Why its wrong to make exuses for religion.

frankiesoup made some comments on some of my posts.  She has, unlike many of the raving idiots that get wound up by my posts, spent some time to consider her standpoint. Or at least it seams like that.  Therefor i will give a more considered response.

Basically Frankie asks – what harm does it do to let people believe whatever they want?

I have touched on this subject before, usually in response to some insane babbling from some devout believer. Its quite refreshing to get a response from someone who look like they have at least thought about the subject matter.

I will use some extracts from Frankies  comments for reference. they are in Italic.

“Thank you for replying, Muzolf and EMP – though you don’t seem to have read my original post properly. When I said ‘What harm can there be…’ I specifically excluded extremists and evangelists in my statement. (”What harm can it possibly do if people – *evangelists and extremists aside* – believe in a higher power?” were my exact words.)”

The  “what is the harm” approach is a big part of allowing the extremist problem to come into existence in the first place. Its the hoards of people that defend the right “to believe whatever they want about god, life, death and the universe”  that makes extremism possible.

This excuse-ism is so ingrained in our “politically correct” culture that many people, like Frankiesoup fail to realize how ridiculous this concept is.  In no other aspects of life are we allowed to believe “whatever we want” imagine if doctors where allowed use the same principle?  If you are holy convinced that god told you that you could cure any ailment with plutonium, should that be respected? After all, its your faith! What if you get a flock of similarly convinced individuals and you build a church to worship your plutonium? should it be respected then?

The answer is of course: No it shouldn’t.  Neither should anyone who claim to have a personal relationship with the creator of the universe be taken seriously.  Religion is organized superstition and should be treated as such. It should be ridiculed and rigorously criticized as if the person in front of you professed to believe in pixies, fairies or trolls.

(For example many Nazis actually believed the arian raze where descendants from the legendary people of Atlantis, the head of the death camps where a devout believer and we all know how that turned out.)

You see, by not addressing the fundamental problem, (Iron age folklore and superstition shouldn’t be used as life guiding principles by anybody) we or the moderates defending religion, perpetuate the problem.

For some reason a lot of people defend this “believe whatever!” idea and as a result we have countless cults ranging from the established and strange (Vatican) to the down right absurd (Scientology).

“I’m a normal person – I get as pissed off as the next guy when folk come to my house and preach to me when I’m quite clearly not interested – but the majority of religious people would never dream of imposing their beliefs on others. When asked, they’ll comment, but otherwise they’re happy to leave well alone.

Preachers turning up at your house, is not what i think of when i talk about the danger and damage religion causes every day. Think about children being denied medical treatment because their parents are members of some sect that believes prayer is the only way to go? How about female circumcision? Or children that are disowned by their parents for being gay?

Such unforgivable acts are usually carried out by the people you mean should have the right to believe whatever they want, they are ordinary Jill and Joes and are not considered extremists.

I could give countless examples of average believers whose daily actions are irrational, mean and despicable, because of their religion, this alone should merit unlimited scorn of religious belief.  After all the believer might be a nice person and its his religion that fucks him up.

At some point we have to ask the question, is the idea of freedom of religion a good one?

Consider that most religious texts are a hogposh patchwork of superstitious garbage that can be interpreted in pretty much any way you want. Take Muslim suicide bombers for instance, it doesnt say in the Koran ” strap a bomb to your chest and blow yourself up in a crowd of women and children”  but it does incite hatred especially towards perceived enemies.

If we want to keep freedom of religion as a fundamental human right, we also have to accept that Pakistan militants try to burn the danish embassy for depicting the prophet mohammed. We have to say its ok for a parent to deny medical treatment to their children. We have to accept that devout catholics shoot doctors outside abortion clinics.

Because this is what accepting freedom of religion means, unless we want to be as hypocritical as the religious themselves.

In relation to religion i can pretty much make up whatever the fuck i want “ie: scientology” call it a religion, receive tax benefits and act out as i see fit. For example i can hate everyone that is gay. Accepting this is what freedom of religion means.

Lets for instance follow a potential scenario based around the idea “hate all gays” lets say you firmly believe this is against the will of god, you want to endear yourself with god of course.  After all he  holds the keys to the afterlife and what not.

How far is the step from believing that, to picking up a gun and blowing a gay persons head off? Just recently a jew blew up a gay bar in Israel. This is what religious faith does.

rationale people can see the idea, that anyone should be allowed to believe whatever they want about god life death and the universe is an extremely bad one.  Its ridiculous, it negatively touches so many aspects of our lives, from suicide bombers to creationism the list of moronic and horrible things attributed to religious belief is practically endless.

