would consider life, but it would not be possible without these self replication reactions.
This is what life is for me, the probability of things liken this happening are small but they happened! We are learning more about these types of processes everyday, and who knows maybe we will answer all the questions before our sun dies in a heat death. But this is me being amazed, this is me respecting life and the principles that underlie it. This is me loving the truth and the reality of how we grow old, grow wise, love, hate and reproduce.
In contrast, if I say a creator created life all of that wonder of life described disappears as it has zero basis. Then some theists have the audacity to tell me I cannot appreciate life as I do not believe in a creator god.
Life truly is amazing.
To me the creation of life is truly the most amazing thing I can ever consider. Even before life started, really to me it is amazing that atoms whirling about created the planets, galaxies, moons, stars, etc. But I digress lets return to Earth and let me explain my amazement further. Have you ever thought how incredible it is that separate atoms on Earth came together to form simple molecules? If we consider for example a single sugar molecule (C12H22O11) it is confounding to think that 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms and 11 oxygen atoms came together in a very specific way to form this simple yet elegant molecule. Yet, something very similar to this happened in the Earths early life beginnings.
(Source)
So, we have a simple molecule. So what, who cares? True no one should care, but these molecules started doing something incredible. These molecules started to effectively have babies or what is more commonly referred to as self replicate. Now self replicating reactions are nothing new to chemists and biochemists around the world. But the idea, if you actually think about it, is utterly amazing. What you have is something which we would call dead effectively creating another copy of itself. It is in essence making babies, yet we classify it as not living. But that is fine you can call it dead, I really don't mind. The reason I don't mind is that these reactions are the basis for life and let me elaborate a little.
In every cell in your body and my body there are millions of reactions doing self replication and other reactions. These reactions are necessary to supply us with energy, make sure we don't get sick, when we get sick fight infection,....... and yes even make babies. Importantly, the making babies part relies heavily on self replication which is important in DNA transfer and the growth of a fertilized embryo. The growing embryo is what most people would consider life, but it would not be possible without these self replication reactions.
This is what life is for me, the probability of things liken this happening are small but they happened! We are learning more about these types of processes everyday, and who knows maybe we will answer all the questions before our sun dies in a heat death. But this is me being amazed, this is me respecting life and the principles that underlie it. This is me loving the truth and the reality of how we grow old, grow wise, love, hate and reproduce.
In contrast, if I say a creator created life all of that wonder of life described disappears as it has zero basis. Then some theists have the audacity to tell me I cannot appreciate life as I do not believe in a creator god.
Life truly is amazing.
Tuesday 10 February 2015
Islamic outrage in three, two, one...
As I do when I am bored at times and seeking something new and weird I head over to 4chan. Well earlier I was rummaging around on 4chan and it was here that I saw screen caps to a new game which is guaranteed to lead to some serious Islamic outrage ............. or by the time this post goes live, the outrage has probably already started.
There has been a game released called "Muhammad Sex Simulator 2015" which is based on the prophet Muhammad and ........ well his sex choices. You can choose between sheep, pigs, group sex, scat play etc etc......and all the sex is homosexual. This game is not in poor taste, but I would not recommend googling images for it. This googling will happen, but I assure you a lot of people are going to be affronted by some images they would rather not see.
Here is the games start up screen.
Hey if its something you want to try out, enjoy it there are download links everywhere on the Internet. Personally I am not going to play it but I am not going to judge anyone that does. But thats just me, I am sure many Muslims around the world will be judging soon enough when they rage and issue a Fatwah on the game maker and anyone that plays it.
There has been a game released called "Muhammad Sex Simulator 2015" which is based on the prophet Muhammad and ........ well his sex choices. You can choose between sheep, pigs, group sex, scat play etc etc......and all the sex is homosexual. This game is not in poor taste, but I would not recommend googling images for it. This googling will happen, but I assure you a lot of people are going to be affronted by some images they would rather not see.
Here is the games start up screen.
Hey if its something you want to try out, enjoy it there are download links everywhere on the Internet. Personally I am not going to play it but I am not going to judge anyone that does. But thats just me, I am sure many Muslims around the world will be judging soon enough when they rage and issue a Fatwah on the game maker and anyone that plays it.
