Aisha was 7 when Mohammed "married" her, and 9 when he first raped her. I'm sure it was , like slavery, deemed more acceptable at the time it was done, so in this respect I should probably allow for the fact that Mohammed was like everyone in his own time a victim of the prevailing ignorance at the time.

The important point about Mohammed, however, isnt that he married children. After all, he's long dead, and the child is long dead. too late for apologies or restitution or penalties. The point about it is that Mohammed is presented as a role model for todays society and forever into the future. His words are read as if they were Gods word, and his actions are deemed worthy of gods.

This is why just about anything Mohammed ever did (like marrying 7-year olds) is common practice to this day, which is why blasphemy is such a blessed thing. its all about dragging these over-glorified, patriarchal, totalitarian assholes down to our level and telling it like it is: they dont know shit better than any of us, and following their examples will hold the world back. We need to strive to become better, to evolve our society and our morality anddo the very best we can to improve the world. You wouldnt send your broken iPhone back to the 7th century for repairs, so don't do it with your morality either.

@ponceleon

First off, I'm wondering why you happen to think that I believe in a god or gods. No where in this thread have I stated that I'm religious. I simply think forcing opinions on other people is a bad idea--whether it's forcing others to believe in your religion or forcing others to give up their religion, as say China does. So maybe you might want to lay off the ad hominem attacks. Let's have a reasonable open dialogue, shall we?

Second, you entirely missed the point of my post. I'm not asking you to believe. You are free to look at the world around you and decide for yourself. My point was that the world around us can be interpreted in multiple ways. Take a roller coaster for instance. One person rides a roller coaster and is terrified. The person next to him is having a great time and loves it. Are roller coasters terrifying or fun? Science cannot help us answer this question. Both people experienced exactly the same event but interpret it in entirely separate ways. The best we can say is that some people find roller coasters scary and some people find them fun. What does this have to do with religion? So far, you have interpreted your experiences in this world to conclude there is no god or gods. That's fine! I don't have a problem with that. I have a problem with you demanding everyone else interpret their own experiences exactly as you do. You want scientific proof of god. Again, I have no problem with that (although I find your insistence on scientific proof kind of funny, since I don't require scientific proof to know that I am having fun on a roller coaster). That's your choice. But I don't think you have the right to take away the choice from everyone else in the process. Trying to do so would be as absurd as trying to force everyone in the world to like roller coasters.

Let's talk about Dawkins for a second. I think Dawkins does a disservice to atheists everywhere by lumping all religious people into one group. We call that "stereotyping." The stereotype that Dawkins uses is based on a conservative fundamentalist Islamic/Christian religious fanatic (the unthinking believer that I was talking about in previous posts). Since he is using a stereotype, he may as well be railing against [insert the ethnicity of your choice] and screaming about all the problems they cause. Now, certainly he has an eager audience--as do KKK leaders at most of their rallies. But he's doing nothing to make the world a more civil or peaceful place. In fact, he's simply polarizing it even more.

Why not Vishnu? I have no problem with people who worship Vishnu. Or Thor. Or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Or the Tooth Fairy. The problem comes only when people try to impose their religion on others--and that is not something I am advocating. As I said above, I have a problem whenever anyone forces their opinion on others (as does Dawkins--it's something we agree on). So obviously I am against things like the forced inclusion of Creationism in textbooks. Or blasphemy laws. Or the discrimination against a particular group based on their religion (or lack thereof).

Sorry this post is getting so long. I'll wrap it up with this: I'm curious what your stance is on the existence of dark matter. