Miscellanea Agnostica

Once again, I have to report on yet another example of “the Religion of Peace” displaying its true colors for the world to see. The (UK) Independent reports a mob of Muslims — enraged by the possibility that someone had dared dis their almighty prophet — threw a colossal, violent tantrum, ripping through a neighborhood in Lahore, Pakistan and burning down a hundred buildings (WebCite cached article):

Hundreds of people in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore ransacked a Christian neighborhood today and torched dozens of homes after hearing reports that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against Islam’s prophet, said a police officer.…

The incident started yesterday when a young Muslim man accused a Christian man of committing blasphemy by making offensive comments about the prophet, according to Multan Khan, a senior police officer in Lahore.

A large crowd from a nearby mosque went to the Christian man’s home last night, and Khan said police took him into custody to try to pacify the crowd. Fearing for their safety, hundreds of Christian families fled the area overnight.

Khan said the mob returned today and began ransacking Christian homes and setting them ablaze. He said no one in the Christian community was hurt, but several policemen were injured when they were hit with stones as they tried to keep the crowd from storming the area.

I must congratulate the world’s Muslims on their ability to keep up their angry, violent religionistic immaturity. It’s an incredible achievement. Well done! You all must be so proud.

Oh, and it’s behavior like this that makes the rest of the world sleep so well at night, knowing Pakistan has nuclear weapons at its disposal. Yep, it’s positively heart-warming and reassuring to know this. No doubt!

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images, via The Independent.

Tags: arson, blasphemy, burning, childish, immature, immaturity, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, juvenile, lahore, lahore pakistan, muslim, muslims, pakistan, religiofascism, religiofascist, religiofascists, religionism, religionist, religionists, religious violence, riot, riots

It appears the world of Islam still hasn’t gotten over the fact that some insolent American-Egyptian Neocrusader dared make a video that insults their religion and its prophet. The Washington Post reports an Egyptian court will ban Youtube in that country for one month, as a “punishment” for having hosted it (WebCite cached article):

An Egyptian court ordered a one-month ban on YouTube on Saturday, after it said the video-sharing Web site had failed to remove an American-made anti-Islam video.

Cairo’s administrative court ruled in response to a suit filed by an independent Egyptian lawyer. Judge Hassouna Tawfiq, who presided over the case, said the ban would also apply to other Web sites that circulated the video, including, potentially, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

This isn’t the first time an Islamic country has banned Youtube because it carried supposedly blasphemous or sacrilegious content; Paskistan has banned Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter & Blackberry over such whines.

This is actually pretty typical; the world’s Muslims commonly rage, fume, riot and kill childishly whenever they think someone has criticized their religion. They cannot, and what’s worse, will not, permit any “dissing” of their religion. Ever. Not even in spite of the fact that criticism of a religion and blasphemy never harms anyone and never can change the basic nature of the religion. If they want to believe in it, they can do so, and no one’s criticism or disrespect can alter that.

Wah wah wah, little Muslim crybabies. Grow the fuck up already!

As I always do in cases like this, I’ve added a couple gratuitous anti-Islamic cartoons just to illustrate the power of the Streisand effect (by openly and publicly decrying something, one calls attention to it at a time when otherwise it would have gone unnoticed or unremembered).

Photo credit, top: By PsiCop, based on “the Soup Nazi” from Seinfeld; middle left, Lars Vilks, via Wikipedia; middle right, K. Westergaard, originally in Jyllands-Posten.

Tags: anti-islam, anti-muslim, blasphemous, blasphemy, cairo, censor, censorship, chidlish, egypt, film, hassouna tawfiq, immature, immaturity, innocence of muslims, Islam, juvenile, movie, muslim, muslims, sacrilege, the innocence of muslims, youtube

It’s been in the news all day … rioting at the U.S. embassy in Cairo (cached), and a deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya (cached), all supposedly because of an anti-Islam movie produced by someone in California. The trouble with all of this news is — it might not be so. News outlets like the New York Times are beginning to report that at least the Benghazi murders might not have been caused by the inflammatory video, after all (WebCite cached article):

The Obama administration suspects that the fiery attack in Libya that killed the American ambassador and three other diplomats may have been planned rather than a spontaneous mob getting out of control, American officials said Wednesday. …

The attack at the compound in Benghazi was far more deadly than administration officials first announced on Tuesday night, when Mrs. Clinton said one American had been killed and one injured.