Monday 9 February 2015
Mullah Krekar is one seriously dumb Muslim
When you see a story like the banishment of Mullah Krekar to a refugee camp in Norway, you just have to wonder why people still think belief in a god is a good idea. The banishment is not the reason I think religion is dumb though. In fact I would like to congratulate the Norwegian government on taking a stance against a preacher that has made numerous death threats and was one of the founders of the terrorist group Ansar al-Islam. The same terrorist group that has now officially joined ISIS.
Let me add here that this preacher is very lucky to be living in Norway, its almost as if he was smart enough to realize where to go to. This guy is recognized as a terrorist by the UN and the USA, so if he was in any other country his problem would be a lot worse than a refugee center. But, this is still not the reason I believe religion is dumb for this case.
The reason is this, this idiot is not getting deported back to his home country of Iraq, because he will probably receive the death sentence. Yet, here he is. Still preaching Islam and claiming its wonders when it is the religion that got him into this trouble in the first place. You have to be mentally ill to not change your opinions when under threat of death. You have to be mentally ill to make death threats against government members in the country where you are being allowed to stay to escape this inevitable death penalty. Perhaps the Norwegian government should place this Mullah in a psychiatric clinic and not a refugee center as clearly he is a very mentally ill person.
(Source)
becomes 
(Source)
I personally think the flag designer sucks.
The reason is this, this idiot is not getting deported back to his home country of Iraq, because he will probably receive the death sentence. Yet, here he is. Still preaching Islam and claiming its wonders when it is the religion that got him into this trouble in the first place. You have to be mentally ill to not change your opinions when under threat of death. You have to be mentally ill to make death threats against government members in the country where you are being allowed to stay to escape this inevitable death penalty. Perhaps the Norwegian government should place this Mullah in a psychiatric clinic and not a refugee center as clearly he is a very mentally ill person.
Saturday 7 February 2015
Is it cool to be an Islamic apologist?
There are so many Islamic apologists about thses days and it is something that really worries me. Don't get me wrong its not that I only think Islam is a detriment to society, I believe all religion is detremental. However, we only have to look at ISIS, or Boko Haram, or 9/11, or Charlie Hebdo, or... to see that Islam is anything but a peaceful religion and something that is not beneficial to society at all. So, why are there so many Islamic apologists these days? I think I may have some insight into this, and as such I present to you the five types of Islamic apologists that you will encounter.
1) The Islam is a culture apologist.
This apologist makes the horribly incorrect assumption that Islam is a culture. It is not a culture, it is a religion. If you believe religion is a culture, then why do people always show a very evident difference. For example "Religion is ingrained in our culture and so homosexuals should not be allowed to get married." This does not mean Religion is culture, it means there are people that believe in the god concept that are part of your culture and they may be in the majority.
On the aspect of culture and religion I can continue for weeks to show that religion is not a culture. If you deny this, you are just lying to yourself and everyone around you. Basically you are doing apologetic cartwheels.
2) The Cool Islamic apologist
Partly, I think the recent rise in the cool Islamic apologists can be partly blamed on Ben Affleck (and other cool celebrities idols) and his Islamic apologetics. The reason I say that is that a lot of people don't actually read anything real, but watch a hell of a lot of mindless entertainment. In the same way, they associate with Hollywood and the entertainment industry more than they do with current events. For example, I am sure more people know what the Kardashian's had for lunch, than how many people Boko Haram killed last week. This apologist, is the one that buys into the Islam is culture reason and a bunch of other things that they have seen on memes. However, this is also the person that you will not be having an intelligent conversation with as they will probably be shouting words like RACIST!!!!!
BTW, can anyone tell me what the Kardashian's actually do? I have never been able to get an answer besides, they are celebrities. Ok, that's fine but why?
3) The Theistic apologist
Sigh, the worst type. What these apologists do is go around defending Islam, just so that they can feel justified in their stupid religion. They probably are hoping that some celebrity says Religion X is culture, then they can revert to the cool religion X apologist and scream RACIST!!!!
