_________________________________
New Writing by Minnesota Atheists
The Problem of Evil: The Top 12 Excuses for God's Horrible Behavior
recounting religious arguments on why terrible things to happen to good people
Good Works and Charity Aren't About Faith
an answer to a StarTribune columnist who believes the religious have an exclusive claim on charity
Atheists Have Honestly Researched Bible, Jesus Myths and Evolution
a response to a Christian's statement that the bible exposes "atheist errors"
A West African Muslim Meets an American Christian
the Christian's attempt to "teach the glory of god" has an unexpected result
Understanding Our Human Nature
an introduction to psychologist Alfred Adler's work and how it can help individuals examine their beliefs and values
How to Defend Intelligent Design
a list of ten ways that proponents of this vacuous position keep the "controversy" alive
Cartoon Intifada
recounting the religious furor that gave the term "cartoon violence" new meaning
Religious Disasters of the Modern Age
a list of avoidable tragedies from the last 28 years
_________________________________
Archived Articles
Click on the sidebar menu or on a subject below to access archived articles by members of Minnesota Atheists on the following topics:
Exploring Atheism
Questioning Religion
Science Issues
Church-State Separation
_________________________________
The
Problem of Evil: The Top 12 Excuses for God's Horrible
Behavior
by August
Berkshire, copyright 2005–2007
If God is
all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving, then why is
there evil in the world?
For the sake of argument, let’s concede the harm that
humans do as a misuse of our free will, for which God
cannot be blamed (although a good case can be made that a
loving god would have stopped Hitler). That still leaves us
with genetic birth defects, genetic and acquired diseases,
and natural disasters.
Here are “The Top 12 Excuses” religious people
give to attempt to explain away the horrible behavior of
their god.
1.
Unknown greater good. The first excuse
is that God must commit or allow some evil to occur to
accomplish an unknown greater good. But doesn’t that
limit God’s knowledge and power? Doesn’t that
say that God couldn’t think of a better way to
accomplish his goals other than torturing innocent people?
2.
Evil is really God’s love. The second
excuse is that what we perceive as “evil” is
really an example of “God’s love.”
However, this is a definition of love we cannot comprehend
because it is exactly the opposite of what we define love
to be. Therefore we can’t know that
“God’s love” is really love—we have
to take someone’s unconvincing word for it. If
disease is an example of God’s love, shouldn’t
we all try to get as sick as possible? Are doctors
violating “God’s will” when they try to
cure disease?
3.
Evil is needed to appreciate the good. The third excuse
is that without evil we wouldn’t appreciate
what’s good. But couldn’t a god just give us an
appreciation of what’s good Why should we have to be
tortured to appreciate the good? Disease and natural
disasters seem like wanton cruelty on the part of God.
Without disease and natural disasters we could still be
left to struggle with good and evil in terms of moral
dilemmas and human actions.
4.
Blame the ancestors and blame the victim.
The
fourth excuse is that all evil that happens to us is our
fault, either directly because of something we did, or
indirectly because of our “ancestors” Adam and
Eve. This is known as “blaming the victim.”
Typically, a victim of abuse believes that the more he or
she is punished, the more he or she is loved. But what did
an innocent baby ever do to deserve a birth defect? And
what kind of justice is it that blames children for the
sins of their long-dead ancestors?
5.
Evil is necessary for free will. The fifth excuse
is that without evil we would have no free will and would
be “robots.” But what do birth defects,
disease, and natural disasters have to do with free will?
Do sick people have more free will than healthy people? God
has supposedly created a heaven where there is no disease.
Are the people in heaven robots?
6.
The devil did it. The sixth excuse
is that God isn’t really responsible for evil in the
world, a devil is. But who created this devil? And
isn’t God supposed to be all-powerful? Can’t he
stop this devil?
7.
Evil doesn’t last very long. The seventh
excuse is that any misery that occurs to us on Earth is
brief compared to an eternity in a wonderful heaven. So
what? Is that any excuse to torture people?
8.