Another of those killed was Sean Smith, an information management officer who joined the Foreign Service 10 years ago, Mrs. Clinton said in a statement. The State Department did not identify the other two, pending notification of their relatives. Mr. Smith, who was a husband and father of two, previously served in Iraq, Canada and the Netherlands.

This is in contrast to the rioting in Cairo which may actually have been triggered by the video’s insult to Islam and its founding prophet:

The protesters in Cairo appeared to be a genuinely spontaneous unarmed mob angered by an anti-Islam video produced in the United States. By contrast, it appeared the attackers in Benghazi were armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

I have no doubt that America’s Neocrusaders will use both the murders in Benghazi and the riots in Cairo as “evidence” that Islam is violent, evil, and must be stamped out. They’ll say, “See? Islam isn’t ‘the Religion of Peace’ after all!” The trouble is … that’s precisely what this movie was designed to do! It was purposely incendiary, and even some of those involved in making it claim they’d been deceived by its producer (cached). And his biography appears to be leakier than a sieve (cached).

Let’s be brutally honest: It doesn’t take rocket science to realize this Youtube video would send some Muslims up in flames. After all, the mere threat of burning copies of the Qur’an had caused thousands of Afghans to fly into a murderous rage. We already know Muslims aren’t culturally mature enough to handle any kind of critique of their religion. We didn’t need this movie to prove it. So what, then, did this movie accomplish?

Abso-fucking-lutely nothing whatsoever! All it did was cause raging and rioting that need not ever have happened.

But while the producer of this movie bears at least some moral responsibility for this … since it appears he went into this expressly desiring this particular result (cached) … it’s also true that no one can incite a riot unless there are other folks ready, willing and able to take the bait and start rioting. In other words, this “Sam Bacile” did not put a gun to the heads of these rioters and force them to go on a rampage. The rioters in Cairo went and did that, entirely on their own. On the other hand, they could have chosen to act differently; they could have had the maturity to understand that not everyone else in the world loves their religion or its founder, and that once in a while one of those people is going to insult Islam.

There’s only one phrase to describe all of this: “Religionistic immaturity.” Immaturity on the part of America’s Neocrusaders, including “Sam Bacile,” who can’t handle the fact that Islam exists and who feel the need to throw tantrums over it; and on the part of the rioting Muslims, who can’t handle the fact that people of other religions might say something bad about Islam and who likewise throw tantrums of their own.

Folks … the human race can no longer afford this kind of deeply-ingrained, culturally-perpetuated immaturity. Muslims need to fucking grow the hell up and deal with the fact that not everyone likes their religion. By the same token, Christians need to fucking grow the hell up and stop being enraged that other people have rejected their faith. This kind of wanton childishness in the name of God really needs to stop.

Just. Fucking. Stop. OK?

Update: In their ongoing effort to show how childish they can be, rioting Muslims in Egypt have entered the U.S. embassy compound tonight (cached). Well done, Muslims. You’re on your way to invading and capturing yet another American embassy. Yessirree, everyone is now sure to conclude that yours truly is “the Religion of Peace.” Yep. No doubt about that! You all must be so proud of yourselves! </sarcasm>

Photo credit: Agence France-Presse / Getty Images, via the New York Times.

