Folks,
Read the news lately? Didn't think you would. Anyway, here's a little event that happened in the Middle East that might just go that little bit in saving the world from annihilation.
Israeli elections this week swept the right-wing Likud Party from power and installed a center-left government committed to peaceful coexistence with Palestine. Ehud Olmert, the leader of the new Israeli government, told the new Palestinian government that "we are ready to compromise and evacuate, under great pain, Jews living there [the West Bank of Palestine] in order to create the conditions that will enable you to fulfill your dream and live alongside us."
Olmert declared that "the time has come to act" and to agree on borders for Israel and Palestine, establishing two mutually recognized states and bringing to an end Palestinian terrorism and Israeli oppression.
Out with that brain dead vegetable, Sharon and in with someone who actually believes in a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue.
Already we are seeing major shifts to left wing parties in large countries with established democratic traditions. It started with India in 2002, which swung left to the INC from the right and far right National Democratic Alliance nutjobs. After the globalization and IMF disasters in South America most South American governments started shifting left as well, the greatest of them all being Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who immediately upon reelection signalled alliances with Cuba and threw out the corporate bastards sitting on his nation's greatest wealth, oil. Great man, Chavez.
Is this a usual cyclical issue and/or anti-incumbency factor? Or is there a deeper shift of the world politic towards the left wing? I hope it's the latter. The world has seen the effects of laissez faire capitalism in South America. IT has seen how the fabled "free market" ravaged economies in Chile, Ecuador and Argentina, and is now stealthily destroying the biggest proponent of the free market, the United States. It is time for a change.
The right wing zealots have ravaged the environment, pillaged nations, tortured the poor, heaped rewards on the filthy rich and declared a war on all things good. It is about time the world threw them out on their asses.
What this would mean for a country like Singapore? I don't know. Singapore is too small to make any sane predictions. On one hand it could go down with the bigwigs like the US, but on the other hand it could weather the storm relatively unscathed if it is lucky. Either way, there is nothing Singapore can do. It is too small to make any meaningful change in the way global socioeconomics work. Whatever happens to Singapore, the world will be better off overall, once the geopolitical scene shifts left in fulfilment of what Karl Marx and Engels mentioned in the communist manifesto, but with a distinctly democratic twist to it. A true global social democracy would arise which takes in the best aspects of left wing thought and mixes it with the ideals of democracy eliminating the need for a powerful elite to hold the reins of power (As in communism, which is why China is more fascist than communist), because the "revolution" will be a spontaneous outburst from the people, as opposed to a bourguoise initiated one (As in communism). Who knows? Maybe utopia is merely a century or two away?
Am I reading too much into the results of the election of a tiny country? Possibly. For all we know Olmert will be assasinated by some right wing nut (like Rabin was). The US may invade Iran and completely destabilize the Middle East (Which would be a hoot). But I can't stop thinking that eventually, the end of history will be a socialist one.
(I proved that utter dickwad Francis Fukuyama wrong long before he admitted it!)
Friday, March 31, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Hades
Folks,
I am an angry atheist.
Nothing pisses me more than fundy Christians.
Nothing annoys me more than fundies who are so fucking backward they refuse to understand basic science.
Nothing I hate more than fundies spouting vile, disgusting horseshit like "God loves you, you're going to hell" and complain that I use foul language.
Nothing I find more stupid than when fundies say, "Your name is Hades, so you believe in hell".
Nothing is more insulting than when fundies accuse me of being a hypocrite when their own religion is filled with the worst hypociritical crap I have ever heard.
Fundies claim that theirs is a god of love, and yet, they fling the dogma of hatred and hell, and I am hypocritical for pointing out that just because my name is "Hades" that does not automatically mean I believe in the devil or am a devil worshipper? (Believe me, these fuckblintzes exist).
Fundies claim Biblical inerrancy. Their own Bible was chosen by vote and then Martin Luther decided that four books don't belong. Nice way to determine inerrancy eh? The inconsistencies and absurdities that occur in there make it one of the most ludicrous books written by man. (I'll start to take these fuckwads more seriously when they can explain Noah's Ark to me).
Fundies come to conclusions first, and then twist evidence to fit their conclusions, and refuse to admit data that conflicts with their conclusions. Scientists analyse data, use scientific tools to test hypothesis and form theories. When data is found to contradict the theory, the theory is modified or even rejected. Yet, fundies have the immortal rind to claim that they somehow are better scientists than the real ones.
Fundies accuse me of spreading hatred when their entire history has been one of bloodshed, ignorance, witchcraft trials, ritual animal sacrifice, bigotry, genocide, torture and rape.
Fundies take pride in being sheep and lemmings. They refuse to acknowledge their sucking up attitude and call this, Humility.
Have fundies ever studied the history of their brutal religion? Have they forgotten the Inquisition, the debauchery done by Catholic popes? Have they forgotten that their own leader, Martin Luther was a racist and sexist maniac who advocated brutal murder of unbelievers as a sure-fire ticket to heaven? Have they forgotten how even today their kind kills abortion doctors, don't allow people suffering from intense pain to die with dignity, and in this enlightened age, burn books that disagree with their bigoted narrow world view?
Have fundies forgotten that their kind tortured great scientists just because they dared to question dogma that were set by a bunch of people who believed that dipping a live bird in the blood of a dead bird was a cure for leprosy?
Have fundies forgotten that their kind burnt old women at the stake for possessing one too many warts?
Angry Atheist? How the fuck does anyone expect me to be anything else?
Folks,
I am an angry atheist.
Nothing pisses me more than fundy Christians.
Nothing annoys me more than fundies who are so fucking backward they refuse to understand basic science.
Nothing I hate more than fundies spouting vile, disgusting horseshit like "God loves you, you're going to hell" and complain that I use foul language.
Nothing I find more stupid than when fundies say, "Your name is Hades, so you believe in hell".
Nothing is more insulting than when fundies accuse me of being a hypocrite when their own religion is filled with the worst hypociritical crap I have ever heard.
Fundies claim that theirs is a god of love, and yet, they fling the dogma of hatred and hell, and I am hypocritical for pointing out that just because my name is "Hades" that does not automatically mean I believe in the devil or am a devil worshipper? (Believe me, these fuckblintzes exist).
Fundies claim Biblical inerrancy. Their own Bible was chosen by vote and then Martin Luther decided that four books don't belong. Nice way to determine inerrancy eh? The inconsistencies and absurdities that occur in there make it one of the most ludicrous books written by man. (I'll start to take these fuckwads more seriously when they can explain Noah's Ark to me).
Fundies come to conclusions first, and then twist evidence to fit their conclusions, and refuse to admit data that conflicts with their conclusions. Scientists analyse data, use scientific tools to test hypothesis and form theories. When data is found to contradict the theory, the theory is modified or even rejected. Yet, fundies have the immortal rind to claim that they somehow are better scientists than the real ones.
Fundies accuse me of spreading hatred when their entire history has been one of bloodshed, ignorance, witchcraft trials, ritual animal sacrifice, bigotry, genocide, torture and rape.
Fundies take pride in being sheep and lemmings. They refuse to acknowledge their sucking up attitude and call this, Humility.