What makes these people the worst type is that they are not defending Islam as a culture. They are defending their own god via a proxy stand, but claiming you are intolerant. Its probably the most dishonest type of apologist as they are lying about there defense of another religion and when pressed on the issue they will say they do not believe Islam is a good religion.
4) The Mentally ill apologist
Not much to say about this apologist. This person believe Islam is just right for no apparent reason. Think ISIS and you have the mentally ill apologist epitomized.
5) The standard apologist
William Lane Craig anyone? This person wont lie, but they also will do backwards somersaults over flaming pits of hungry tigers to defend their evil god. Oh, and yes they also like the mentally ill apologist believe in Islam for no apparent reason other than "its true because the Koran said so".
So what type of apologist are you? I hope its none of the types listed.
1) The Islam is a culture apologist.
This apologist makes the horribly incorrect assumption that Islam is a culture. It is not a culture, it is a religion. If you believe religion is a culture, then why do people always show a very evident difference. For example "Religion is ingrained in our culture and so homosexuals should not be allowed to get married." This does not mean Religion is culture, it means there are people that believe in the god concept that are part of your culture and they may be in the majority.
On the aspect of culture and religion I can continue for weeks to show that religion is not a culture. If you deny this, you are just lying to yourself and everyone around you. Basically you are doing apologetic cartwheels.
2) The Cool Islamic apologist
Partly, I think the recent rise in the cool Islamic apologists can be partly blamed on Ben Affleck (and other cool celebrities idols) and his Islamic apologetics. The reason I say that is that a lot of people don't actually read anything real, but watch a hell of a lot of mindless entertainment. In the same way, they associate with Hollywood and the entertainment industry more than they do with current events. For example, I am sure more people know what the Kardashian's had for lunch, than how many people Boko Haram killed last week. This apologist, is the one that buys into the Islam is culture reason and a bunch of other things that they have seen on memes. However, this is also the person that you will not be having an intelligent conversation with as they will probably be shouting words like RACIST!!!!!
BTW, can anyone tell me what the Kardashian's actually do? I have never been able to get an answer besides, they are celebrities. Ok, that's fine but why?
3) The Theistic apologist
Sigh, the worst type. What these apologists do is go around defending Islam, just so that they can feel justified in their stupid religion. They probably are hoping that some celebrity says Religion X is culture, then they can revert to the cool religion X apologist and scream RACIST!!!!
What makes these people the worst type is that they are not defending Islam as a culture. They are defending their own god via a proxy stand, but claiming you are intolerant. Its probably the most dishonest type of apologist as they are lying about there defense of another religion and when pressed on the issue they will say they do not believe Islam is a good religion.
4) The Mentally ill apologist
Not much to say about this apologist. This person believe Islam is just right for no apparent reason. Think ISIS and you have the mentally ill apologist epitomized.
5) The standard apologist
William Lane Craig anyone? This person wont lie, but they also will do backwards somersaults over flaming pits of hungry tigers to defend their evil god. Oh, and yes they also like the mentally ill apologist believe in Islam for no apparent reason other than "its true because the Koran said so".
So what type of apologist are you? I hope its none of the types listed.
Friday 6 February 2015
Dumb Ideas - World Hijab Day, yes its a real thing
Recently, I have had a little more time on my hands so I have been reading a lot more news. Its actually mind blowing how much stupid stuff happens everyday due to religion,its no wonder atheists never run out of fodder for their blogs. Now, onto the post.
Apparently, Monday the 2nd of February was World Hijab Day. Before, you start laughing this is not satire. I am not making this up and I did not hack CNN to make this story up.
The problem with this whole concept is really simple, and something I wish more women and men in the West who support this movement would realize. In the West, in most cases, you have a choice to wear a Hijab or Burqa or whatever else you want to wear. However, in a lot of Islamic states women do not have a choice and they are forced to wear it under threat of punishment either by family or government. This means by supporting a day like this, you are in effect supporting oppression. I feel comfortable saying supporting oppression, as in the West we have a voice and we have equality. In those Islamic countires that force this clothing on women, they do not have a voice and they do not have equality.
If you want to wear a burqa or hijab or bikini, do it! However, please don't support an idiotic idea as the headscarf is a symbol of oppression.