Tags: benghazi, blasphemous, blasphemy, cairo, childish, childishness, immaturity, innocence of muslims, insult, insult to islam, Islam, juvenile, mohammad, mohammed, movie, muhammad, murder, muslim, muslims, religionism, religionist, religionistic immaturity, religionists, religious violence, riot, rioter, rioters, rioting, riots, video, violence

Having already displayed their raging, sanctimonious immaturity over some Qur’ans that had been burned at the Bagram military base in their country, Afghans decided to ramp it up even further, and have killed over it. CBS News reports on this murderous childishness (WebCite cached article):

Two U.S. troops have been shot to death and four more wounded by an Afghan solider who turned his gun on his allies in apparent anger over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, an Afghan official tells CBS News.

A statement from the International Security Assistance Force – Afghanistan, the international coalition in the country, confirmed that two troops were killed in Eastern Afghanistan on Thursday by “an individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform.” …

The source also said the shooting appeared to be motivated by the burning of Qurans at the sprawling U.S. Bagram air base, north of Kabul, but he did not provide additional details as to what led him to that conclusion.

Way to go, Afghans. Congratulations. Well done! I’m impressed. You must all be so proud of your accomplishment!

Update 1: Afghan immaturity continues to impress. As of Saturday, 2/25/2012, the violent protests continue, and more people have died as a result (cached). There doesn’t appear to be any end in sight.

Photo credit: Getty photo, via CBS News.

Tags: afghan, afghanistan, afghans, bagram, burning, childish, childishness, february 2012 qur'an burning, hyperreligionist, hyperreligiosity, hyperreligious, immature, immaturity, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, juvenile, koran, koran burning, koran desecration, korans, muslim, muslims, NATO, qur'an, qur'an burning, qur'an descecration, qur'an desecration, qur'ans, religionism, religionist, religionists

Christians are a remarkably immature bunch. They think nothing of advertising their beliefs to anyone and everyone, all the time, everywhere; they missionize, they distribute tracts, they put up signs (including bright neon signs), they hold up placards at sporting events, and more. Yet — they seem to think no other types of believers are allowed to advertise their beliefs … and they especially hate when non-believers are the ones doing the advertising (going as far as to destroy non-believers’ signs and level death threats over them).

A sterling example of Christians’ attitude about other religions advertising, can be seen in this story by the Conservative Cybercast News Service about a Muslim group’s ad campaign in Australia (WebCite cached article):

“Jesus: A prophet of Islam” states the provocative tagline in a “public awareness” advertising campaign launched by a Muslim group in Australia’s largest city.

The group, calling itself Mypeace, says its aim is to inform, not offend – but offend it has, with one Catholic bishop calling the assertion about Jesus “a direct assault on Christian beliefs.”

So advertising is “a direct assault”? Seriously? Sorry, bishop, but no. A punch in the face is “a direct assault.” Someone advertising their beliefs, is not. It is, instead, free speech. Something Christians think only they should have, and everyone else must be silent, because they can’t tolerate the idea that there might be a non-Christian lurking around somewhere, trying to destroy them or something.

Christians who think this way — and that would be nearly all of them — are not only being childish, they’re fucking hypocrites. But remarkably, Jesus Christ himself clearly, explicitly and unambiguously forbid his followers — without exception — ever to be hypocritical. His multiple condemnations of hypocrisy in all its forms are both unmistakable and unequivocal. Any offended Christians, including the quoted Julian Porteous, auxiliary bishop for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, need to fucking grow the hell up for the first time in their sniveling little lives, and accept that there are non-Christians in the world, and they do not, in fact, have to be silent and unseen, just to keep Christians happy.

Another note to Christians: Just because you consider Jesus Christ to have been “the Son of God,” does not mean everyone else on the planet is required to think the same thing about him. This means Muslims are free to consider him a mere “prophet” if they wish to. What right do any of you have to control what other people think about Jesus?

Photo credit: Songkran.

Tags: advertise, advertising, archdiocese of sydney, australia, bishop julian porteous, childish, christian, Christianity, christians, immature, immaturity, Islam, jesus prophet of islam, julian porteous, juvenile, muslim, muslims, mypeace, religious advertising, sydney australia

The Great Neocrusade proceeds relentlessly across the United States. Sanctimonious Religious Rightists are proposing laws in several states which outlaw what they call “shari’a law.” As one would expect, these bills are invariably based on erroneous assumptions about Islam and the nature of shari’a law, and based upon a prevailing fear that shari’a law is being imposed on the country by force.