Have fundies ever studied the history of their brutal religion? Have they forgotten the Inquisition, the debauchery done by Catholic popes? Have they forgotten that their own leader, Martin Luther was a racist and sexist maniac who advocated brutal murder of unbelievers as a sure-fire ticket to heaven? Have they forgotten how even today their kind kills abortion doctors, don't allow people suffering from intense pain to die with dignity, and in this enlightened age, burn books that disagree with their bigoted narrow world view?
Have fundies forgotten that their kind tortured great scientists just because they dared to question dogma that were set by a bunch of people who believed that dipping a live bird in the blood of a dead bird was a cure for leprosy?
Have fundies forgotten that their kind burnt old women at the stake for possessing one too many warts?
Angry Atheist? How the fuck does anyone expect me to be anything else?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Folks,
I was searching for the keywords "Atheism" and "Singapore" (I keep trying this to see if any other Singaporean can be man enough to proclaim his refusal to believe in religious dogma), and I found this site: www.jesus-is-lord.com
If there was an award for "Prince of Fruitcakes", this guy would at least get an honourable mention.
Well he has the usual mumbo jumbo, we're all sinners, blah blah blah, you're gonna die in hell, yadda yadda
But this guy has something most other standard hellfire preaching Bible thumping sites don't. He brings intolerance and bigotry to a standard Jerry Falwell can only dream about. Apart from calling catholics a whole lot of very naughty names, he calls everyone a (reading off list) hypocrite, rebel, hellbound etc.
What a real friendly guy.
Most of what he says on the website is crap, and worth a looksie if you are bored out of your mind at 4am and have already released your load of man-goo one too many times to free tit-porn. I (although no man-goo was released by me) decided to give his site the honour of being read by me (heck a chimpanzee wouldn't want to read this, and already I am talking of an evolutionary scale far higher than this freak). This guy hates gays, Darwin, Pagans and, get this, the NIV, NKJV Bibles and every other christian denomination except his own twisted one! (I thought they all believe in Jesus? Clearly this is a case of "My Jesus can beat the shit out of your Jesus")
I randomly chose the article: Is Hell Real
My Comments in fucking BOLD (Just for the extra oomph)
People don't like to hear about hell. But I'm here to tell you that if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you are on your way to hell. Some of you will be upset at this bad news. You think that I'm all gloom and doom. Tell me this...if your house were on fire, would you want me to let you know? Of course you would. You'd probably thank me for telling you. Well, if you go to hell, YOU will be the one on fire.
Oh okay thanks for letting me know but let me ask you this: Suppose I was rushing off for something important and you were to come to me and tell me my house was on fire, I rush back to the place and I see not even a scrap of paper burning, would I be justified in tearing your testicles out and making you swallow them? Just asking you know.
Hell may not be a politically correct topic these days, but many people enter hell everyday. Out of the 120,000 people that die everyday, most end up in hell. Hell is a real place despite the fact that people laugh and say that they want to go there. They simply don't understand how terrible hell is. Just because you've never seen hell doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We have a searing, accurate description of what hell is like in God's word. (We'll get to some scriptures in a minute) Hell is awful and if you don't believe in Jesus, you'd better get on the stick or else that's going to be your eternal destination.
Hell, hell as ALWAYS been a politically correct topic for fundies. All mommas use hell to scare kids too old to be scared by the bogeyman. Priests from time immemorial have been using hell to keep the sheeple in line. Fear of Hell has always been a great way of keeping the flock intact and docile.
Hey Jesus-freak, let me use your logic against you for a while. Just because you have never seen an invisible pink unicorn, doesn't mean she doesn't exist! You need to provide real, tangible evidence and not mutter insane ravings like this.
As for the "searing, accurate description" of hell, I have yet to find any sort of consensus between all the pastors of different (heck sometimes those on the same side disagree) denominations as what exactly is hell. Added to that the descriptions of hell in Islam, Hinduism, Chinese culture makes hell one extremely contrasting place to live in. I heard that hell would involve having to continuously listen to Vitamin C singing their FUCKING stupid graduation song (with special guest appearance by Ashley Simpson) over and over..
Besides, did you just realise you exposed your "god" for the petty, childish, classroom bully he is? I hope the Invisible Pink Unicorn kicks his ass.
Satan, the god of this world, WILL NOT always cause havoc. His doom is already foretold, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)
Here I was thinking christians believe in the unity of god. Since when did Satan become a god? I wonder how does one go about becoming one? Does one apply at some sort of a permit office or something? I wonder this about Christians. They claim that Satan is not stronger than god and yet, they call him the prince of the air, the king of the world, and now "GOD" of the world. Fuck, for a weak guy he's doing pretty good. And what is god doing all this while? Sitting back and watching the game? Too weak to keep Satan in check? Doesn't give a shit?
Besides, Revelations was written by some kook who was high on something that was probably very very illegal and very very expensive. They are mere ramblings of a total lunatic who still remembered (unfortunately) how to use a pen.
(Which book was the last to be accepted into the Bible? A: Revelation. Second Last? Gospel of John. and both are by the same nut)
Think about this: God, out of profound love for you--a vile sinner who has transgressed His commandments--let His own beautiful, dear Son be sacrificed for YOUR sins! Jesus wasn't a sinner. He didn't sin one time. He didn't die for Himself. He died for you. To save YOU. That's why He is called the Saviour. Because He SAVES from hell! If you reject His sacrifice and trod it underfoot it should not be too hard for you to understand that the same God who sacrificed His beloved Son will expeditiously cast your rebellious hind parts into hell and the lake of fire.
Remind me to thank ol' JC when I meet him over a beer. (By the way, the "historical" Jesus seemed quite an okay chappie, apart from the occasional angry outburst. Wonder what he would have thought of emotional basketcases like this one) So, god creates man to put man in hell and then saves some people whom he likes by creating another man and killing him... I don't get it. Why the blood lust?
Do fundies ever realise that their idea of salvation is so hopelessly confused that an idiot can see through their shit with the least amount of mental power? Do they think we are stupid?
Okay forget I asked that. Most of us ARE stupid but I certainly cannot buy the fact that a good "god" would say this: You better accept that I love you or I'll burn your ass!
NOTHING unclean will ever enter God's heaven--and all unregenerate people are unclean. I too was once dead in trespasses and sins, but one lovely day I turned my face to Jesus and got washed in the blood. You can too--no matter what you've done.
Translation: I am (my own sick and sordid version of) god's favourite child because I lost my backbone, donated by brains to (creation) science and am too stupid to say "Bubba" (which incidentally is my name). So I have everything and you don't... well almost everything... okay maybe not everything.. okay... very few things.. but when you die, I am gonna get all your stuff MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA and you're gonna get nothing! neener- neener - neeeeeener (Definitely a nutjob)
The Bible says that God loves you so much that the Creator of this universe (Jesus Christ) came to "taste death" for every man. Jesus wasn't just some baby for a manger scene. He is God come in the flesh to destroy the power of death and hell--He holds the keys, people! If you say yes to Jesus, hell won't be your final destination. If you say no to Jesus, hell will be your eternal home. There ain't no getting out and no comfort--it's everlasting.
The Bible says this, the Bible says that.. DAMN man, can you pick up any other good book? I noticed you mention "flesh", "blood", "sacrifice" rather frequently.. What are you? A devil worshipper or something? Or are you one of those guys who get turned on by dead bodies? The Catholic church could use you you know. I mean I thought they stopped at buggering kids, but with you in there, every night could be a ball of fire. What the hell does the above paragraph mean? Translation anyone?