What really made my day in the article was the following s comment from a lady that wears the Hijab religiously, "It's moving forward religiously. If you're raised in Islam, then you want to embrace everything it says. For me, personally, that progress was doing the hijab." Its Islamic to wear a Hijab? I mean, I am not even an Islamic scholar but I know the Koran says nothing about wearing a Hijab. It makes me wonder where she gets this idea from. My guess is that Muslims are just like the Christians and actually do not read their holy book, but do as they are told like the good sheep they are.
Apparently, Monday the 2nd of February was World Hijab Day. Before, you start laughing this is not satire. I am not making this up and I did not hack CNN to make this story up.
The problem with this whole concept is really simple, and something I wish more women and men in the West who support this movement would realize. In the West, in most cases, you have a choice to wear a Hijab or Burqa or whatever else you want to wear. However, in a lot of Islamic states women do not have a choice and they are forced to wear it under threat of punishment either by family or government. This means by supporting a day like this, you are in effect supporting oppression. I feel comfortable saying supporting oppression, as in the West we have a voice and we have equality. In those Islamic countires that force this clothing on women, they do not have a voice and they do not have equality.
If you want to wear a burqa or hijab or bikini, do it! However, please don't support an idiotic idea as the headscarf is a symbol of oppression.
What really made my day in the article was the following s comment from a lady that wears the Hijab religiously, "It's moving forward religiously. If you're raised in Islam, then you want to embrace everything it says. For me, personally, that progress was doing the hijab." Its Islamic to wear a Hijab? I mean, I am not even an Islamic scholar but I know the Koran says nothing about wearing a Hijab. It makes me wonder where she gets this idea from. My guess is that Muslims are just like the Christians and actually do not read their holy book, but do as they are told like the good sheep they are.
Wednesday 4 February 2015
Saudi Kings and reform?
Recently, I wrote about the joy I felt at the passing of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. This feeling was not held by many in the press however, as he was heralded as the light of the middle east, the promoter of womens right and the education reformer. As you know I do not believe this for a moment, and I think a recent shakeup in the Saudi government shows that King Abdullah was anything but a person set on reform. Now there is a new king in charge and within a week he has shown what a lame duck the last king really was.
King Salam has done a lot since coming into office, none of it good for human rights obviously but still change. So, lets look at some highlights from the news article I linked too. In one week, some within hours of the old kings death, he has fired two sons of King Abdullah, and he has also replaced top officials in the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the conservative Islamic kingdom's religious police. He also decided to give bonuses of two months basic salary to all Saudi government civil and military employees.
Now, yes this is not reform in the sense that women are becoming equal to men. However, it is a major reform on government level showing that the king of Saudi Arabia has serious power. So this begs the question. Why could the reform King Abdullah not even make women equal to men as he was heralded as such a reform king.
The fact is he was not interested in doing anything that went against his religion which teaches things like kill the infidel.
(Source)
King Salam has done a lot since coming into office, none of it good for human rights obviously but still change. So, lets look at some highlights from the news article I linked too. In one week, some within hours of the old kings death, he has fired two sons of King Abdullah, and he has also replaced top officials in the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the conservative Islamic kingdom's religious police. He also decided to give bonuses of two months basic salary to all Saudi government civil and military employees.
Now, yes this is not reform in the sense that women are becoming equal to men. However, it is a major reform on government level showing that the king of Saudi Arabia has serious power. So this begs the question. Why could the reform King Abdullah not even make women equal to men as he was heralded as such a reform king.
The fact is he was not interested in doing anything that went against his religion which teaches things like kill the infidel.
Monday 2 February 2015
Prison and human rights
This is another off topic post, but as I need to vent and its my blog
I will post what I want. Luckily, its also a post that I can use to
poke fun at religious people.
Recently, I have had various discussions about prisons and human rights. So, I thought I would clarify my position on prisons and prisoner treatment. It is possible that these views will change but I have held these views for a while so am not sure it will change that easily. To clarify, I am not talking about holding, I am talking about legit prisons where you go when you have been found guilty. So what is a prison?
