Islam Hides behind Racism to Protect Cowardice

There appears to be a negative and hostile reaction when atheists/agnostics/humanists become disrespectful or speak in undesirable terms regarding Islam.  The respondents to these comments typically cry foul and indicate that the individual is being racist. 

This is a clear indicator that the person playing the racism card has either been indoctrinated into Islamic perspectives or is grossly under educated and socially retarded. 

Islam is: a monotheistic religion based from the Qu’ran on the teachings of Mohamed’s interpretation of how life should be conducted and the religion spread.  Race is: a systemic way of classifying humans based on many different physical and social features.  Racism is: the equating that one race of humans is of greater value than others based on perception.  

Using the racism card to deflect attention from the religion’s actions or to elicit negative responses to those who are detecting that the religious affiliates are acting in an exceptionally inappropriate fashion is cowardice.

For the sake of argument could we invoke the same argument of race to all religions: Wiccan, Sikh, Mormon, Christian, Jehovah’s Witnesses’, Buddhists, Taoists, and  Pastafarians.  Then what of those who express NO religion?   Does that equate to no race?  

What is being projected by Islam is an illusion of victim-hood, maintaining claims of racism because the perception their religious beliefs are being disrespected.  I have read the Qu’ran, and the Bible both are rife with racial, gender, and religious inequalities in such a profound fashion that both texts call for the death of those who do not ascribe to the teachings of their prophets.  

This spinelessness is not just applied by Islam.  Many if not all religious sects use this tool to manipulate the populous into believing they are the victims of some horrible onslaught from other (races, religions, or social groups).    The proud portrayal victim-hood leads many leaders of these sects to advocate for abhorrent actions by their followers as a way of getting their agenda heard.  This is equitable to the use of terrorism to get religious or political attention.

Islam has a very bloody, violent, and socially retarded history of destroying all that is not of the same faith or religious practice.  Some of the rituals of this religion are bloody violent and horrifying (Halal).   When humanity starts to progress socially, choosing to abandon the, unnecessary, perturbing and archaic religious practices or they fall out of social favor it is not racism it is social maturation.

Islam – not a victim of racism, but a highly manipulative, aggressive, and hostile religious/political sect that uses carefully calculated psychological tools to hide behind.

I am likely to get a death threat for disrespecting Islam.  All that does is solidify my disrespect for all religions, contributing to my being more vocal about their eventual extinction.

Refugees of an Imaginary War

I keep reading or hearing about this ‘War on Christianity/Christmas’ ’War on Religion’ ‘Assault on Religious Rights’ posed by the Right Wing Nut Jobs – or at a minimum the Teabagger ~ Patriots spewing their hate swill on Fox News.

Hate to break it to you but, there is no war.  One may feel as though their ‘right to religious freedom’ is under assault.  I cannot find evidence of this.  What I do find evidence of is; the privilege/power, and unfair advantage of the overtly religious is being questioned by the populous.  There is a steady decline in the populations identified as attached to religious institutions and an increase in those who identify themselves as non-religious (atheist).  The power brokers of these religious institutions are starting to panic, and in their efforts to maintain their flocks of sheep, they have fabricated a war.   

The ensuing panic has led to a propaganda campaign by those who still have an audience to play the victim card; ‘War is being waged on our religious beliefs.’  Terms are thrown out like, ‘patriot’, ‘Christian warriors’, ‘racially motivated (Islam)’ and ‘homosexual agenda’. 

This is nothing more than a strong effort to consolidate the base of voters, or sheep, to remain faithful and pressure the lawmakers to aid alignment of their power over the perceived enemy (Atheists).  From the pulpits come the threats to the families to keep a tight rein on their potential wanderers.  Both the Jehovah’s Witness and the Mormon sects have documented systems to maintain this fear via processes dealing with apostates (control).  Islam takes it to the extreme.

Fortunately the more intellectually involved and informed can see that these propaganda efforts are in the long run; eventually destructive.  These efforts to control from within, eliciting power struggles appears as dictatorial events within almost all of these faiths.  When people can get past the fear and the understanding that departure from these faiths is healthy, natural, and beneficial they step away. 