First we have Tennessee state senators Bill Ketron and Judd Matheny, who want to abolish shari’a law there, as reported in the Washington Post On Faith blog (WebCite cached article):

Tennessee State Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and state Rep. Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) introduced a bill last week outlawing the practice of Sharia, a complex set of religious laws that guide behavior for Muslims.

The bill, embedded below, attempts to define Sharia law and to make following it a felony punishable by 15 years in jail.

The bill in question is SB1028, available here. Of note is that Murfreesboro is where some raging Neocrusaders set fire to a mosque under construction back in October. Ketron and Matheny’s problem is that they misdefine shari’a; they further claim that Islam itself is a combined legal-military-political ideology, and imply that it’s not a religion. This mirrors what TN lieutenant governor Ron Ramsey said last summer, that Islam is a political-legal system, not a religion, and therefore not entitled to First Amendment protection. Ketron and Matheny also don’t bother to explain where, in the US, any government at any level has ever been able to force anyone to knuckle under to shari’a — even though his bill is predicated on the idea that it’s happening.

Next, we have Arizona — which appears to have become the epicenter of militant Rightism in the US — where a proposed bill (HB 2582) would outlaw all forms of religious law, including shari’a (cached):

“Religious sectarian law” means any statute, tenet or body of law evolving within and binding a specific religious sect or tribe. Religious sectarian law includes sharia law, canon law, halacha and karma but does not include any law of the united states or the individual states based on Anglo?American legal tradition and principles on which the united states was founded.

The authors of this bill have essentially gone berserk on the entire notion of “religious law,” and don’t understand what they’re talking about. First, “religious law” systems like Halakha (within Judaism) and canon law (within several Christian denominations, including the Roman Catholic, Anglican and the several Orthodox churches) are — at least partly — the manner in which those religions conduct their own internal affairs, serving as a kind of administrative code. To abolish them completely would obviously run afoul of their religious freedoms. Second, karma is not a system of administration, but rather, a metaphysical principle within Hinduism and other Dharmic religions. It can’t be used in court, as far as I can see, despite the fact that it’s often referred to as a “law.” It’s no more a code of administration or justice than the so-called “Law” of Attraction.

Let me be clear: I do not favor the imposition of shari’a on anyone in the US. It’s a dangerous, metaphysically-charged, often-barbaric code which should be phased out worldwide — the sooner, the better. And I’m not in favor of the Roman Catholic Church holding its own canon law above the secular laws of the lands in which the Church operates; where criminal law and canon law collide, criminal law should prevail. However, passing laws to abolish shari’a law, or any other religious law-code, within the US is irrational, asinine, and childish. There is no way that any religious law-code can ever be imposed on Americans, due to the First Amendment, among other Constitutional protections. Bills such as these accomplish nothing useful, except to demonstrate the immaturity and ignorance of those who draft, sponsor, and support them. And the idea that karma is even a law-code that could ever be used in any kind of court to issue rulings … well, let’s just say this so obviously laughable that the authors and sponsors of AZ HB 2582 should hang their heads in shame. They’ve just shown themselves to be idiotic dolts who thoroughly deserve every bit of derision that’s going to be heaped on them over their ignorant bill.

Hat tip: Mark at Skeptics & Heretics Forum, and Unreasonable Faith.

Photo credit: Michael Heilemann.