Evil is necessary for compassion. The eighth
excuse is that evil is necessary for us to learn
compassion. But if God wanted us to be compassionate, why
didn’t he just make us that way? Why this sadistic
scheme of torturing innocent babies to instill compassion
in their parents?
9.
Suffering builds character. The ninth excuse
is that suffering builds character. While building
character may sometimes require effort – such as
helping others, studying, and sportsmanship – none of
these threatens our lives. And what kind of character is a
baby supposed to be developing, who is born with a birth
defect so severe that she will only live a few days?
10.
God is testing our faith. The tenth excuse
is that evil is God’s way of testing our faith, like
Job was tested in the Old Testament. If this is true, what
sense does it make to impose a “loyalty test”
on an infant who dies from disease or natural disaster?
11.
The Creator is always justified. The eleventh
excuse is that God is morally justified in tormenting
people because he created them. But this confuses the power
to torture someone with the right to torture someone. Do
the parents who create a child have a right to torture that
child? Does might make right?
12.
Evil is necessary to prove God’s existence.
The
twelfth excuse is that the existence of evil proves the
existence of God, that without a God-given sense of good
and bad, we would not be able to identify some things as
evil in the first place. But can’t an all-powerful,
all-knowing, all-loving god come up with a better way to
prove his existence than by torturing us? Why not just
reveal himself?
Conclusion:
God has run out of excuses. He is either incompetent,
indifferent, or cruel. Another way to reconcile the facts
is to conclude that gods don’t exist at all.
Additional
comments
If you had the knowledge and power of a god, would you have
created birth defects, disease, and natural disasters? If
not, then you are nicer than the god you believe in. This
god should be praying to you for moral advice, rather than
the other way around.
Would you take a syringe full of malaria and inject it into
someone you love? And yet that’s exactly what God
does to people he claims to love, using a mosquito as the
syringe.
We humans spend a lot of time mopping up after God’s
mistakes. Some say that God works through us. But the
reason we have to do “the Lord’s work” is
because “the Lord” isn’t doing it
himself. And if we’re doing the work, shouldn’t
we take the credit?
There is much unnecessary cruelty in nature. For example,
when one male lion replaces another in a pride of lions, he
kills the cubs of the previous male lion. Yet this type of
behavior does not occur in other species. Thus, if a god
designed this system, he is not above a little wanton
cruelty from time to time.
Yes, many religious people do kind acts of charity. But
why? Too often the answer seems to fall into one of three
categories, which turn out not to be altruistic at all:
1. To use the recipient of aid as a pawn to bribe the
helper’s way into heaven or avoid hell (or to achieve
a higher reincarnation).
2. To use kindness to convert more people to the
helper’s religion, because religions cannot be
sustained by evidence and thus need as many like-minded
people as possible to prop them up and quash self-doubt.
3. To attempt to maintain credibility in their religion by
covering up the embarrassingly poor job done by their god,
by claiming they are agents of God. For those religious
people who are kind for the sake of kindness, without
reference to a god, that’s exactly what secular
humanism is.
Bible
Quotes
“I form the light and create darkness, I bring
prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these
things.” (Isaiah 45:7)
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both
calamities and good things come?” (Lamentations 3:38)
“When disaster comes to a city, has the Lord not
caused it?” (Amos 3:6)
_________________________________
Good
Works and Charity Aren't About Faith
by August
Berkshire, copyright 2007
Columnist Jonah
Goldberg takes a very selective view of religious vs.
secular people/countries and charity (“Joe Churchgoer
is better than Sam Secularist,” Opinion Exchange,
Jan. 5). For a different point of view, consider the
following:
The two wealthiest Americans are also among its two most
generous: Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. And both are
atheists.
Wealthy, politically conservative corporate leaders who
underpay their workers can grandstand on their charitable
giving, while liberal, progressive corporate leaders who
pay decent wages may not have much left over for charity.
It is religious conservatives, not secular progressives,
who tend to oppose an increase in the minimum wage.