Prison: a building where people are kept as punishment for a crime or while they are waiting to go to court.
So why do you go to prison? You go there as you, in all probability, have violated some one else's human rights or at least caused another person immense distress financially, sexually or other. So, why do prisoners get treated so well when they have committed these violations on society? Or to take it a step further why are they entitled to TV, Internet, some Religious practices, etc. These people gave up these rights (some of them basic human rights) the day they committed their crime. Now there are people that disagree and say we should treat these people with all their human rights. However, I disagree completely as why should we be honoring people that have violated society.
Now before you rant and rave and attack my stance, that was background now let me tell you what I think should be done.
Prisoners should be taught skills in prisons, prisoners should work in prisons, prisoners should get an education (rational thought for starters) in prison. This should not be a choice, this should be a necessity for all prisoners. It will not only benefit them, it will benefit the society that they hopefully one day can integrate back into.
Prisoners should not be watching cabal TV, prisoners should not get access to family and friends, prisoners should get food that is healthy and prisoners should not be taught irrational thought. Some examples: If the meal at the prison is pork (which is cheaper than beef) then the Muslims and Jews should have to eat that meal or go hungry. The religious should not be allowed to read their irrational books (Koran, Bible, Baghvad Gita) as this goes against educating them in rational behavior for a better society. Prisoners should have to abide by the laws of the prison and human rights be damned. This is why I believe the Supreme court made a mistake when they allowed a prisoner to grow their religious beard when the prison has a stance that beards are not allowed.
Its a simple equation for me; prisoners broke the law, now they have to suffer the consequences. In the same way some people go to Arabic countries and are not allowed to drink alcohol. Its a choice both of these groups made, and they should not be claiming violation of human rights when they knew what their actions would lead to.
xxxxxx
This question may come up, so I will address it here. I am completely against the death penalty. The reason for this is that mistakes can be made and I just don't want to kill someone who does not deserve it.
Recently, I have had various discussions about prisons and human rights. So, I thought I would clarify my position on prisons and prisoner treatment. It is possible that these views will change but I have held these views for a while so am not sure it will change that easily. To clarify, I am not talking about holding, I am talking about legit prisons where you go when you have been found guilty. So what is a prison?
Prison: a building where people are kept as punishment for a crime or while they are waiting to go to court.
Baghdad Central Prison (Source)
So why do you go to prison? You go there as you, in all probability, have violated some one else's human rights or at least caused another person immense distress financially, sexually or other. So, why do prisoners get treated so well when they have committed these violations on society? Or to take it a step further why are they entitled to TV, Internet, some Religious practices, etc. These people gave up these rights (some of them basic human rights) the day they committed their crime. Now there are people that disagree and say we should treat these people with all their human rights. However, I disagree completely as why should we be honoring people that have violated society.
Now before you rant and rave and attack my stance, that was background now let me tell you what I think should be done.
Prisoners should be taught skills in prisons, prisoners should work in prisons, prisoners should get an education (rational thought for starters) in prison. This should not be a choice, this should be a necessity for all prisoners. It will not only benefit them, it will benefit the society that they hopefully one day can integrate back into.
Prisoners should not be watching cabal TV, prisoners should not get access to family and friends, prisoners should get food that is healthy and prisoners should not be taught irrational thought. Some examples: If the meal at the prison is pork (which is cheaper than beef) then the Muslims and Jews should have to eat that meal or go hungry. The religious should not be allowed to read their irrational books (Koran, Bible, Baghvad Gita) as this goes against educating them in rational behavior for a better society. Prisoners should have to abide by the laws of the prison and human rights be damned. This is why I believe the Supreme court made a mistake when they allowed a prisoner to grow their religious beard when the prison has a stance that beards are not allowed.
Its a simple equation for me; prisoners broke the law, now they have to suffer the consequences. In the same way some people go to Arabic countries and are not allowed to drink alcohol. Its a choice both of these groups made, and they should not be claiming violation of human rights when they knew what their actions would lead to.
xxxxxx
This question may come up, so I will address it here. I am completely against the death penalty. The reason for this is that mistakes can be made and I just don't want to kill someone who does not deserve it.
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