Religion is destined for extinction.  The function of religion to control and maintain order is no longer necessary.  People hold onto the vestigial components for comfort and they serve no purposeful function other than to calm the fear inspired by the sect leaders.    This war is of attrition the faithful are dying out and the children want no part of the diseased relationships managed by the leaders of the faiths.   I don’t seek out the youth to ‘turn them’ from their religion.  They come to me asking questions and I answer them with honesty, truth, and reason.  They are refugees of an imaginary war.

My efforts to catch those who question their participation in this co-dependent relationship with their religions takes the form of starting a local Atheist group both on Facebook, and helping @FreeAtheism with the Atheist Paper Route.   Fliers handed out when they come to my door, and left on the doorsteps of local churches.

Question Everything.

Atheism Advocacy via Paper Route

Spending the last week participating in the Atheist Paper Route was well worth the time.  Initially I perceived it as waging some war on the religious factions in my home town.  After participating and starting some dialog with other atheists, I see it now more as a way of switching up the way that information and perspectives are shared.   Currently I am only one voice (delivery boy).

In this part of Idaho there are more churches than any other location I have ever lived.  One cannot travel more than half a mile on any road until you see a church or two.  There are a preponderance of Christian churches attuned to the charismatic evangelical populous and a very large number of Mormon stakes.

It often feels as though I live in the ‘Bible Belt of Idaho’ (a doubling of hellish experiences for an atheist).  There are a large number of missionary individuals going door-to-door to share their perspective on faith and to encourage many to join them for service at their holy place.    I have most certainly turned them away in a fashion that is appropriate and respectful.    Even the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

After posting several fliers on the doors of these establishments in an effort to ‘door-to-door’ advertise that atheists are here and we have valid points, the responses are typically bordering mild passivity.  I was expecting some letter to the editor with some fierce rhetoric (still waiting).  There was one church that did respond with a ‘Good Luck’ message on their sign. 

Is it a safe assessment of the situation that if they do not attend to us that we will fade into obscurity?   Maybe there is a more xenophobic approach that they are working hard to shield their populations from the information that is being dropped on their doorsteps? 

As the ‘Easter Season’ gets into full swing many of the churches have advertising to solicit new members to join them.  I will be there to deliver my paper and share with them that there are more options to choose from.  Remaining connected to some religion based in fear is asinine.    If I can reach one person give them the confidence to step out of the shadows it is well worth my time to advocate for atheism.

I want to thank the following:

@FreeAtheism

@GentleAtheist

@Atheist_Forever

@BrianBrachiopod

 For their support on Twitter!

Resources available here: Free Atheism Paper Route

Bullying and Cowardice of the Theists

Watching the constant ebb and flow of exchanges between the theists and the atheists on twitter something becomes more relevant at every exchange.  Escalating emotional responses to perceived hostility and/or disrespect directed at one person’s religious beliefs or perspectives.

What makes this even more salient is the amount of personalization that takes place in the exchange, where the religious person thinks that because their religion is under attack, or their beliefs are being ‘disrespected’ that they are personally being attacked.   Quick and visceral reactions range from simple name calling to threats of physical violence and promises of death due to a violation of religious doctrine.

What is painfully evident is the media is they work hard to sanitize their approach and presentation of the happenings in the world due to the responses from the fundamentalists and even some of the moderates.  This is ever more unmistakable with the presentation of Islam.  There is a prudent effort on the part of media to ‘not offend’ the Islamists.

Politics.... 

There is strong reason and evidence to continue to do this based on plain and simple fear.  Islam explains the use of violence, in some of the most cruel and hostile fashions, when the perception their doctrine or dogmas are threatened with disrespect or offense.  What is even more astounding is the response of Christians and other faiths to these threats – capitulation, lending to a very unhealthy and abusive relationship between the two parties.  

After I did some research it appears that this fear goes back centuries.   The populous of most of the world is genuinely frightened by the Islamists.  Not due to any feigned threats to act, but due to the actual facilitation of described threats.  When these actions are on put on display to a very wide audience to see and appreciate.  This public display of horrific acts of violence, retribution, desecration of humans and other religious faiths persons or property, with the intention of intimidation.   Much of this is Muslim on Muslim but open threats toward others are also common.