Conservative, religious politicians are indeed very
generous – to rich people, while cutting programs for
the poor.
Generally, secular “blue” states give more to
the federal government in taxes than they receive back in
benefits. For religious “red” states it's the
reverse. So who is being generous “with somebody
else’s money”?
Goldberg states “not counting government aid,”
we give much more than the French, Germans, or Italians.
But government aid should be counted because that is how
civilized people take care of the poor: with higher taxes
and more extensive social programs – not by making
the poor live in the streets and beg. Higher taxes make
additional personal charity less necessary.
A study by Gregory S. Paul found that the societal health
of a country is inversely related to its religiosity. Paul
found that “In general, higher rates of belief in and
worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of
homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection
rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous
democracies.”
Some conservative religious charitable giving actively
undermines a healthy society, when the institutions
supported oppose equal rights for all people,
contraception, and stem cell research.
When atheists donate to charity or do good works, it is
because we are trying to create “heaven” on
Earth, since we don’t believe in an afterlife. When
religious people are charitable, it may be because they are
trying to bribe their way into heaven, using charity to
convert others to prop up their insecure faith, or mop up
after their god’s embarrassing mistakes (disease,
natural disasters). The reason so many people have to do
“the Lord’s work” is because “the
Lord” isn’t doing it himself. And if
we’re doing the work, shouldn’t we take the
credit?
Goldberg equates personal charity with what is
“better.” Shouldn’t we equate happiness
with what is better? In that regard, citizens of the
secular, more socialist European states that Goldberg
despises lead the world in happiness. Shouldn’t they
be our guide?
_________________________________
Atheists
Have Honestly Researched Bible, Jesus Myths and
Evolution
by Jack
Richter, copyright 2006
The letter
printed in the St. Cloud
Times on August 15th,
2006, "Christians, not atheists, can face death," bravely
states that "atheists cannot count on bravely facing
death."
The letter writer, who is a Christian, also stated that she
prayed to her god to not let her atheist mother die such a
horrible death. The writer said that her god granted her
request but that her mother's brain atrophied. This does
not sound like a "god" granting a request to me. Further, I
have to ask if the letter writer has such faith in her god,
why did she not ask him (her?) to spare her mother's life
in the first place rather than allow her to die? That is,
if her god has that much power? A recent national study by
the Mayo Clinic showed that prayer has absolutely no effect
on heart patients and may actually be harmful.
The writer, in describing her mother's death, calls her god
the "king of terrors" who in the writer's belief damned her
own mother to an everlasting hell of torment simply because
her mother did not believe as her daughter did.
The writer, not using reason-based thinking and instead
relying on church dogma instilled in her, describes her
mother's look of horror, not ever rationally attributing it
to the fact that she was probably in considerable pain,
instead believing that "god" had come to get her mother and
send her to hell.
I, an atheist, would have thought there would be more
compassion, especially from a self-professing "Christian"
at a deathbed. Perhaps the writer's mother had, like many
other atheists and agnostics alike, researched the Bible
beyond what is taught in church?
Atheists have done the research and found that the
mythological figure of "Jesus Christ" was based on other
pagan savior gods from Egypt, Babylonia, Greece and
Sumeria. Horus, Krishna, Mithra and Dionysus all had the
same death and rising from the dead experiences Jesus did.
They were born in a cave, attended by shepherds and had
virgin births. They all had a star to announce the birth,
which was December 25th, and were attended by 3 wise men or
kings.
The concept of an afterlife was first invented along with
gods and goddesses by the Egyptians and then the Greeks.
Remember the river Styx and Hades from college mythology
courses?
The writer mentions the Bible exposing atheist errors, but
the writer does not know of the many errors and
contradictions that are in the bible itself. She goes on to
mention Israel, but again is not aware that the name Israel
itself is derived from Egypt. IS= Isis, the Egyptian
goddess of the Moon, RA= Ra, the god of the sun, EL= The
god of the stars.
The persona of Satan is from the Egyptian God SET who was
HORUS's (already mentioned) enemy.
