Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Bangladesh - Allah, take note...



Allah must be delighted with the news emerging from Bangladesh at the moment.
We know that God (whether He be the one found in the Jewish Bible, the New Testament or the Qur'an) is obsessed, above all else, with being given due recognition by mankind for His creation. We also know (because He never let's us forget it) that He is a jealous God; there is nothing worse in His book(s) than worshiping other gods, or shirk as it is known in Islam.
Now, in any country not labouring under the yoke of religious mania, the news that 585 of their fellow citizens had perished when a factory collapsed would have been greeted with outrage by the inhabitants. Especially when it became clear the reason for the collapse was the greed of the owners and the shameful turning of a million blind eyes belonging to westerners more interested in buying cheap jeans than in caring for the abused workforce who produced them.
And indeed there was outrage in Bangladesh the day after this appalling tragedy. There were street protests. There were howls of anguish and impassioned debate. Three people died and hundreds were injured.
But the poor deluded Bangladeshis chose not to come out on the streets in support of their fellow workers being abused by grasping bosses but - and I still find this difficult to believe even as I write - rather in support of a newly formed Islamist group demanding, inter alia, the death penalty for those who insult Islam.
If ever an illustration were needed of how religion warps the perspective of those whom it infects,  there it is in glowing red of the tyres set alight in the streets and the bestial howls of the crowd screaming: "One Point. One Demand: Atheists must be hanged!". If ever I need an answer to the question: Why are you running this blog -what do you have to fear from Islam or any religion? I shall simply ask in return why the pointless deaths of those factory workers was deemed less worthy of protest than the demands for the deaths of those who can't believe in the merciful god of Islam.

10 comments:

  1. My dear friend Spinoza,

    Islam is perfect, Muslims aren't.

    Let's try and stick to rational thinking.

    As for the

    'He is a jealous God; there is nothing worse in His book(s) than worshiping other gods, or shirk as it is known in Islam',

    try think about like this instead: There's only room for one at the top!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Islam is perfect"

      What possible proof/evidence do you have for such a statement?

      Whereas there is plenty of evidence to suggest it is the product of its time an location.

      Delete
    2. For a non-believer, I see little point in assessing the merits or otherwise of a religion in isolation from how it affects behaviour and quality of life. If certain aspects of the source of authority, whether the reported deeds of a person or the words in some texts, are these days ignored or sanitised, it seems like a waste of time to criticise them, except insofar as showing a believer the inconsistency of their position. Similarly if good bits are ignored by most followers, such merits are not so interesting.

      What's usually more worth worrying about is the diversity of interaction of a religion with people, baring in mind human nature and our weaknesses. Even a most beautiful religion could be hopelessly naive and utopian. It seems to me somewhat artifical to consider either the religion, or its believers separately. For the non-believer, there is no metaphysical entity out there called Islam. What is real are texts, artifacts, a diversity of ideas and mental states derived to some degree therefrom in the heads of individuals and actions that are or were to some degree caused by them.

      Delete
    3. SI said
      "Islam is perfect, Muslims aren't."

      I see certain Muslims are starting to imitate and resemble 20th century totalitarians, funny they said the exact same thing i.e.

      "Fascism is perfect, fascists are not"... Fascism wasn't responsible for its evil it was just fascists

      Or

      "Communism is perfect, communists are not"... It wasn't communism responsible for the gulags, and the misery it caused it was just communists.

      This line of thinking is dangerous for it can excuse certain destructive religions and ideologies from taking responsibility from the crimes and destruction it caused. If we didn't blame fascism for its role in eugenics and the resulting holocaust, we would still have fascist Germany.

      The same line of thinking can be used for those many Muslims who criticize and hate democracy for some of its flaws, well i can say "Democracy is perfect, but Democrats are not"

      Delete
  2. Death toll from factory now reached over 900.

    ReplyDelete
  3. what is there, but cannot be seen is the fear and the absolute need to confirm in these countries where they are a state police. Its the same as Stalin's Russia or Hitler's Germany - even if you disagree with the status quo: to admit this is death. Therefore you have to be seen in support of the state laws and principles, otherwise you are in danger

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are you seriously going to start talking crap about GOD now? "He is a jealous God." Wow. NO! Do you know what or who God is? I would like to know what gives you the authority to talk about Islam like you are an expert on its sinfulness.

    ReplyDelete
  5. How else would you describe torturing for an eternity those who have the temerity to believe in another god, then?
    I'd say "jealous" is pretty fair.

    ReplyDelete
  6. "We know that God (whether He be the one found in the Jewish Bible, the New Testament or the Qur'an) is obsessed, above all else, with being given due recognition by mankind for His creation."
    True. But what is the form of that recognition? In the Tanakh at least, recognizing God means the following:
    He judged the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" Declares YHWH. (Jeremiah 22:16)
    For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.(Hosea 6.6)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anybody who has to get their morals from the ramblings of a group of bronze age goat herders on pain of eternal torment is truly sick.

    ReplyDelete