I for one don't buy this concept of God being graceful in sending his kid down to die to appease him. That's not grace, that's sick. Jesus didn't have to taste death. That guy was god dammit, unless you are telling me god can feel human pain and therefore is (GASP!) weak!
Sinner, you will either TURN from your sins to Jesus or you will BURN for your sins. If you reject the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be tormented in the flames forever without a single, solitary hope. The biggest fool in the world chooses hell. No need to argue with me about this. God said hell is real, your argument is with Him and you won't win that one. You have been warned. Repent or perish.
Well, when I am dead, all my neurons would be non functional, and to top it off, I get some kind of non physical bodies. That means, no sensory neurons to feel pain with. Okay God, turn up the heat another 10oC... As Bill Hicks says "repent or perish", thank you god for those options.
Would any "loving" god do this? Certainly not.
I was searching for the keywords "Atheism" and "Singapore" (I keep trying this to see if any other Singaporean can be man enough to proclaim his refusal to believe in religious dogma), and I found this site: www.jesus-is-lord.com
If there was an award for "Prince of Fruitcakes", this guy would at least get an honourable mention.
Well he has the usual mumbo jumbo, we're all sinners, blah blah blah, you're gonna die in hell, yadda yadda
But this guy has something most other standard hellfire preaching Bible thumping sites don't. He brings intolerance and bigotry to a standard Jerry Falwell can only dream about. Apart from calling catholics a whole lot of very naughty names, he calls everyone a (reading off list) hypocrite, rebel, hellbound etc.
What a real friendly guy.
Most of what he says on the website is crap, and worth a looksie if you are bored out of your mind at 4am and have already released your load of man-goo one too many times to free tit-porn. I (although no man-goo was released by me) decided to give his site the honour of being read by me (heck a chimpanzee wouldn't want to read this, and already I am talking of an evolutionary scale far higher than this freak). This guy hates gays, Darwin, Pagans and, get this, the NIV, NKJV Bibles and every other christian denomination except his own twisted one! (I thought they all believe in Jesus? Clearly this is a case of "My Jesus can beat the shit out of your Jesus")
I randomly chose the article: Is Hell Real
My Comments in fucking BOLD (Just for the extra oomph)
People don't like to hear about hell. But I'm here to tell you that if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you are on your way to hell. Some of you will be upset at this bad news. You think that I'm all gloom and doom. Tell me this...if your house were on fire, would you want me to let you know? Of course you would. You'd probably thank me for telling you. Well, if you go to hell, YOU will be the one on fire.
Oh okay thanks for letting me know but let me ask you this: Suppose I was rushing off for something important and you were to come to me and tell me my house was on fire, I rush back to the place and I see not even a scrap of paper burning, would I be justified in tearing your testicles out and making you swallow them? Just asking you know.
Hell may not be a politically correct topic these days, but many people enter hell everyday. Out of the 120,000 people that die everyday, most end up in hell. Hell is a real place despite the fact that people laugh and say that they want to go there. They simply don't understand how terrible hell is. Just because you've never seen hell doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We have a searing, accurate description of what hell is like in God's word. (We'll get to some scriptures in a minute) Hell is awful and if you don't believe in Jesus, you'd better get on the stick or else that's going to be your eternal destination.
Hell, hell as ALWAYS been a politically correct topic for fundies. All mommas use hell to scare kids too old to be scared by the bogeyman. Priests from time immemorial have been using hell to keep the sheeple in line. Fear of Hell has always been a great way of keeping the flock intact and docile.
Hey Jesus-freak, let me use your logic against you for a while. Just because you have never seen an invisible pink unicorn, doesn't mean she doesn't exist! You need to provide real, tangible evidence and not mutter insane ravings like this.
As for the "searing, accurate description" of hell, I have yet to find any sort of consensus between all the pastors of different (heck sometimes those on the same side disagree) denominations as what exactly is hell. Added to that the descriptions of hell in Islam, Hinduism, Chinese culture makes hell one extremely contrasting place to live in. I heard that hell would involve having to continuously listen to Vitamin C singing their FUCKING stupid graduation song (with special guest appearance by Ashley Simpson) over and over..
Besides, did you just realise you exposed your "god" for the petty, childish, classroom bully he is? I hope the Invisible Pink Unicorn kicks his ass.
Satan, the god of this world, WILL NOT always cause havoc. His doom is already foretold, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)
Here I was thinking christians believe in the unity of god. Since when did Satan become a god? I wonder how does one go about becoming one? Does one apply at some sort of a permit office or something? I wonder this about Christians. They claim that Satan is not stronger than god and yet, they call him the prince of the air, the king of the world, and now "GOD" of the world. Fuck, for a weak guy he's doing pretty good. And what is god doing all this while? Sitting back and watching the game? Too weak to keep Satan in check? Doesn't give a shit?
Besides, Revelations was written by some kook who was high on something that was probably very very illegal and very very expensive. They are mere ramblings of a total lunatic who still remembered (unfortunately) how to use a pen.
(Which book was the last to be accepted into the Bible? A: Revelation. Second Last? Gospel of John. and both are by the same nut)
Think about this: God, out of profound love for you--a vile sinner who has transgressed His commandments--let His own beautiful, dear Son be sacrificed for YOUR sins! Jesus wasn't a sinner. He didn't sin one time. He didn't die for Himself. He died for you. To save YOU. That's why He is called the Saviour. Because He SAVES from hell! If you reject His sacrifice and trod it underfoot it should not be too hard for you to understand that the same God who sacrificed His beloved Son will expeditiously cast your rebellious hind parts into hell and the lake of fire.
Remind me to thank ol' JC when I meet him over a beer. (By the way, the "historical" Jesus seemed quite an okay chappie, apart from the occasional angry outburst. Wonder what he would have thought of emotional basketcases like this one) So, god creates man to put man in hell and then saves some people whom he likes by creating another man and killing him... I don't get it. Why the blood lust?
Do fundies ever realise that their idea of salvation is so hopelessly confused that an idiot can see through their shit with the least amount of mental power? Do they think we are stupid?
Okay forget I asked that. Most of us ARE stupid but I certainly cannot buy the fact that a good "god" would say this: You better accept that I love you or I'll burn your ass!
NOTHING unclean will ever enter God's heaven--and all unregenerate people are unclean. I too was once dead in trespasses and sins, but one lovely day I turned my face to Jesus and got washed in the blood. You can too--no matter what you've done.
Translation: I am (my own sick and sordid version of) god's favourite child because I lost my backbone, donated by brains to (creation) science and am too stupid to say "Bubba" (which incidentally is my name). So I have everything and you don't... well almost everything... okay maybe not everything.. okay... very few things.. but when you die, I am gonna get all your stuff MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA and you're gonna get nothing! neener- neener - neeeeeener (Definitely a nutjob)
The Bible says that God loves you so much that the Creator of this universe (Jesus Christ) came to "taste death" for every man. Jesus wasn't just some baby for a manger scene. He is God come in the flesh to destroy the power of death and hell--He holds the keys, people! If you say yes to Jesus, hell won't be your final destination. If you say no to Jesus, hell will be your eternal home. There ain't no getting out and no comfort--it's everlasting.