Why wouldn't ISRAEL and the Jewish male priests (needing
control over the people) who wrote the Bible borrow from
their neighbors the Egyptians, both the concepts of a
supposed "afterlife" and mythical gods and goddesses who
controlled man's destiny and the weather? Would we tell a
meteorologist that "a man in the sky" decided to kill
thousands of people with a Tsunami (after he created them)
and then send them to burn in hell because they did not
have a chance to believe in his "son"? Is it a "god" who is
causing global warming, or the result of our own pollution
and the natural earth breaking down? Was it gay and lesbian
people who caused a "god" to send a hurricane on New
Orleans? Jerry Falwell would have you believe this.
The writer mentions a staff the lord gives his own, the
image of Jesus as "good shepherd," which comes directly
from the Greek God Pan. The staff is the shepherd's crook
Pan carried—again, borrowed. Borrowed, like all of
Christianity.
Does the writer know how many times the number 40 is used
in the bible? The answer is at least 4. How about the
numbers 3, 6, 7, 12? The writers used numerology as well as
astrology, and that is why the Old Testament forbids the
use of astrology: the male priests wanted total control
over it and the people.
The Bible was written thousands of years ago. The writer
relies on this book written by male authors who were human
beings with their own ignorance, prejudices against women,
slaves, "infidels" and those born with a homosexual
orientation. They were humans with a human tendency to lie
and distort and create myth.
Thousands of years ago there was no science, DNA research
or biology. Since the time the bible has been written
archeologists have uncovered Hominids, which are half man,
half ape skeltons. They have been proven to be man's
ancestors. Just recently scientists have made one of the
most important fossil finds in history: a missing link
between fish and land animals, showing how creatures first
walked out of the water and on to dry land more than 375
million years ago. Paleontologists have said that the find,
a crocodile-like animal called the Tiktaalik Roseae
(described in the journal Nature),
could become an icon of evolution in action. Farish
Jenkins, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University,
said: "This represents a critical early phase in the
evolution of all limbed animals, including
humans—albeit a very ancient step."
If the writer continues to believe in a god that supposedly
created human beings just to send them to hell, (including
the writer's mother) for not believing in him based on
years of research and evidence, then this is not a god that
should be worshipped and the writer is wasting her time on
this earth.
Perhaps the writer, being female, believes that she was
created from a man's rib, and the earth is only 6,000 years
old as well and dinosaurs lived at the same time as "Adam
and Eve." Perhaps she believes that it was the "Holy
Spirit" working in the lives of priests that sexually
abused children, "pastors" that have lied and embezzled
money from their congregations and nuns that have been
impregnated by priests who could not live up to a misguided
"vow of celibacy".
I believe in "Lucy," a skeleton, carbon-dated and
scientifically authenticrated. I can see with my own eyes,
rather than "Eve or Mary," who were obvious literary
creations, along with a mythical sky-god named "Jesus." The
writer believes in fear-based "armageddon" and "rapture." I
believe in humans working together and helping each other
for the betterment of this world.
Because I believe in the seen rather than the unseen and
unproven, I can face death with bravery. More importantly,
I can face life with honesty, clear thinking, human
empathy, and more passion than I ever could when I was a
"believer."
This is the
opinion of Jack Richter, a Sartell resident who is a former
Catholic and fundamentalist Baptist who now embraces
atheism and is a member of Minnesota Atheists and American
Atheists.
_________________________________
A
West African Muslim Meets an American
Christian
by Matthew
Richardson, copyright 2006
When I first met
my new friend from Sierra Leone, around 1985, we quickly
got on to the subject of religion. To make a point, he
asked me to touch to my nose. I looked at him without
moving. Insistently, he said again, "Point to your nose!"
So I put my index finger on my nose.
Then he said, "Okay, now point to God." Well, I didn't know
where to put my index finger, so I dropped it back onto my
lap. Later in the evening, he described what African
animist religions were, but before that we further explored
where God was.