Tags: arizona, AZ HB 2582, AZ HB2582, canon law, childish, childishness, christian, christian right, Christianity, christians, freedom of religion, freedom of worship, halacha, halakha, HB 2582, HB2582, immature, immaturity, Islam, juvenile, karma, law, law code, law codes, law of karma, murfreesboro TN, muslim, muslims, nashville TN, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, phoenix AZ, religious law, religious law code, religious law codes, religious right, ritual law, ritual purity, SB 1028, SB1028, shari'a, shari'a law, state law, tennessee, TN SB 1028, TN SB1028, tullahoma TN, united states, US

As I’ve blogged a number of times already, Birtherism is a delusion that simply will not die. A frequent mantra of Birthers is that Obama has never produced his birth certificate. That, however, is factually incorrect; he has done so, and did it prior to his election in 2008. See FactCheck and Politfact, cached here and here for the evidence. (Note, neither of these fact-checking sites is “biased” towards Obama and the Democrats; recently, for instance, FactCheck pointed out tall tales told by him and by his party, and Politifact has a running “Obameter” listing promises he’s made, and has not shied from listing some as broken.) Oh, and that Kenyan birth certificate you may have heard about? It’s a fake (cached).

Making this situation worse is that denial that Obama is a US citizen has become religionized, and inextricably linked to the claim that he’s a Muslim. So the delusion has taken on an added dimension and, essentially, doubled in scope. Yes, that’s been covered by FactCheck (cached) and Politifact (cached), too — but again, the deluded Right-wing Birthers don’t give a fuck about facts.

Birtherism among Rightists has become so strong and pervasive, that GOP leaders refuse to confront it any more. If anything, they make excuses for Birtherism and wink in its direction. A recent example is House Speaker John Boehner, who did exactly this during his appearance on Meet the Press yesterday (WebCite cached article). When host David Gregory asked about persistent Birtherism, he said:

David, it’s not my job to tell the American people what to think. Our job in Washington is to listen to the American people.

That’s an interesting claim on Boehner’s part, since he’s been telling Americans for the last couple of years that Obama is a vile, wicked socialist, and he hasn’t “listened” to any Americans outside of the extreme Right-wing. After having told us what we’re supposed to think about Obama and the Democrats all this time, suddenly he declares he’s unwilling to tell us what to think? What a fucking hypocrite! At any rate, he continued hedging:

Having said that, the state of Hawaii has said that he was born there. That’s good enough for me. The president says he’s a Christian. I accept him at his word.

That’s all well and good, but it’s hardly a dismissal of Birtherism. Then, having said that, he veered back toward his original position:

MR. GREGORY: But that kind of ignorance about whether he’s a Muslim doesn’t concern you?

SPEAKER BOEHNER: Listen, the American people have the right to think what they want to think. I can’t–it’s not my job to tell them.

So the Speaker slalomed from, “I’m not supposed to tell people what to think,” to “Obama said he’s a citizen and a Christian,” to “People have a right to be deluded.”

Well, Speaker, you’re correct in that Americans have a “right” to be deluded. No doubt about that. The right to be a fucking ignoramus is undeniable. But you — as a leader in your political party — have a moral and ethical obligation to inform them of the truth. Even if it’s not a convenient truth to tell, and — yes — even if they don’t want to hear it. This is not a question of anyone’s “rights.” This is a question of what the objective facts are and what his duty is, as the leader of the Republican party in Congress.

In other words, it’s a question of fortitude and leadership.

Boehner has purposely chosen to keep his party chock-full of childish, delusional, paranoiac imbeciles. Just because he’s too much of a sniveling coward to tell them to knock off their Birtherist bullshit and shut the fuck up about the President not being a citizen or a Christian.

Way to go, Speaker. What outstanding courage you’ve shown! Why, you’ve demonstrated perfectly the kind of character it takes to lead the Right in the US.

It’s time for everyone on the Right — starting with Speaker Bonehead and the rest of his sanctimonious Rightist rabble in the House — to grow the hell up, stop telling demonstrable lies, and move on to something else, fercryinoutloud.

Photo credit: FactCheck.