“Finally, in response to your comment about my not knowing what life in Iran is like – fair enough, I don’t. I know what it’s like in Saudia Arabia though – the only country in the world where women are not permitted to drive and must be escorted in towns at all time by a man or face arrest. Egyptians have also offered to trade me for a camel with my husband… It’s a completely different world – a different culture – and I wouldn’t want to live there but it isn’t up to me to condemn them.”

You are wrong. It is your place to condemn them! Harshly!  By not condemning this, you are actively supporting the degradation of half of Saudi Arabia’s population. Despite what Saudis believe. Women are individuals! Sentient human beings! They have the right to self determination and to live free fulfilling lives no matter what the culture is!

Instead they are property, and you,  as a woman dear to say its not your place to condemn them?!!!!!!

Denying millions of people their birth given right, to be free is just evil! And deserves as much scorn and criticism as we can possibly muster. I would go so far as to say that the very idea is repulsive to humanity and deserves a violent response!

The sad part is, this is only one horrid example of how much suffering religion causes, you experienced someone offering a camel for you, you where lucky, your Western with a modern husband, you could leave the country, you where just a spectator.

Consider this :

What if you where an Egyptian woman and your husband actually traded you for a camel?

Maybe you had children? You would never see them again and there is nothing you can do about it. The courts, the law, everything is designed to ensure that men can continue to treat you as property.  What if your new husband is violent? what if he grows tired of raping you and just leave you in the desert? No one will lift a finger for you, after all your just a woman….

Without religion classifying women as property, this culture would never existence and Muslim men’s treatment of women  would never be acceptable behavior in any society.

Yet you defend it? Why is that? Do you still think “believe whatever” is a good idea?

Israel the farce.

I have been following the political noise round the middle east and Obamas push to try to achieve real change.

Yesterday i was, to put it mildly,  disappointed when i saw Netanyahus farcical speech.

The first few sentences where promising.

“I call on you, our Palestinian neighbours, and to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority – let us begin peace negotiations immediately, without preconditions.”

The rest of the speech was just gibberish and totally contradictory the above statement

He said a Palestinian state must have no army, no control of its air space and no way of smuggling in weapons. Additionally Palestinians had to recognize that their land was the land of the Jews? and that refugees had no right to return, etc, etc, etc.

Excuse me? Is it just me or what? doesn’t these demands sort of fly in the face of talks “without preconditions”?

Arent these demands in fact in themselves preconditions? and doesn’t Netanyahu know that this stance is what has fuled the conflickt for the last 60 years?

Netanyahu concludes by announcing that the root of the problem is the Palestinians refusal to accept the jewish state?

Never mind the military occupation and daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, im sure that has nothing to do with fueling the flames of conflict and hate.

Israel is by far the most agressive state in the middle east, why american tax payers accept that their tax dollar is used for military occupation and bombing palestinian women and children i will never know.

I guess israel and palestina can look forward to 60 more bloodsoaked years curtesy of the american tax payer.

The best use of a bible ever!

The only good use of a bible! mushroom food..

Best ever! use of a bible!

Israel? what the F….

Since my trip to Iran i have been chilling in turkey, the wife and me have decided to take a break on our visit the “insane religious” nations tour.

Our next stop was supposed to be Israel followed by a trip to the Palestinian territories,  if we could get in.

We have talked a lot about this and have decided to drop the entire trip.

We actually met an Israeli tourist at our hotel and our discussions with him is what made us decide to never ever visit Israel. Not because its a dangerous lunatic asylum filled with religious morons, but because our trip there would contribute to Israels economy and we don’t want that.

Anyways the discussion with our new found Israeli acquaintance went something like this.

Us: If it where the Israelis that where in the Palestinians place, what would they do?

Israeli: Stop terrorism.

Us: If terrorism stops? The Palestinians will still be under military occupation wont they?

Israeli: ehhh yes sort of, we have a right to that land though…

Us: Who gave you the right to the Palestinian land?

Israeli: I don’t know, its what i have always been told.

Us: How are the Palestinians treated? do they have any rights? are they seen as equal?

Israeli: No Palestinians are terrorists all of them, they cant own land its ours..

Us: So what would Israelis do if they where denied property rights, along with all other rights and discriminated against because their occupiers saw them as less than human?

Israeli: ehhh i dont know really i hadnt thought of it that way?

Us: Wasn’t that the Nazi approach during WWII?

Israeli: Well … . your… …. ….. the Nazis intentionally killed millions Israel takes care not to kill civilians.

Us: Didn’t the holocaust also start out as a moderate effort that gradually grew into genocide?

Israeli: dnn uhh… … well yes.