The Bible says this, the Bible says that.. DAMN man, can you pick up any other good book? I noticed you mention "flesh", "blood", "sacrifice" rather frequently.. What are you? A devil worshipper or something? Or are you one of those guys who get turned on by dead bodies? The Catholic church could use you you know. I mean I thought they stopped at buggering kids, but with you in there, every night could be a ball of fire. What the hell does the above paragraph mean? Translation anyone?
I for one don't buy this concept of God being graceful in sending his kid down to die to appease him. That's not grace, that's sick. Jesus didn't have to taste death. That guy was god dammit, unless you are telling me god can feel human pain and therefore is (GASP!) weak!
Sinner, you will either TURN from your sins to Jesus or you will BURN for your sins. If you reject the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be tormented in the flames forever without a single, solitary hope. The biggest fool in the world chooses hell. No need to argue with me about this. God said hell is real, your argument is with Him and you won't win that one. You have been warned. Repent or perish.
Well, when I am dead, all my neurons would be non functional, and to top it off, I get some kind of non physical bodies. That means, no sensory neurons to feel pain with. Okay God, turn up the heat another 10oC... As Bill Hicks says "repent or perish", thank you god for those options.
Would any "loving" god do this? Certainly not.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
What about the male?
Folks,
Why should women have this nonsense called "International Womens' Day"? Why can't there be a "Men's day" as well?
Please cut the crap about this being a day to recognise that "women are still fighting for equal rights" or "women are still treated as second class citizens". It is as pointless and effective as me jerking off for world peace. True, there is still some way to go before women are treated the same as men in the various spheres of life but hell, a day for women? Won't there come a time when we would have given a day for everything? So here, I put my foot down, and risk getting half the women who read this shit to start sending me death threats.
Fuck "Women's Day". It's a stupid concept that should be got rid of by anyone with more brains than a retarded sloth. Why are we such a woman worshipping society? What about the male? Why is it that a woman deserves to be treated special just by being a woman? One of the radio stations here in Singapore suggested we turn around to the nearest woman who's looking a bit down and give her a big smile. What, and risk getting thrown in jail for molest? Considering the law sides with a woman up to the point of cunnilingus on things like this the last thing one would want to give an emotionally unstable structure-seeking bitch ammo to land your ass in the slammer for fifty fucking years. How about suggesting, "turn to a woman who is feeling extra cheerful and punch her in the face"? I mean, at least then that woman can appreciate the value of women's day. She would know firsthand, what some women in the world have to go through. Nothing like knocking a couple of teeth out to show a woman what women had to endure, right? I mean if that is really the purpose of this stupid day.
Women in the first world have no right to be dedicating any fucking day to themselves if they really believe in no-bullshit equality, considering how effeminite the modern male has become because of the assault on everything male as "crude" and "puerile". Males today are being made increasingly to feel guilty just for being male. Just look at all those pseudo-males that women want to rut with. Dickless, ballless bags of pseudo-testosterone with the willpower of a deceased frog, willing to wear their womens' underwear at the merest nod or glance. A woman can get away with calling a man anything from "asshole" to "zebra" on national televisions and audiences will applaud. But let a man just hint that maybe "men are smarter than women" he'd get booed down faster than a publican at a temperance meeting, so please cut the crap about women being the "vulnerable" in modern society. Not in today's world. In most developed countries they are not; at least not any more vulnerable than males. For every woman who has been clubbed in some dark alleyway there is a man somewhere screwed out of his life savings by a vengeful ex-wife with an excellent divorce lawyer. For every two women who have been raped there is a man who's in jail because the courts chose to believe a woman who cried "rape" to hide from her boyfriend the fact that she was a cheap slut (yes, there are such people). For every woman who is denied promotion for being a woman there are ten men who are denied the same thing for happening to disagree with the boss once too many times.
Now in the developing/underdeveloped world, it might make sense to use a day like this specifically for protests and demonstrations, as is being done in Namibia and Congo and historically in Germany and the US in the 1900s. But women in fucking Denmark in 2005?! What the hell do they have to endure? All year round you don't give a shit about the plight of a prostitute in fucking Kinshasa and suddenly just for one day you start screaming for her rights? What do these women have in common with some glass factory worker in Indonesia apart from the tits and pussy to express fucking solidarity?
Another day that was started with a meaningful end in mind has been turned into simply more feelgood backslapping. It's only a matter of time before Hallmark will milk this one dry as well by having IWD greeting cards that stupid anorexic airheads would give each other in between comparing their breast implant stories and latest overpriced trinket acquisition. The sooner this travesty is buried the better.
Folks,
Why should women have this nonsense called "International Womens' Day"? Why can't there be a "Men's day" as well?
Please cut the crap about this being a day to recognise that "women are still fighting for equal rights" or "women are still treated as second class citizens". It is as pointless and effective as me jerking off for world peace. True, there is still some way to go before women are treated the same as men in the various spheres of life but hell, a day for women? Won't there come a time when we would have given a day for everything? So here, I put my foot down, and risk getting half the women who read this shit to start sending me death threats.
Fuck "Women's Day". It's a stupid concept that should be got rid of by anyone with more brains than a retarded sloth. Why are we such a woman worshipping society? What about the male? Why is it that a woman deserves to be treated special just by being a woman? One of the radio stations here in Singapore suggested we turn around to the nearest woman who's looking a bit down and give her a big smile. What, and risk getting thrown in jail for molest? Considering the law sides with a woman up to the point of cunnilingus on things like this the last thing one would want to give an emotionally unstable structure-seeking bitch ammo to land your ass in the slammer for fifty fucking years. How about suggesting, "turn to a woman who is feeling extra cheerful and punch her in the face"? I mean, at least then that woman can appreciate the value of women's day. She would know firsthand, what some women in the world have to go through. Nothing like knocking a couple of teeth out to show a woman what women had to endure, right? I mean if that is really the purpose of this stupid day.
Women in the first world have no right to be dedicating any fucking day to themselves if they really believe in no-bullshit equality, considering how effeminite the modern male has become because of the assault on everything male as "crude" and "puerile". Males today are being made increasingly to feel guilty just for being male. Just look at all those pseudo-males that women want to rut with. Dickless, ballless bags of pseudo-testosterone with the willpower of a deceased frog, willing to wear their womens' underwear at the merest nod or glance. A woman can get away with calling a man anything from "asshole" to "zebra" on national televisions and audiences will applaud. But let a man just hint that maybe "men are smarter than women" he'd get booed down faster than a publican at a temperance meeting, so please cut the crap about women being the "vulnerable" in modern society. Not in today's world. In most developed countries they are not; at least not any more vulnerable than males. For every woman who has been clubbed in some dark alleyway there is a man somewhere screwed out of his life savings by a vengeful ex-wife with an excellent divorce lawyer. For every two women who have been raped there is a man who's in jail because the courts chose to believe a woman who cried "rape" to hide from her boyfriend the fact that she was a cheap slut (yes, there are such people). For every woman who is denied promotion for being a woman there are ten men who are denied the same thing for happening to disagree with the boss once too many times.
Now in the developing/underdeveloped world, it might make sense to use a day like this specifically for protests and demonstrations, as is being done in Namibia and Congo and historically in Germany and the US in the 1900s. But women in fucking Denmark in 2005?! What the hell do they have to endure? All year round you don't give a shit about the plight of a prostitute in fucking Kinshasa and suddenly just for one day you start screaming for her rights? What do these women have in common with some glass factory worker in Indonesia apart from the tits and pussy to express fucking solidarity?