People of all religions point upward when they point to
their invisible god. My friend, Mr. Sa'id Forna, told me of
the time he played a little intellectual joke on an
American Christian at his place of work.
Around noon, he asked his Christian friend the following:
"Earlier this morning you were describing your god of the
Jews and Christians. Where is your god now?"
The American Christian pointed straight up. "God is in
Heaven."
"And you mentioned something about a lake of fire where
evil souls suffer for eternity. Where is that place?"
"Hades is down there," pointing to a place beyond his feet.
"Ah, I see. I will do my best to remember, but I may have
to ask you again in case I forget. These are new concepts
to me."
"That's okay, when it comes to teaching others about the
glory of God, I have unlimited patience."
"And before I forget, we are to meet later this evening for
dinner at your favorite restaurant, right?"
"Yes. I will be on time when I pick you up. The restaurant,
as I said before, is in Silver Spring, Maryland."
Mr. Forna's friend was on time and they got to the
restaurant just before 8 p.m. They left about an hour
later, went to a fashionable lounge and had a few German
dark brews. In a moment of silence, Mr. Forna suddenly
knitted his brows.
"I knew it! I forgot! Please forgive me, but where did you
say God was?" His host, again, pointed upward.
"I don't understand. Ten hours ago you pointed up and the
sun was at its apex for the day. But now the sun is below
the horizon and a not-quite full moon is high in the sky.
If Hades and Heaven are at fixed positions in the Universe,
then God should be down there and Hades up there someplace.
His Christian friend was dumbfounded and embarrassed,
realizing that Mr. Forna was much more sophisticated than
he imagined and probably had done this to many Christians
before.
_________________________________
Understanding
Our Human Nature
by Harry
Ireton, Ph.D., copyright 2006
If we understood
ourselves and others better, we just might get along better
with each other. To better appreciate ourselves and others,
we need to look beyond our atheism to our common humanity
and to our individual views of life. We need to examine
what we believe and believe in, how we came to believe what
we do and how we think about what we believe.
Alfred Adler (1870-1937) created a constructive
understanding of our human nature and individual
personalities. His insights into our social nature,
including how we come to believe what we believe and behave
as we do as individuals, are a source of guidance and
encouragement.
Adler is the intellectual father of humanistic psychology.
Beyond his contributions to psychology and counseling, he
spoke to many audiences about positive mental health and
promoting harmonious living through public education.
Equality, mutual respect and cooperation were central to
his thinking.
Adler’s View: First, and foremost, we are social
beings who have a positive interest in others and a need to
belong and be accepted by them; second, our actions are
based on the meaning we make of things — on our
interpretations of events, including misinterpretations
and, third; we are goal-oriented (not simply driven or
conditioned to react) and strive to achieve our own ends.
Adler viewed our sociability, empathy and interest in
others’ well-being as our original natural state (not
narcissism or original sin). He labeled our interest in
others Social Interest and equated it with positive mental
health. Adler believed that it is only when we become
discouraged that we turn away from people, shift to the
negative side of life and pursue primarily selfish
interests or destructive goals.
Unfortunately, as children, we have an early sense of our
physical limitations and inferiority and, often also, of
our social inferiority, based on how others treat us.
Inferiority feelings lead to discouragement, attempts at
compensation, and, sometimes, to overcompensation and
striving for superiority.
As children we see and hear and experience a lot and try to
understand the “meaning” of it all. Children
are dependent and, therefore, are good observers.
Unfortunately, they are poor interpreters and prone to
misunderstand things.
Initially, we strive to find a positive place or role
within our family by pleasing our parents. But what do we
need to do, and avoid doing, to please our parents and
measure up to their values and expectations? And what about
our siblings? What does it take to succeed in our family?
And, by generalization, in life?
In the family matrix, we develop our personality, which
Adler called our Lifestyle.
Your Lifestyle is your Outlook on Life. It includes your
view of yourself in relation to your view of life and other
people. Also, your Beliefs and Values: Your beliefs about
What Is and your Values about What Should Be. Finally, your
Convictions about What you Must Do in order to Succeed
(However you define “Success”).