Us: it seams like the death toll seams to be gradually increasing for the Palestinians, when will the murder rate slide into genocide?

Israeli: dnn uhh… … well i dont know, i feel uncomfortable about this…..

Us: Maybe that is the right feeling to have for the atrocities carried out by your government with supposed support from you.?

Israeli: I just havent looked at it like that before,, you are right Israel has to change course….

Israel has become like the Nazi regime, its horrible…..

Irans RED LIGHT DISTRICT!

This Sunday we went to the red light district in Qom, Bib and Bob severely injured some religious police officers and we are on our way out of the country, just in case. We cross the boarder tonight.

The whores in Qom look kind of non descript, just like ordinary women (they are all covered ) the only way you can tell is that they from time to time expose their faces, as if to adjust their veils and they have makeup on. While they adjust their veils they look at you in an inviting way.

Anyways i was there with my wife and we where looking for someone to talk to, we soon attracted a small click of circulating prostitutes asking us if we wanted an arrangement.

In Iran prostitution is illegal unless you enter into a temporary marriage, or sigheh as it is called. It is also illegal for unrelated men and women to talk together so what you end up with is this bizarre ritual where they flash their face at you, then sort of glide up to you looking in some different direction and talk quietly as if speaking to no one.

Needless to say coming from the west where you can walk up to a girl and say, you look hot! Do you want to go and have some great sex? i found this whole experience kind of weird.

Anyway me and the wife finally found a girl that spoke decent English and she agreed to talk to us once the wedding arrangements had been made.

Its totally ridiculous that i actually have to temporarily marry, to be allowed to talk to the girl.  I will call her Betsy (not her real name of course)

Betsy is around 25 she was forcefully married to some old pig at the age of 15 and ran away after 3 months of being beaten and and raped.

She has no where to go and after being recruited into prostitution by  the local Mulla racket they made her addicted to heroin and she now prostitutes herself to get money for survival and her daily fix.

The entire wedding was a joke, we went inn the Mulla (which is also running the girls, he is their pimp) said something that sounded like lakkalakkalakkalakkakaa and we signed a piece of paper that made it all legal. Me and Betzy where married for the next 4 hours,  Its totally ridiculous.

Anyway we went to a local hotel ,rented a room, ordered some coffee and started explaining to Betzy that we where trying to learn, she was a bit apprehensive at first, skeptical that we didnt want some threesome or fivesome (if you count bib and bob) clearly bib and bob intimidated her as well (they are great bodyguards a steel at 600$ a day)

After a while we got a  conversation going and Betzy, despite her lot in life, was humorous when she told us her stories, that she found  funny.  She told us a lot of things she seamed very proud of.  In particular she relished giving chlamydia to the Mulla (pimp) and she was hopeful he had contracted her HIV.

She had found out she was HIV positive about 6 mounts ago and she had used every opportunity to try to pass it onto the Mulla (chemical warfare anyone?) She also hoped many of the men that had married her had contracted the decease and that they would suffer a lot.  She said she was happy that she had gotten HIV and that she didn’t feel scared anymore.

I dont think anyone can pose a threat to Betzy, she just dont give a fuck about anything anymore.

Anyways we are chatting along and all of a sudden two guys burst down our door (unbeknown to us it was the religious police.)  Bib and bob didnt know this and rushed into action, the two Arab cops where tiny compared to our giants and the first guy that met bib got stuck to his stomach and smashed so hard up against the wall, that he passed out.

Bob pulled out a gigantic gun, the type you see in old westerns, i think its called a long barrel revolver.  Bob pushed the barrel into the roof of the cops mouth and pushed the guys jaw aside as if the gun was a crowbar so hard that it made a crackling sound. The cop was clearly terrified.  The same can be said for me and my wife, Betzy didnt seam to give a shit, she actually smiled, maybe she recognized the cops?

Bib and Bob acted like this was something they did every hour of every day,  and they quickly herded us into the staircase and ran us down into the garage and into our car and shot off.  Bob still held the cop in the backseat and i dont think he took his eyes off him during the whole time.

Bob interrogated the cop who was by this stage pleading for his life. Bib drove like the car was on fire, my wife cried in shock and i was just sitting there kind of numb.

After a while Bob found out that the Mulla had sent them, a white couple in Iran getting a prostitute, he obviously thought we could be blackmailed so the two cops had gone to shake us down for some money. They hadn’t counted on our bodyguards and now i guess their decision to go it alone. Without backup, so they didn’t have to share any of the proceeds, seamed like a really bad idea.

Bib and Bob talked, and the cop got more and more panicked, they took his wallet and after a while they threw him out of the car on a desolate road.