Another day that was started with a meaningful end in mind has been turned into simply more feelgood backslapping. It's only a matter of time before Hallmark will milk this one dry as well by having IWD greeting cards that stupid anorexic airheads would give each other in between comparing their breast implant stories and latest overpriced trinket acquisition. The sooner this travesty is buried the better.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Folks,
For once, I am going to write about myself in the manner of hundreds of thousands of bloggers worldwide. I am going to exhibit the same unhealthy narcissism that comes with having a head filled with cottonwool, a brain the size of a pickled walnut, and a personality of a discarded toilet roll.
I am going to try to anyway. It would be one of the hardest things for me to try to put together, from myriads of events that happen in one day of my life, a comprehensive outline of what I did throughout the day, how it has enabled me to grow as a person, and why the world should hear it.
I shall have to sieve through the events, to look for those that matter; events that define me; events that showed to the world what a multifaceted personality I am and most importantly, my reactions to certain issues that showed people a different side of me. As my readers are well aware this would be a hard task.
So here goes.
I woke up in the morning, went to work, ate three meals, took one good shit and went back to bed. (With apologies to George Carlin)
There, it encapsulates everything I did in the day.
Now if only other bloggers were this precise.
For once, I am going to write about myself in the manner of hundreds of thousands of bloggers worldwide. I am going to exhibit the same unhealthy narcissism that comes with having a head filled with cottonwool, a brain the size of a pickled walnut, and a personality of a discarded toilet roll.
I am going to try to anyway. It would be one of the hardest things for me to try to put together, from myriads of events that happen in one day of my life, a comprehensive outline of what I did throughout the day, how it has enabled me to grow as a person, and why the world should hear it.
I shall have to sieve through the events, to look for those that matter; events that define me; events that showed to the world what a multifaceted personality I am and most importantly, my reactions to certain issues that showed people a different side of me. As my readers are well aware this would be a hard task.
So here goes.
I woke up in the morning, went to work, ate three meals, took one good shit and went back to bed. (With apologies to George Carlin)
There, it encapsulates everything I did in the day.
Now if only other bloggers were this precise.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Folks,
Computers and the internet have brought more idiots out into the open than any other tool of communication devised by man (look at the Annual Shitblog Awards to know what I mean). If it wasn't for the computer humanity would actually be making progress towards goals like colonization of space and curing cancer, rather than worrying about how many hits some pimply teen's website got or whether the winner of "Blogsphere 2005" did it by porking fourteen of the fifteen judges in a colossal gang-bang.
In line with that thought I propose that people who fill their sites with online personality tests have no purpose being alive and should be prioritised for quick, painful execution.
Don't you hate these douchebags? People who try to find out who they are by comparing themselves to characters on Friends, which colour they are, what kind of a lover they are, how much a loser they are... based on some criteria devised by a pimply faced git with the intellect of a boiled garbanzo bean and with too much time on his hands thanks to an ability in doing nothing in particular but tracking and apeing the latest trends thrust onto him by media. So if I answer "Yes" to "Do you beat off to Demolition Derbies" I am classified as Gandalf the fucking grey?! What gives?!
Let me condense all the results of all fucking personality tests people put on blogs right here, right now.
CONGRATULATIONS! You are ORDINARY
You are an utterly mediocre, boring ordinary human being. Every thought you have has been thought of thousands of times before by beings with the sentient abilities of amoeba, although they may seem like revelations to you. You are mundane and soulless, and your existence serves the sole purpose of moving bile from point A to point B.
Chances are, Henry Kissinger didn't consult you when he was planning to bomb Cambodia, and the odds are that Tiger Woods will not call you to check on his golf swing. You matter very little in the greater scheme of things. No one gives a damn about you apart from that family of yours and the breed of inbred mutants you call friends. You will live to about 70 by which time you will accomplish absolutely nothing of note, and die a bitter, boring, drooling old man/woman in a pool of your own shit. Your kids will turn out exactly like you and will take up oxygen better kept for people who really mean something. Try not to breed. You should have been a blowjob.
There, cut and paste THAT on your fucking site.
Computers and the internet have brought more idiots out into the open than any other tool of communication devised by man (look at the Annual Shitblog Awards to know what I mean). If it wasn't for the computer humanity would actually be making progress towards goals like colonization of space and curing cancer, rather than worrying about how many hits some pimply teen's website got or whether the winner of "Blogsphere 2005" did it by porking fourteen of the fifteen judges in a colossal gang-bang.
In line with that thought I propose that people who fill their sites with online personality tests have no purpose being alive and should be prioritised for quick, painful execution.
Don't you hate these douchebags? People who try to find out who they are by comparing themselves to characters on Friends, which colour they are, what kind of a lover they are, how much a loser they are... based on some criteria devised by a pimply faced git with the intellect of a boiled garbanzo bean and with too much time on his hands thanks to an ability in doing nothing in particular but tracking and apeing the latest trends thrust onto him by media. So if I answer "Yes" to "Do you beat off to Demolition Derbies" I am classified as Gandalf the fucking grey?! What gives?!
Let me condense all the results of all fucking personality tests people put on blogs right here, right now.
CONGRATULATIONS! You are ORDINARY
You are an utterly mediocre, boring ordinary human being. Every thought you have has been thought of thousands of times before by beings with the sentient abilities of amoeba, although they may seem like revelations to you. You are mundane and soulless, and your existence serves the sole purpose of moving bile from point A to point B.
Chances are, Henry Kissinger didn't consult you when he was planning to bomb Cambodia, and the odds are that Tiger Woods will not call you to check on his golf swing. You matter very little in the greater scheme of things. No one gives a damn about you apart from that family of yours and the breed of inbred mutants you call friends. You will live to about 70 by which time you will accomplish absolutely nothing of note, and die a bitter, boring, drooling old man/woman in a pool of your own shit. Your kids will turn out exactly like you and will take up oxygen better kept for people who really mean something. Try not to breed. You should have been a blowjob.
There, cut and paste THAT on your fucking site.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Islamic Fundamentalism
Folks,
What are some of the things that the word "muslim" brings to mind? Some of the things that could be said of them cannot be thought of as too positive. After all, most of the world's terrorists and violent extremists are supposedly muslims (barring the odd LTTE and Maoist lib groups in Nepal).
Why has islam been associated with fundamentalism? How valid is the assertion that Islam breeds terrorists? How true is it that muslims are by nature violent?
These are some of the questions that I aim to answer in a rant that is surprisingly expletive free. The answers I have will certainly not please many people but in the name of freedom of expression, please hear me out.
No study of Islamic fundamentalism would be complete without accepting certain facts of history.
First of those is the fact that Islamic fundamentalism is a relatively new phenomenon, even in the Middle East. While the Middle East has always been predominantly muslim, they were also centres of great scientific and mathematical advancements. The Middle East was after all, home to Alexandria, one of the most enlightened cities in the ancient world, home to Baghdad, one of the cradles of civilization, land where advances in sciences and mathematics far outstripped anywhere else in the west, where great tomes of literature, both secular and religious sprung up from, where the most dominant religious systems, Judaism and her daughters Christianity and Islam were born. How could such forward looking societies suddenly be thrown bumfuck backwards into repressive, anti-modern, hate-filled, mullah-worshipping, culture hating, violent, brutal regimes?