Tags: birther, birtherism, birthers, boehner, childish, congress, conservatism, conservative, conservatives, gop, immature, immaturity, john boehner, juvenile, muslim, muslim obama, obama citizen, obama is a muslim, obama muslim, politics, republican, republicans, right, rightism, rightist, rightists, speaker of the house

Angry that she was accused of having somehow contributed to the recent Tucson shooting, former Alaska governor and Republican (and Religious Right) starlet Sarah “Reload” Palin has gone on the attack. Rather than merely disavow any participation in the incident, she childishly and impetuously made a rather startling claim. As reported by Mediate, she released a video accusing her critics of having forged a “blood libel” against her and the rest of the vehement Right (WebCite cached article):

Every word Palin says in this video will most likely be analyzed for days. Palin treats this address with the seriousness of an actual leader and appears to do her best to unite all Americans together, no matter their political beliefs, in a recognition of “America’s Enduring Strength.” The one group left out of the celebration is Palin’s persistent nemesis, the mainstream media, as she says:

But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

What is perhaps more reprehensible than what any of her critics have said, is that she fired the “blood libel” bomb at them. You see, this term has a very singular meaning. It refers clearly and specifically to an anti-Semitic legend-motif in which Jews ritually murder Christian children as part of their profane rites. “Blood libel” stories historically were used as cudgels against Jews at various times. In other words, she’s setting herself and the rest of the Right as victims of a propaganda tool that Christians used to justify their hatred of Jews.

Real nice, there, Sarah. How marvelous of you, in the midst of your persecution complex, to appropriate the term “blood libel” to serve your own purposes.

Her gross misuse of this term hasn’t gone unnoticed, e.g. by Howard Kurtz of the Daily Beast [cached], The Caucus at the New York Times [cached], CNN’s Political Ticker [cached], & The Note by ABC News [cached], and I expect it will haunt her for the next several days. Then, she will likely make quips about “the lamestream media” criticizing her for having used this phrase and claim righteous indignation that they now dare now vilifying poor little her, for her response to having already been vilified by them. In other words, even in the face of her own immaturity, she will continue to refuse to accept that she may have done anything wrong.

(No rigid ideologue ever admits fault — for anything — at any time. Each childish tantrum is fully justified; any criticism of any childish tantrum is never accepted as having any validity; and merely results in yet another childish tantrum. Immaturity is the engine of all ideology.)

As an aside, the question of Loughner’s motivations likely will never be satisfactorily answered, although the media and pundits on every side will likely continue acting as though they know what it is, definitively, and will pontificate on it forever. But I don’t see anyone asking the most salient question, which is, why such a disruptive and disturbed individual as Jared Lee Loughner — who had several run-ins with law enforcement over the last few years, and was thrown out of classes and a school — was never assessed for mental illness and put into treatment. Everyone around him (including his family) simply veered around him, avoiding him, pawning him off on the next person, and hoped never to run into him again. Once they were free of him, they were all happy. And that was it. Well, this collective decision resulted in several deaths, a lot more wounded people, and Loughner will never see the light of day again. How did this benefit anyone, including Loughner himself? He’d have been much better served if someone, along the way, had gotten him some psychiatric treatment.

Update: True to form, ideological Rightists are reflexively declaring Palin faultless. Many are pointing to Alan Dershowitz’s declaration that there is nothing wrong with her having used the phrase “blood libel” against her critics. Big Government offers his remarks [cached]. The problem here is, even if others have misused the phrase “blood libel” in the past, this does not constitute logical permission for Palin to misuse it, now. Not only that, Dershowitz has no authority — even in spite of him being a famous Jewish lawyer — to grant Palin a dispensation on this score. In fact, no one has such authority; her misuse of “blood libel” is semantically and contextually incorrect, and no one in the universe can change that. Unfortunately the Right can’t help itself … they’re pathologically incapable of admitting Palin was wrong.

Photo credit: PBS NewsHour.

Tags: 2011 tucson shooting, 2011 tuscon shooting, america's enduring strength, anti-semite, anti-semitic, anti-semitism, antisemit, antisemitic, antisemitism, blood libel, childish, christian right, gabby giffords, gabrielle giffords, immature, immaturity, jared lee loughner, jared loughner, juvenile, loughner, religious right, sarah palin, sarah reload palin, tucscon AZ, tucson, tucson shooting, tuscon shooting