They told us that they had discussed whether it was worth the hassle to let him live, apparently the cop had pleaded for his life, he said ha had kids and that if they let him go he would keep his mouth shut, that’s why they took his wallet so that if there was ever a problem, they would find him and his partner and rub them out. “rub them out” was the actual phrase Bob used.

Anyway if these guys threthened my life i would shut the fuck up forever, still they wanted to make sure we where safe and they will smuggle us over the boarder tonight.

I cant waith to leve this hellhole that is called Iran

Iran the worlds luny bin…

The last couple of days have been a bit surreal, Iran is a deeply fucked up place, let me highlight just how strange a society founded on superstitious folklore from the iron ages can be.

Firstly i risk being arrested for this posting, not because i harm anyone or anything like that. I risk being arrested for referring to the Koran from a factual perspective.  Additionally this might be seen as criticism of the Iranian regime which carries the death penalty (i kid you not).

The Koran, like the bible and all the other so called “holy” fairytale books are nothing but fictional  stories from a time when people where literary ravaged by their own superstitions and endless ignorance.

Now Iran isnt unique in ruling by fairytale.  Europe did this during the dark ages, and other fucked up countries like Afghanistan, UAE, Israel, Pakistan and many other countries still do this today.

Basing your rules on imaginary fiction is of course bound to create some oddities. Like receiving bamboo lashes for chewing gum (Indonesia) or like here in Iran. Stoning a woman to death for being raped. She was after all unfaithful to her husband while a gang of thugs brutalized her at gunpoint, so clearly she deserves to die….

In the last few days the people most opposed to  reform and change in Irans society has been run over by Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of this lunatic asylums founder Ayatolla Khomeini.

Hassan used to be firmly entrenched in the conservative wing of Irans leadership but he has now migrated over to the liberal side.

Not that that has any real meaning for someone from the west, the conservative and liberal side can often be separated by as little as 5 in stead of 8 lashes as punishment for some imaginary thought crime.

The only reason why it carries any sort of relevance is because Iran is becoming more and more militarized, and as the military power grows the Imams power erodes. Basically what Hassan, himself an imam, wants to achieve is to keep political power firmly entrenched in religious hands.

The mullah regime is just ridiculous, they pretend to have some sort of democratic process with elections, but the sitting mullas basically vet or pre-qualify the candidates prior to allowing them to run for office.  (Run for office, just sounds ridiculous when considering this lunacy.)

One example, that one of the student we talked to told me just cracked me up.  Last “election” Ali Eshraghi, also a descendant of the ayatollah, was excluded after the mullas investigated if he kept to the proscribed praying schedule, whether he combed his beard, which is illegal (i kid you not).  And whether his wife kept within the parameters for proper clothing for Iranian women.

This country is totally insane, its ridiculous in the extreme, they are so focused on internal control and naval gazing that i dont know why the rest of the world considers them a threat.

These guys couldn’t arrange sex in a brothel, let alone organize any form of coordinated military activity. The only way they could pose a threat, is if they got their hands on nuclear weapons. And if they did, they are just as likely to blow themselves up because some a woman masturbated, and therefor they had to level the entire city to prevent such sinful activities from spreading.

The only light on the horizon is the ayatollahs third grandchild Hussein Khomeini, even though he is educated as a priest he has broken with Irans brutal and oppressive customs.  He still wears a black turban, that i think is supposed to symbolize he is a direct descendant from the founder of the religion Muhammed (imagine how fucking full of yourself you have to be to believe that)

Anyways he has openly gone out in support for the invasion of Iraq and he has even suggested that the current regime in Iran cannot be removed without American help.

He was even imprisoned for publicly speaking out against the death penalty for criticizing the regime.

After the Iraq invasion he moved there and is on record saying “it was a pleasure to breathe the free air” he returned recently and is suspected to be alive only because his grandmother (the ayatollahs wife) is protecting him.

Anyways thats todays report from this freak show tomorrow we plan to go visit the poor and what passes for Irans red light district. (that schould be interesting)

Prostitution and drugs in Qom

A  few days ago we arrived with our security guards in Qom, its a city in Iran that sees very few foreigners.

We come to see the real cost of religious rule,  and Qom truly highlights these costs, we chose this city since its apparently has the highest number of  Shi’a scholarships in the world. 50,000 seminarians in the city from 70 countries apparently.

They claim that most of the seminaries teach their students modern social sciences and western thought as well as traditional religious studies.

Now we arrived and with a simple idea   “lets have a looks’i shall we?”

Now i wont go into the generic lunacy of Iran like the fact that they still export the same things they did before the Islamic revolution etc.  I planned to look at the reality on the ground, how do ordinary people live from high society to the middle class to the poor.