This is not just an Islamic issue only there are other sects or cults that use fear or intimidation to elicit compliance to demands for respect and conversion.    Christians often use the threat of eternal damnation to coerce their flocks to join and to establish retention.  Christians often prey upon each other not for conscription but for wealth and prestige.    They want your money not your soul.

The most disturbing part of this relationship is that, Christians are taught to forgive and to accept that they may be asked to die for their faith.  Muslims are taught that they should kill for theirs.  Christians are told that they are guaranteed a trip to heaven in service to their god and Muslims to paradise with lots of virgins to remove non-Muslims from the living.  This lends to a very ugly looking system of abuse.

When an atheist becomes involved and threats are made we are not likely to surrender to either party.  This causes the situation to escalate rapidly.   The roles being played are that of abuser and victim.  Atheist chooses to not play and calls the bully (Islam) on their aggression and the victim (Christian) on their cowardice.    Atheists are likely to stand up for the victim but they actively decline the assistance under the pretense of continuing to be the victim.

Any attempt to threaten me to achieve surrender becoming a bully or join a culture of victimization and the likely end will be a strong hostile response.  Bring it!

Psychology of Fundamentalism and Limiting Projection Issues

Given my propensity for evaluating human behavior in its many forms, one thing becomes evident; the individuals who identify themselves (passively or actively), as bible fundamentalists, young earth creationists, evangelicals, Teabaggers (all inferred insults applied), Christians, right-wing-nut-jobs etc. have a very well developed defense mechanism of Psychological Projection. 

Defining Projection -   albeit an older term (Freud) it still fits the thought paradigms today.  Simply defined:  A person will reject their own negative personality/character attribute(s) and then assign those same attributes to the person or entity they are in conflict with, in an effort to quell or reduce cognitive dissonance.  Described as a defense mechanism it works very well for the user as a way of displacing responsibility or distracts from the harm produced by one’s comments or actions.  This has also be identified as a False-Consensus  event but for the purpose of simplicity and ease of use I will continue to use ‘Projection.’

This can take on many forms.  As a whole Americans are naive to the effects of projection.    A person makes an assumption that all persons of the same persuasion or belief system thing and behave in the same fashion as he/she does given they ascribe to the same system – Both positive and negative. One is the perception that all Christians worship the same god or that all follow the same interpretation of the bible.  

More insidious Projection takes place when an Atheist confronts a Fundamentalist on their negative character attributes or perceived bias and they are reflected back with strong emotion and hostility.

An example of this was and exchange between a talented blogger nonprophetess and a random fundamentalist here.  He clearly has very biased views and aggressively projecting them on her and the other participants of the conversation.   

When addressed directly the dialog becomes immature and is resembles the grade school dialog “I know you are but what am I...?”  This will generally elicit a strong Counter Projection (Jung) escalating the conflict.

Example:

Makes one think, "Are you that unaware?"

When addressing Projection events one must understand that this is taking place at a rudimentary behavioral level and typically based on a defect of character or personality.  In the simplest terms it is like arguing with a five year old who needs a nap.  How to successfully address an exchange one can rely on the basic application of Applied Behavior Analysis.  Strongly reinforce any positives identified in the dialog even if that requires re-framing the dialog (this can and will elicit a very strong negative emotional response from the projector).

Dialog with a person projecting should resemble that of a dialog with a five year old.  Treat them accordingly.  You may have to break down the dialog into short simple sentences – state a core topic and stick to it.   They like to take people down the rabbit hole of delusion.   Continuously redirect them back to the core topic.  Consider if you will gain any benefit from it or will the other party?  Remember you are the one in control of the conversation and your emotions.  They are not.  Don’t own their issues.  We have enough of our own.

When a ‘Projector’ hits Crisis Phase (cognitive dissonance) this can and will elicit ‘Word Salad’ from the more disturbed individuals.   This should be a trigger to end the conversation due to individual being in an emotional crisis and unable to respond coherently.    This is also identified when scripture or bible verses are being quoted.  This is a signal that there is no longer a productive dialog going on and the person has recluses into their mental safe zone.

Decline the invitation to be angry and stay rational.

Race, Rights, and Religion Rant

I have been accused of racism based on my ridicule of Islam.  I am very curious why so many people perceive Islam as a race of individuals?   These persons are very eager and aggressive in their use of the racism perspective to defend the religion or their discriminatory actions.