Ask yourself: How optimistic am I about life’s
possibilities? How confident in my own resources? How
trusting that other people will stand by me? How interested
in others’ well-being? In what or whom do I place my
faith? God? My fellow man-woman? Science and technology?
Finally, What do I need to do to lead a meaningful life?
Healthy Lifestyles include positive social interest, a
positive view of self, others and life’s
possibilities and taking constructive action. Mistaken
Lifestyles, based on discouragement, may include striving
for superiority and domination, to punish others, needing
always to be “right” or in control, or being a
pleaser et al.
Counseling can help individuals to examine their Lifestyle
— their beliefs, values and goals — and learn
to challenge unrealistic expectations. Also to explore the
nature and sources of personal discouragement and reaffirm
positive commitments. Finally, supporting and encouraging a
person to face life’s challenges and fostering the
development of social interest are key elements in the
counseling process.
Beyond insight, Adler spoke about “Outsight.”
He said, “We have to lose ourselves to find
ourselves.” In other words, as we become more
constructively involved with others, we more fully realize
ourselves.
Ref: What Life
Should Mean to You by Alfred
Adler
_________________________________
How
to Defend Intelligent Design
by August
Berkshire, copyright 2006
1) Identify
things in biology that we don’t fully understand yet
(gaps in our knowledge).
2) Assume we will never understand these things.
3) Assume no natural explanation is possible.
4) Assume a god exists.
5) Assume this god fills this gap in our knowledge, even
though we have no idea what this god is, nor what mechanism
(besides a "miracle") it uses to fill this gap.
6) If later, we find a naturalistic answer, say, “Oh,
I guess that wasn’t one of the things I needed a god
to explain after all, but here are some others . . .”
7) Ignore unintelligently designed things in biology, like
the human appendix and some birth canals that are so small
that c-sections are necessary.
8) Pray that science will never have all the answers.
9) Look for direct evidence of divine intervention, not
unjustified inferences from lack of knowledge.
10) When step 9 fails, return to steps 1-8.
_________________________________
Cartoon
Intifada
by George
Kane, copyright 2006
Cartoon violence
usually involves characters running off a cliff but not
falling until they notice they are in mid-air, and anvils
falling on their heads. Perhaps the reaction throughout the
Moslem world to the publication of 12 cartoon depictions of
Mohammed was even more bizarre. Since the death sentence
imposed by Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa
against Salmon
Rushdie, and the murder of Dutch film producer Theo van
Gogh, European authors and artists have widely
self-censored criticism of, and even comment on, Islam. It
reached the point that Kýre Bluitgen, the Danish author of
a new children's book on the life of Muhammed, was unable
to find an illustrator. The newspaper Jyllands-Posten
decided that it
was high time to shake Denmark from this reticence by
holding a contest for caricatures of Mohammed. Forty
cartoonists were invited to participate, but only 10 were
brave enough to submit entries.
Publishing the cartoons was an act of personal courage by
the caricaturists and the editors of the newspaper, but
they surely did not anticipate the response. Angry local
Imams took the cartoons on a road tour to show religious
and government leaders how they are victimized in their
adopted homeland. This audience is ever-receptive to issues
to inflame the Arab street. Four months after the
publication of the cartoons in the Jyllands-Posten,
Muslims the world over took to the streets in rage. In
defiance of the proclamation of a "day of anger," leading
publications in Norway, France, Italy, Spain, Holland,
Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic
reprinted the Danish cartoons, and those nations became in
turn objects of Muslim wrath. The following incidents
demonstrate the vehemence and global extent of the "Cartoon
Intifada."
Afghanistan:
Hundreds of
demonstrators clash with police and soldiers during a
protest in the central city of Mihtarlam, killing one
person and wounding seven. Police fire on the crowd after a
protester shot at them and others threw stones and knives.