I am trying to go into this with an open mind, i must admit that its not easy for me, but i will do my best.

Yesterday we met with some students from upper class families.

Apparently the post revolutionary upper classes consisted of some of the same elements as the old elite,  having retained at least part of their wealth.  Many of them have emigrated to other countries taking their resources with them, since political power was moved from skilled resourceful people to clerics where religious expertise and piety became the major criteria for belonging to the political elite.

On first reflection even though Iran is bad i am surprised it isnt even worse considering that their country is guided by ancient fables and fairy tales.

Now my talks with the upper class explains why this country manages to exist at all, the answer is money and this money comes from oil.

No one i talked to had any illusions that if they ran out of oil the country would turn itself inside out, probably drenched in blood and violence.

Now the clerics are smart enough to know that the economic elites well being is vital for their survival, thus they get special treatment, corruption is extreme and public works like roads etc are handed out to the economic elite.

Thus they scratch each others back keeping themselves on the gravy train in a sea of poverty and suffering.

Most upper class people where sent abroad to the vest to study and they lived although not in public Western lives, they smoke pot, drink, party prostitution and teens are having copious amounts of pre marrital sex.

They knew they where living a lie but they dont care as long as their privileged lifestyle is secured by the dictatorial clerical rulers.

They took great pride in just having to make a phone call if the religious police bothered them for example and they would be left alone.

I think in Iran you can pretty much rule out equality before the law, in fact rule out any form of equality at all.

The women we talked to spoke of how they dreamed of settling in the vest where they could go wherever they wanted without being chaperoned by a male relative and they all dreamed of not having to cover up in public.

One girl cried for almost an hour when she saw a stoning being broadcast on tv while recalling how much she missed her time studying in france, where she could do and say whetever she wanted.

The brutality of this society is frightening, life isnt worth anything, i am left speechless, i just cannot describe what it feels like to see someone berried to their neck being stoned to death  by a mob.

My wife got sick from the entire experience and she wants to go home. … i dont know yet. I will spend a few days contemplating what we to do next…

We have arrived in a fucked up religious country

We arrived in Iran today, the first thing i noticed was the foul stench from a burst sever pipe outside the airport.

The first thing we did was go to the Norwegian consulate and register, we told him what we where planning to do and gave him our itinerary. We also agreed upon daily call inns, so if we didn’t call one day he would immediately start investigating where we where and if we where ok.

The Council thought we where completely insane, and they recommended we hire some proper security. After listening to his pitch on the dangers of a ridiculous legal system, religious fanatics and the very real threat of kidnapping we promptly agreed.

He arranged it all for us with a company he knew and we now have 2 gigantic bodyguards.

I suspect they are former soldiers from the french foreign legion, i have known people that have served with them before and they all have this way about them. They are a the sort of people that you instinctively know not to fuck with under any circumstances.

Dont get me wrong they are polite and pleasant enough, but you just know these guys are hard as hell. Its not the obvious scars and such its the way they  look at people, its this patient look like “you can say and do anything you want but if i consider you a threat, i will kill you in less than a heartbeat! and its not going to cost me a single calorie. “

I look forward to getting to know them, unlike the council  they had no reaction at all to our plans, they simply asked “when do you want to get going?”

I will call them Bib and Bob in the blog they asked me not to use their names, and i will respect that.

Bib and Bob had some simple rules for us as well:

1. My wife had to cover her hair when out in public.
2. Always carry my passport and our wedding certificate.
3. If we run into the police or the religious police we close our mouth and they do the talking.
4. if they give us direct orders, we follow them immediately without question.

My wife is if anything even more apprehensive now, but it really goes to show. If religion had anything good in it Iran would be a virtual paradise not the foul, hellish, stinking cesspool of injustice, violence and hatred we have arrived in.

Going to a fucked up religious country!

I am now at charles degull and on my way to the united Arab emirates to fly on to Iran, the wife is a bit apprehensive since the religious police apparently whip people for (perceived) crimes against the Koran.

I am a bit apprehensive to since i know i will just blurt out what i mean at any given time, i have never been able to sugar coat my opinions and that can have quite harsh consequences in fucked up religious countries.

I will see if i can blog during my trip from internet cafes and such, i better be careful,,,, these places are totally fucked up.

I am going around the world

I have been challenged to take another trip, this time we will go to all the luny places like IRAN Afganistan and other wonderful religious places.

Ever wounder why some people still proclaim good is good (like praying in american schools) and still the worlds most religious places are horrible cessspools of violence hatred and ignorance.

Well anyways i will be back in 3 months if all goes according to plan.