The answers are by no means simple and people can write books about them, but for the purposes of this rant, I'll try to keep things as simple as I can.
Firstly Islamic fundamentalism is not one movement. Unlike most christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists come in different shapes and sizes. Most are non violent groups although they all subscribe to very different sets of beliefs they consider them paramount (Which is what makes them fundies).
Secondly, Militant islamic fundamentalism is a relatively new phenomenon, newer in fact than fundamentalist christianity which probably started with the Southern Baptists and the Evangelicals in the 1890's. While there have always been islamic fundies of all stripes and colours since islam began in about 600AD, and while islam has almost always been spread at the tip of the sword, the rise of militant islamic fundamentalism has been relatively more recent. I have no space nor the inclination to delineate every aspect of islamic fundamentalism so I will confine myself to militant islamic fundamentalism, as practiced by groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and Abu Sayyaf.
Islamic fundamentalism as we know it today has its roots in the writings of a man named Sayyid Qutb in Egypt. Qutb had studied in the US and upon return to his home country he started to expound the ideas of an Islamic World Order. "After the complete breakdown of democracy, Western civilization has nothing else to give humanity....The dominance of Western man has reached its end. The time has come for Islam to take the lead", was what he said in his book, Milestones. In 1966 he was executed by President Nasser but his book outlived him and sold like hot cakes in the Middle EAst and Egypt until recently when it was banned by Egyptian Premier Hosni Mubarak. His ideas on the failure of Western democracy was moulded based on what he had observed in the US in the late 40's. This was the US before the Civil Rights Movement. Racism was rampant, a concept which a devout muslim like Qutb found revolting. The greater interactions between sexes scandalised him and he returned to Egypt, radicalised against the ideas of "democracy" and the "west" with its false show of equality.
Despite his radical views, he had immense regard for Western triumphs in science but he felt that the West had become morally bankrupt. He said:
Mankind today is on the brink of a precipice, not because of the danger of complete annihilation which is hanging over its head - this being just a symptom and not the real disease - but because humanity is devoid of those vital values which are necessary not only for its healthy development but also for its real progress. Even the Western world realizes that Western civilization is unable to present any healthy values for the guidance of mankind. It knows that it does not possess anything which will satisfy its own conscience and justify its existence...
It is essential for mankind to have a new leadership...
It is necessary for the new leadership to preserve and develop the material fruits of the creative genius of Europe, and also to provide mankind with such high ideals and values as have so far remained undiscovered by mankind, and which will also acquaint humanity with a way of life which is harmonious with human nature, which positive and constructive, and which is practicable.
All sounds sane so far, right?
HE goes on to deride the West and sounds the rallying call for concerned muslims to take up the call for moral leadership:
Islam is the only system which possesses these values and this way of life.
If we look at the sources and foundations of modern ways of living, it becomes clear that the whole world is steeped in Jahiliyya (pagan ignorance of divine guidance), and all the marvelous material comforts and high-level inventions do not diminish this Ignorance. This Jahiliyya is based on rebellion against God's sovereignty on earth: It transfers to man one of the greatest attributes of God, namely sovereignty, and makes some men lords over others. It is now not in that simple and primitive form of the ancient Jahiliyya, but takes the form of claiming that the right to create values, to legislate rules of collective behavior, and to choose any way of life rests with men, without regard to what God has prescribed. The result of this rebellion against the authority of God is the oppression of His creatures...
The Islamic civilization can take various forms in its material and organizational structure, but the principles and values on which it is based are eternal and unchangeable. These are: the worship of God alone, the foundation of human relationships on the belief in the Unity of God, the supremacy of the humanity of man over material things, the development of human values and the control of animalistic desires, respect for the family, the assumption of the vice-regency of God on earth according to His guidance and instruction, and in all affairs of this vice-regency, the rule of God's law [al-Shari'a] and the way of life prescribed by Him...
The importance of books like Milestones can be seen in the context of global events during the time of Qutb and the years immediately after his death. Israel was formed in 1948 and immediately Palestinians felt the old British stab in the back when they suddenly had become refugees in the own land. The British, behaving true to form played the "Divide and Rule" card to its logical conclusion in the Middle East. Nowhere else in their vast empire (with the possible exception of Sri LAnka) did they manage to do it so well as they did in the Middle East. (We can owe every major world conflict today to the British but that's the subject of another rant.) In 1967, Israel defeated Eqypt in the six day war, and suddenly muslims in the Middle East were shaken up to face the possibility of living with a belligerent non muslim country that is not content with its own borders but is willing and capable of annexing its neighbours. The US and Britain support to Israel politicised what was essentially a regional issue and the idea of the West as a "Great Satan" was born. Books like Milestones provided the ideological backing behind the demonisation of the West. Not only that, it also meant that "Western" ideas like democracy and equality of religions and even muslims who espoused these ideas were put down in favour of a world view that promoted a return to the days of yore when Islamic civilization was at its perceived zenith and an Islamic World Order, with an ancient code of conduct made into law, the Al-Shari'a (including the whole death by stoning, chopping off arms and legs shebang). It was Qutb and his followers that laid the foundation of the Wahabbi Movement and other Jihadist movements that developed into the different violent islamic groups today (The Taliban is one such group of WAhabis).
From then on the continued injustices meted out against the Palestinians, American support for Israel (and later Iraq), and perceived condescension towards islam and islamic values have gone on to foment this germ of hatred of the West into a full blown violent extremist political cause. Unlike christian fundamentalism which until recently was confined largely to the fringe elements of society, islamic fundamentalism tapped deep into modern muslim culture and thought. It tapped into the ways of life of muslims in regions of strife and managed to unite them with, without or even against government support. Not only that, it tapped into a fundamental tenet of islam, of universal brotherhood of muslims. This ensured that muslims everywhere in the world were at least sympathetic to their cause, if not their actions. The idea that the west was against the muslims quickly spread to remote regions like Phillippines and Indonesia, and the actions of the PAlestinian "liberators" lent much inspirational support to any militant fringe groups in these regions and these groups in turn supported the bigger operations happening elsewhere. The War on the West was set to be a guerrilla war of attrition, where muslims were willing to give up their lives to inflict maximum damage to the perceived enemy, both physically and psychologically, no matter what the collateral damage. Seventy virgins in paradise is just one of the many half truths Western governments think suicide bombers die for. It is easy to believe but is probably blatantly untrue. The roots go far deeper than that. The popularity of fundamentalist groups is not because they promise virgins, but because they tap into both real and perceived injustices meted out to muslims' way of life.
Osama bin Laden who is vilified in the West is idolized in Pakistan and Afghanistan, not because he is a good muslim but because he dares to stand up against what is perceived as Western hegemony. Under the Al Qaeda banner Osama managed to do what was the impossible: unite the hundreds of warring tribes against a common enemy (in the 1970's and 80's the Soviet Union and in the 21st Century, America). Islam itself was merely the rallying call issued and not the chief reason for the kind of support that he continues to receive today.