I have also been very open with my criticism of Christianity and the associated actions of that religion.  Let’s take for examples in Idaho where I live; the Christians are working very hard to accomplish a couple of new laws:  No protections for LGBT individuals basically legalizing discriminatory practices against that part of the population.  A second piece of legislation allowing faith healing groups protection from prosecution based on the death of children due to negligent practices (faith healing).   

Using religious practices to inflict harm or actual death on a differing group of persons is akin to racism but  actually should be classified as discriminatory practice.   They then hide behind their ‘religious freedom’ to practice discrimination and negligent homicide of their own children.

There is no mention of race associated with these religious practices.  Yet there is a perception among the religious that one set of humans has more respect or rights to live free of discrimination or negligent death.  This profound lack of introspection by the followers is astounding.  The delusions professed by these people shake the foundations of reality and yet no one calls them out.

Using ‘religious practice’ as a shield to protect a person or a community based on bias is spineless and principled in disordered intellect.  To witness the death of a child due to willful disregard and then to attribute it to the will of some god is tantamount to negligent homicide.

When called out on their obvious immorality and held to scrutiny by the population as a whole as being corrupt they hurriedly build a barricade of racial or religious discrimination as a case against the accuser.

It is a cowardly practice to cry foul when the only misconduct has been on the part of the religious practitioner and you are unwilling to accept responsibility for your deeds.

Humanity cannot continue to hold any religion in reverence when it‘s followers use it as a way to deflect responsibility for immoral, discriminatory or juvenile actions.  

Sometimes those who are offended need to be.

Morning Rant - Sex Ed and Dogma

Just had a great rant with my best friend via email.. Figured I would not waste the rant..

Some of what I have seen/read recently has to do with the establishment of moral underpinnings complicating the teaching of sex education. Given the application that a person's morality is based on a set of rules grounded in emotional constructs, and there are negative connotations applied to the basic attributes of human existence (religions/doctrine/archaic texts tend to lay claim to this perspective) and elicit a strong negative response emotionally when there is a perceived violation of these constructs creating cognitive dissonance. These rules are applied to elicit fear or trepidation and less to do with actual learning of reproduction and the actions associated with it.

 Parents of these students are so heavily entrenched in their thinking and the fear of information reaching their child that is contrary to the dogmatic principles they are infected with that it nearly paralyzes their actions. A parent shirking their responsibility for sexual education to the school or another entity should clearly understand that the actions of sexual reproduction, and/or sexual acts will be discussed in detail and without the associated emotional content.

 If one can separate the emotional construct from the context of a behavioral action based in reproductive biology and present only the facts associated with the reproductive act that is sex education. Chillingly there are so many religious and conservative factions that apply artificial rules or frameworks to this associating a strong emotional content because of the morality that was dispensed at a very young age.

 As a matter of circumstance and relevance morality does not come from dogma, doctrine or religious scripture. It existed long prior to the establishment of any religious or dogmatic construct written down in a book or on a rock somewhere.

 What is difficult for many people is to discern the fact that actions of reproduction should be taught, (somewhere, accurately an positively) so that the fledgling humans are not guessing and causing injury, spreading disease or unintentional pregnancies. The willful ignorance that most, if not all, religious sects advocate does nothing to foster development of independent rational actions or thoughts associated with reproduction.

 Whether the religies, conservatives, liberals, or just your basic human loons get it or not.... reproduction is going to happen between humans... whether they like it or not.... Morals taught by parents or teachers are irrelevant if based on complex dogmatic principles. Sexual behavior is a primary drive in humans equitable to the drive to obtain food and water. This has taken place for millions of years and the artificial application of dogmatic morality in the last 3000-4000 years only leads to complicate it further. Think of it this way we are teaching our kids morals and reproductive science based on a Bronze Age dogma. What does that say for us as a species?

 Facts and behaviors are real and can be measured and observed. To apply dogmatic principles to establish some moral code to this conduct only adds a layer of complexity that the student rarely if ever can understand due to the underdeveloped cerebral cortex of any human under the age of 25.

 If we don’t make some kind of effort to grow up we are destine to be stuck in the dark ages.