Protests also take place in Kandahar in the south,
Mazar-i-Sharif in the north, Taloqan in the northeast and
Charikar. In Kabul, three people are injured and seven
arrested when police use batons and rifle butts to break up
a crowd of 200 protesters in front of the presidential
palace. At least three Afghans are killed and some 20
wounded when demonstrators lay siege to a base used by the
NATO-led "International Security Assistance Force" (ISAF)
in Maimana in the north. Protesters throw gasoline bombs,
set fire to a guard box, and breach the wall protecting the
installation. Troops kill as many as five demonstrators as
thousands tried to march on the U.S. army base in Bagram,
north of the capital. Deaths in Qalat in the southern
Afghan province of Zabul bring the number of Afghans killed
in the Cartoon Intifada to 10.
Pakistan:
Three people die
and dozens are injured as 70,000 pro-testers take to the
streets in Peshawar, burning movie theaters, a KFC
restaurant and a bus station.
Palestine:
The
al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade warns all Danes and Swedes to
leave the territories. Mobs shut down and deface the EU
office in Gaza City. Masked men from Islamic Jihad fire
bullets into the air and threaten to kidnap European
workers if the European Union does not apologize for the
cartoons. A pipe bomb is thrown at the French Cultural
Center in Gaza after the tabloid France Soir reprints the
cartoons. Palestinian gunmen kidnap a German tourist in
Nablus after the cartoons appear in Die Welt.
Iran:
In
Tehran, a crowd of about 200 protesters pelt the embassy of
Austria, which currently holds the presidency of the
European Union, with stones, firecrackers and eggs. Iran's
largest-selling daily announces a contest for cartoons
about the Holocaust.
Syria:
Mobs
torch the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. As in
the case of Iran, the riot is believed to be orchestrated
by the government.
Iraq:
At
least three people are killed and more than a dozen injured
in three separate bombings outside at least four churches.
Observers suspect the bombs were timed to detonate during
worship services. Moslem thugs beat Christian students. An
estimated 2,500 followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr call for a boycott of Danish goods and burn Danish
flags.
Saudi
Arabia: Two employees of
Denmark's Arla Foods are beaten.
Lebanon:
Rampaging
demonstrators set fire to the Danish diplomatic mission in
Beirut. Police arrest 200, and the government advises Danes
to leave the country or stay indoors.
Jordan:
Two
Jordanian newspaper editors who published the cartoons are
arrested.
Lybia:
Nine
are killed as 1000 demonstrators burn the Italian
consulate.
Sudan:
15,000
demonstrators march on the UN embassy.
Indonesia:
The
Islamic Defenders' Front damages furniture and steals and
burns a flag as 150 militants storm the Danish Embassy in
Jakarta. They brandish a poster calling for the Danish
Ambassador to be executed.
Malaysia:
The
government orders the Guang Ming newspaper to halt
publication for two weeks as punishment for printing a
photograph in which the cartoons were visible.
Denmark
warns its
citizens to avoid traveling to Afghanistan, Algeria,
Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman,
Pakistan, Qatar, Sudan, Tunisia and the United Arab
Emirates.
Politicians and pundits have criticized the
Jyllands-Posten
for
offending Muslim religious sensibilities, but the
caricatures did not incite the violence. The paper printed
all cartoons submitted, without editorial selection, to
taunt not Muslims, but cowardly Europeans. Of course the
editors knew that Muslims would also see the cartoons, but
the Imams and governments were the true instigators of
violence. The lesson of the Cartoon Intifada is that
Muslims constitute a huge worldwide population that is
easily incited to violence by appeals to religion.
Religious identity provides their governments with an
external enemy, to make the populace forget its social,
political and economic repression. As Karl Marx famously
wrote of religion, "It is the opium of the people."
Self-censorship to avoid offending Muslims is pointless,
because there are always plenty of events and quotes and
publications that can be used to manipulate them to
anti-Western violence. A press that takes Muslims to task
when they deserve it will be a great service to the Western
world. It will especially benefit moderate Muslims, by
providing support for them to isolate and denounce the
violent cliques that defame their religion. "Some Muslims
try to impose their religious taboos in the public
domain," Jyllands-Posten
culture editor
Fleming Rose said. "In my book, that's not asking for my
respect, it's asking for my submission."