Further proof why it is not the religiousness of the fundamentalists that attracts people is this: Islam expressly forbids suicide in any setting. Although this is not mentioned expressly in the Quran, Sharia Law expressly forbids the taking of one's own life [Do not kill yourselves, for Allah is compassionate towards you. Whoever does so, in transgression and wrongfully, We shall roast in a fire, and that is an easy matter for Allah. (an-Nisaa 4:29-30); The Prophet said, "He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide by stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire." (Sahih Bukhari 2.446, 2.445) ]
While they reject perceived "Western" concepts of "democracy" and "freedom of thought" Islamic fundamentalists certainly don't reject Western weaponry. Why not? They reject as apostasy almost every branch of modern science including quantum physics, evolutionary biology and stem cell research. Like their christian cousins they absolutely are dead set against abortions. So where does their love affair for western weapons come from? Another muslim book, the al-Muslimun ‘ulama’ wa-hukama (The Muslim and the Scientist) gives a hint. Written in 1987 by Egyptian Islamist Hasan al-Sharqawi, it proclaims, “Our goal is to learn how to handle modern weapons, how to produce and develop them further, so that we can conquer our enemies". So the typical fundamentalist hypocrisy comes to the fore here. While they certainly reject Western science in every other field, suddenly they find them as allies in the field of weapon systems. The usage of Western weapons is sanctioned because apparently the ends (destruction of the enemy) justifies the means (usage of the enemy's tools). Again one can go back to Qutb's admiration for the West as far as technology is concerned. Most modern terrorist groups justify their usage of the weapons invented by the West this way.
The reason, in passing, why fundamentalist muslims reject democracy is because democracy apparently gives people the right to rule over the others and the right to pass laws on others when all such authority comes from god. Someone I think forgot to mention that to the different Sultans and Caliphs who ruled much of Asia during the Middle Ages.
so what is the conclusion here? Are all muslims violent? Certainly not. Muslims are no more violent than any other group of people.
Does islam condone violence? It doesn't matter because the cause is not religious but social. As we have seen, even if Islam expressly forbade running planes into buildings, it wouldn't make a jot of difference.
A large part of the hatred comes from a legitimate cause. Palestinians are treated like refuse in land that belonged to their forefathers. The US played up the emotions of Iran and Iraq for the benefits of oil, creating a ruinous war that ravaged the economies of both nations. The bombing of cities holy to muslims during the American invasion and colonization of Iraq ensured a steady stream of volunteers more than willing to die if he takes down a GI or two. The toppling of regimes that tried to nationalise their oil again fuelled this anger. The destruction of Afghanistan during the Cold War and the subsequent ignoring of its plight by the world created the powerful Taliban. Many more examples can be cited like this.
Another large factor is the fundamentalists themselves. While they deride the West, they have ensured that their target audience remains ignorant, illiterate and poor. Grinding poverty is blamed on the West, illiteracy is glorified under the concept of "rejecting Western knowledge", and the mullahs seem to be more busy deciding if the seventy virgins would remain virgins for eternity or would they lose it than actually trying to find better ways of treating diseases or ensuring better wealth distribution. They stand steadfast against scientific progress, blinded, in their hatred for all things "Western", to the various ways technology can help them. Instead of bombing the West they should do what Japan did. Say sorry, and then sell them your stuff and make money off them.
Folks,
What are some of the things that the word "muslim" brings to mind? Some of the things that could be said of them cannot be thought of as too positive. After all, most of the world's terrorists and violent extremists are supposedly muslims (barring the odd LTTE and Maoist lib groups in Nepal).
Why has islam been associated with fundamentalism? How valid is the assertion that Islam breeds terrorists? How true is it that muslims are by nature violent?
These are some of the questions that I aim to answer in a rant that is surprisingly expletive free. The answers I have will certainly not please many people but in the name of freedom of expression, please hear me out.
No study of Islamic fundamentalism would be complete without accepting certain facts of history.
First of those is the fact that Islamic fundamentalism is a relatively new phenomenon, even in the Middle East. While the Middle East has always been predominantly muslim, they were also centres of great scientific and mathematical advancements. The Middle East was after all, home to Alexandria, one of the most enlightened cities in the ancient world, home to Baghdad, one of the cradles of civilization, land where advances in sciences and mathematics far outstripped anywhere else in the west, where great tomes of literature, both secular and religious sprung up from, where the most dominant religious systems, Judaism and her daughters Christianity and Islam were born. How could such forward looking societies suddenly be thrown bumfuck backwards into repressive, anti-modern, hate-filled, mullah-worshipping, culture hating, violent, brutal regimes?
The answers are by no means simple and people can write books about them, but for the purposes of this rant, I'll try to keep things as simple as I can.
Firstly Islamic fundamentalism is not one movement. Unlike most christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists come in different shapes and sizes. Most are non violent groups although they all subscribe to very different sets of beliefs they consider them paramount (Which is what makes them fundies).
Secondly, Militant islamic fundamentalism is a relatively new phenomenon, newer in fact than fundamentalist christianity which probably started with the Southern Baptists and the Evangelicals in the 1890's. While there have always been islamic fundies of all stripes and colours since islam began in about 600AD, and while islam has almost always been spread at the tip of the sword, the rise of militant islamic fundamentalism has been relatively more recent. I have no space nor the inclination to delineate every aspect of islamic fundamentalism so I will confine myself to militant islamic fundamentalism, as practiced by groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and Abu Sayyaf.
Islamic fundamentalism as we know it today has its roots in the writings of a man named Sayyid Qutb in Egypt. Qutb had studied in the US and upon return to his home country he started to expound the ideas of an Islamic World Order. "After the complete breakdown of democracy, Western civilization has nothing else to give humanity....The dominance of Western man has reached its end. The time has come for Islam to take the lead", was what he said in his book, Milestones. In 1966 he was executed by President Nasser but his book outlived him and sold like hot cakes in the Middle EAst and Egypt until recently when it was banned by Egyptian Premier Hosni Mubarak. His ideas on the failure of Western democracy was moulded based on what he had observed in the US in the late 40's. This was the US before the Civil Rights Movement. Racism was rampant, a concept which a devout muslim like Qutb found revolting. The greater interactions between sexes scandalised him and he returned to Egypt, radicalised against the ideas of "democracy" and the "west" with its false show of equality.
Despite his radical views, he had immense regard for Western triumphs in science but he felt that the West had become morally bankrupt. He said:
Mankind today is on the brink of a precipice, not because of the danger of complete annihilation which is hanging over its head - this being just a symptom and not the real disease - but because humanity is devoid of those vital values which are necessary not only for its healthy development but also for its real progress. Even the Western world realizes that Western civilization is unable to present any healthy values for the guidance of mankind. It knows that it does not possess anything which will satisfy its own conscience and justify its existence...
It is essential for mankind to have a new leadership...
It is necessary for the new leadership to preserve and develop the material fruits of the creative genius of Europe, and also to provide mankind with such high ideals and values as have so far remained undiscovered by mankind, and which will also acquaint humanity with a way of life which is harmonious with human nature, which positive and constructive, and which is practicable.
All sounds sane so far, right?
HE goes on to deride the West and sounds the rallying call for concerned muslims to take up the call for moral leadership:
Islam is the only system which possesses these values and this way of life.
