Tag Archives: Islam

January 23, 2012 · 9:35 pm

A TERRIFIC BOOK EXAMINING RELIGION VS REASON: THE CLOSING OF THE MUSLIM MIND

 Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that I consider all religion to be mythology and that none of the world’s “holy books” should be taken literally. Most religions are civilized enough that their practicioners can deal with that viewpoint, no matter how angry it makes them. We all know which religion would be the one exception and the book The Closing of the Muslim Mind by Robert R Reilly provides a great deal of insight about that religion.

Reilly’s book covers the conflict between religious literalists and rationalists in the Muslim word from the 9th century C.E. to the 11th century C.E. Obviously, the Continue reading →

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January 12, 2012 · 11:31 pm

A SHOUT-OUT OF SUPPORT TO MUSLIMS PRESSING FOR REFORM OF THEIR RELIGION

Irshad Manji

 On December 26th, in Amsterdam, two Muslim speakers who favor reforming and modernizing Islam were addressing a public roundtable on the subject when the meeting was disrupted by a gang of members of the Muslim fundamentalist group called Sharia4Holland. They attempted to shout down the speakers, demanded the event be stopped, threatened and spat at the speakers  and accused them of apostasy, an offense punishable by death under Islamic law. Police were needed to deal with the assault. 

The intruders were so proud of all this that they even posted a video of it at their group’s Youtube site. The name Sharia4Holland may sound like satire, but there’s also a group called Sharia4Belgium, and I can’t help wondering if the pro-Sharia groups also have organizations called “Death2TheInfidels” and “WeH8Apostates”. 

The two Muslim speakers were Dutch parliamentarian Tofik Dibi, 31, and NYU Professor Irshad Manji. Manji was born in Uganda in 1968 and is lesbian. She is also the best-selling author of The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call For Reform In Her Faith.    

Speaking about the experience with the intruders from Sharia4Holland, Manji had this to Continue reading →

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January 1, 2012 · 6:16 pm

GUESS WHAT RELIGION THE SO-CALLED “SANTA KILLER” BELONGED TO?

Aziz Yazdanpanah, who allegedly committed the hate crime of killing six members of his family and then killing himself this past Christmas morning was also outraged that his daughter was dating someone outside his “faith.” If you guessed he belonged to the outdated, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynist religion called Islam you’d be correct. And let’s face it, the only people who couldn’t have guessed are delusional left wing political zealots who think they’re somehow “sticking it” to delusional right wing political zealots by whitewashing the Muslim faith in the many incidents like this that take place. 

I’ll point out again that I’m a non-believer when it comes to religion, and I think all such beliefs are just mythology, but even I have been unable to ignore the Continue reading →

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December 7, 2011 · 10:01 pm

MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF STUPIDITY: ISLAM AND “HONOR” KILLINGS

Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my view of all religion as mythology. Most religions are civilized enough that their practitioners can deal with that type of viewpoint. Islam, of course, is the exception, and perpetuates superstitious savagery like killing people for drawing pictures of Continue reading →

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November 3, 2011 · 10:59 pm

IF TIM TEBOW WAS A MUSLIM, WOULD PEOPLE STILL CONSIDER IT “OKAY” TO MOCK HIS RELIGION?

Pictured: An act you won’t get beheaded over.

Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that I consider all religions to be mythology and I often make jokes that demonstrate my lack of reverence for people who appoint themselves to lecture the rest of us about what they personally think their “God” wants us to do. That being said, it may shock a few people to see me mentioning this incident from the Lions vs Broncos game this past Sunday.

Stephen Tulloch, one of the Lions, dropped to this mock prayer pose to taunt the freshly- sacked quarterback Tim Tebow (seen in the orange jersey # 15) because Tebow is Continue reading →

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October 11, 2011 · 12:08 am

MYTHOLOGY: INTER-CULTURAL INFLUENCE

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Balladeer’s Blog

Recently one of my favorite bloggers, Sara from Midaeval Maiden and Life With 4 Cats, asked me a question about Egyptian mythology being influenced by other cultures. I provided an answer where the words just flowed along nicely and so, since I get occassional e-mails asking me similar questions I figured I would post my answer to Sara in the spirit of a FAQ. All in all, it saves me from coming up with a totally new post today     …     I think you’ll agree.

My Answer:  This sort of inter-cultural influence is pretty standard in mythology. No belief system springs from a vacuum. It springs from previous belief systems in the region and also from appropriating elements of belief systems of other cultures they come into contact with. The process is called syncretism.

Even the big three religions have done it. Zoroastrianism predates Christianity, Islam and Judaism and all three of those Continue reading →

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May 2, 2011 · 8:03 pm

THE WORLD FLUSHES A BOWEL MOVEMENT: BIN LADEN IS KILLED

Even an ardent skeptic like myself can envision an afterlife today, and here’s a photo of Osama Bin Laden waving hello from that afterlife, where he will be sodomized by goats for all eternity. The modern face of the mindless savagery called Jihad is dead thanks to the United States military. And best of all no need for a trial. I’m sure it’s a sad day for Continue reading →

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