(To view all
12 cartoons, go to http://www.michellemalkin.com/archives/004413.htm)
-----------------------------------
Atheist Outrage: Non-Religious Turmoil Escalates
Imaginative
Press, February 21, 2006 Yesterday 15,000
atheists in London rioted after a blank sheet of paper was
found on a cartoonist’s desk. The blank space was
subsequently published worldwide, between every word in
every newspaper article. Cursing and damning the editors,
one protestor remarked, “It’s at times like
these I wished I believed in hell, so I could tell them
where to go!”
-----------------------------------
_________________________________
Religious
Disasters of the Modern Age
compiled by
Bruce Honnigford, copyright 2006
Many people
mistakenly think religion is universally a good thing and
that it benefits people. Let's examine some of the more
spectacular "benefits" that have been realized by adherents
since 1978.
1978
- Jonestown, Guyana. People's
Temple leader Jim Jones convinces his entire group of
followers to poison themselves. Victims: 914.
1993
- Waco Texas. Branch
Davidian leader Vernon Wayne Howell, a.k.a. David Koresh,
convinces his followers to commit suicide by defying ATF
agents instead of giving up peacefully, thereby perishing
in a fiery demise. Victims: 74.
1995
- AUM Supreme Truth. Religious
leader Shoko Asahara convinces followers to release Sarin
gas into a public subway system. Victims: 12 dead, 6000
injured.
1997
- Heaven's Gate Cult. Religious
leader Marshall Applewhite convinces his followers to
castrate themselves and commit suicide, hailing an obscure
comet that would whisk their souls away. Victims: 39.
1998
- Youngsang Church, Korea. Cult members
are found burned to death in a suspected self-immolation
ritual. Victims: 7.
2000
-Uganda. On March 17,
people belonging to the Movement for the Restoration of the
Ten Commandments of God are slain in Uganda. While some
believe they died willingly as part of the process of
entering the presence of God, others hold that their
leader, Joseph Kibweteere, murdered them. Victims: 924.
2001
- World Trade Towers. Muslim leader
Osama Bin Laden convinces followers to hijack four
commercial passenger jets and commit suicide by smashing
them into major office buildings. Victims: nearly 3,000.
2005
-Bagdad, Iraq. A stampede
kills Shia pilgrims packed onto a bridge when rumors of a
suicide bomber cause a panic during a march of 1 million to
a local shrine. Victims: nearly 1,000.
Saudi
Arabia (annual Hajj pilgrimage)
1987:
402
people die and 649 are wounded when security forces break
up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims.
1989:
Iranian-inspired
terrorists are accused of planting bombs that kill one
pilgrim and wound 16 others.
1990:
1,426 pilgrims,
mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel
leading to holy sites.
1994:
270
pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual.
1997:
At
least 340 pilgrims are killed and 1,500 injured when fire
fuelled by high winds sweeps through a tent city in Mina.
1998:
180
pilgrims are trampled to death after panic erupts when
several people fall off an overpass during the stoning.
2001:
35
pilgrims are killed when a huge crowd surges towards one of
the three giant pillars representing the devil.
2003:
14
people are crushed to death when pilgrims returning from
the stoning ritual run into pilgrims coming the other way.
2004:
244
pilgrims are trampled to death, and about an equal number
injured, in a 27-minute stam-pede during the stoning ritual
in Mina.
2006:
345
pilgrims killed and 289 injured as 600.000 Muslims rush to
complete a soul-purging stone-throwing ritual, tripping
over luggage and trampling hundreds.
(Hasn't anyone ever considered canceling this event?)
This is just a sample of the pointless death and injury
directly related to the practice of religion. These people
were victimized by their own religious zealotry or by the
zealotry of others. The toll of our less-than-comprehensive
survey from 1978 to present is over 17,000 people.