If we look at the sources and foundations of modern ways of living, it becomes clear that the whole world is steeped in Jahiliyya (pagan ignorance of divine guidance), and all the marvelous material comforts and high-level inventions do not diminish this Ignorance. This Jahiliyya is based on rebellion against God's sovereignty on earth: It transfers to man one of the greatest attributes of God, namely sovereignty, and makes some men lords over others. It is now not in that simple and primitive form of the ancient Jahiliyya, but takes the form of claiming that the right to create values, to legislate rules of collective behavior, and to choose any way of life rests with men, without regard to what God has prescribed. The result of this rebellion against the authority of God is the oppression of His creatures...
The Islamic civilization can take various forms in its material and organizational structure, but the principles and values on which it is based are eternal and unchangeable. These are: the worship of God alone, the foundation of human relationships on the belief in the Unity of God, the supremacy of the humanity of man over material things, the development of human values and the control of animalistic desires, respect for the family, the assumption of the vice-regency of God on earth according to His guidance and instruction, and in all affairs of this vice-regency, the rule of God's law [al-Shari'a] and the way of life prescribed by Him...
The importance of books like Milestones can be seen in the context of global events during the time of Qutb and the years immediately after his death. Israel was formed in 1948 and immediately Palestinians felt the old British stab in the back when they suddenly had become refugees in the own land. The British, behaving true to form played the "Divide and Rule" card to its logical conclusion in the Middle East. Nowhere else in their vast empire (with the possible exception of Sri LAnka) did they manage to do it so well as they did in the Middle East. (We can owe every major world conflict today to the British but that's the subject of another rant.) In 1967, Israel defeated Eqypt in the six day war, and suddenly muslims in the Middle East were shaken up to face the possibility of living with a belligerent non muslim country that is not content with its own borders but is willing and capable of annexing its neighbours. The US and Britain support to Israel politicised what was essentially a regional issue and the idea of the West as a "Great Satan" was born. Books like Milestones provided the ideological backing behind the demonisation of the West. Not only that, it also meant that "Western" ideas like democracy and equality of religions and even muslims who espoused these ideas were put down in favour of a world view that promoted a return to the days of yore when Islamic civilization was at its perceived zenith and an Islamic World Order, with an ancient code of conduct made into law, the Al-Shari'a (including the whole death by stoning, chopping off arms and legs shebang). It was Qutb and his followers that laid the foundation of the Wahabbi Movement and other Jihadist movements that developed into the different violent islamic groups today (The Taliban is one such group of WAhabis).
From then on the continued injustices meted out against the Palestinians, American support for Israel (and later Iraq), and perceived condescension towards islam and islamic values have gone on to foment this germ of hatred of the West into a full blown violent extremist political cause. Unlike christian fundamentalism which until recently was confined largely to the fringe elements of society, islamic fundamentalism tapped deep into modern muslim culture and thought. It tapped into the ways of life of muslims in regions of strife and managed to unite them with, without or even against government support. Not only that, it tapped into a fundamental tenet of islam, of universal brotherhood of muslims. This ensured that muslims everywhere in the world were at least sympathetic to their cause, if not their actions. The idea that the west was against the muslims quickly spread to remote regions like Phillippines and Indonesia, and the actions of the PAlestinian "liberators" lent much inspirational support to any militant fringe groups in these regions and these groups in turn supported the bigger operations happening elsewhere. The War on the West was set to be a guerrilla war of attrition, where muslims were willing to give up their lives to inflict maximum damage to the perceived enemy, both physically and psychologically, no matter what the collateral damage. Seventy virgins in paradise is just one of the many half truths Western governments think suicide bombers die for. It is easy to believe but is probably blatantly untrue. The roots go far deeper than that. The popularity of fundamentalist groups is not because they promise virgins, but because they tap into both real and perceived injustices meted out to muslims' way of life.
Osama bin Laden who is vilified in the West is idolized in Pakistan and Afghanistan, not because he is a good muslim but because he dares to stand up against what is perceived as Western hegemony. Under the Al Qaeda banner Osama managed to do what was the impossible: unite the hundreds of warring tribes against a common enemy (in the 1970's and 80's the Soviet Union and in the 21st Century, America). Islam itself was merely the rallying call issued and not the chief reason for the kind of support that he continues to receive today.
Further proof why it is not the religiousness of the fundamentalists that attracts people is this: Islam expressly forbids suicide in any setting. Although this is not mentioned expressly in the Quran, Sharia Law expressly forbids the taking of one's own life [Do not kill yourselves, for Allah is compassionate towards you. Whoever does so, in transgression and wrongfully, We shall roast in a fire, and that is an easy matter for Allah. (an-Nisaa 4:29-30); The Prophet said, "He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide by stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire." (Sahih Bukhari 2.446, 2.445) ]
While they reject perceived "Western" concepts of "democracy" and "freedom of thought" Islamic fundamentalists certainly don't reject Western weaponry. Why not? They reject as apostasy almost every branch of modern science including quantum physics, evolutionary biology and stem cell research. Like their christian cousins they absolutely are dead set against abortions. So where does their love affair for western weapons come from? Another muslim book, the al-Muslimun ‘ulama’ wa-hukama (The Muslim and the Scientist) gives a hint. Written in 1987 by Egyptian Islamist Hasan al-Sharqawi, it proclaims, “Our goal is to learn how to handle modern weapons, how to produce and develop them further, so that we can conquer our enemies". So the typical fundamentalist hypocrisy comes to the fore here. While they certainly reject Western science in every other field, suddenly they find them as allies in the field of weapon systems. The usage of Western weapons is sanctioned because apparently the ends (destruction of the enemy) justifies the means (usage of the enemy's tools). Again one can go back to Qutb's admiration for the West as far as technology is concerned. Most modern terrorist groups justify their usage of the weapons invented by the West this way.
The reason, in passing, why fundamentalist muslims reject democracy is because democracy apparently gives people the right to rule over the others and the right to pass laws on others when all such authority comes from god. Someone I think forgot to mention that to the different Sultans and Caliphs who ruled much of Asia during the Middle Ages.
so what is the conclusion here? Are all muslims violent? Certainly not. Muslims are no more violent than any other group of people.
Does islam condone violence? It doesn't matter because the cause is not religious but social. As we have seen, even if Islam expressly forbade running planes into buildings, it wouldn't make a jot of difference.
A large part of the hatred comes from a legitimate cause. Palestinians are treated like refuse in land that belonged to their forefathers. The US played up the emotions of Iran and Iraq for the benefits of oil, creating a ruinous war that ravaged the economies of both nations. The bombing of cities holy to muslims during the American invasion and colonization of Iraq ensured a steady stream of volunteers more than willing to die if he takes down a GI or two. The toppling of regimes that tried to nationalise their oil again fuelled this anger. The destruction of Afghanistan during the Cold War and the subsequent ignoring of its plight by the world created the powerful Taliban. Many more examples can be cited like this.
Another large factor is the fundamentalists themselves. While they deride the West, they have ensured that their target audience remains ignorant, illiterate and poor. Grinding poverty is blamed on the West, illiteracy is glorified under the concept of "rejecting Western knowledge", and the mullahs seem to be more busy deciding if the seventy virgins would remain virgins for eternity or would they lose it than actually trying to find better ways of treating diseases or ensuring better wealth distribution. They stand steadfast against scientific progress, blinded, in their hatred for all things "Western", to the various ways technology can help them. Instead of bombing the West they should do what Japan did. Say sorry, and then sell them your stuff and make money off them.
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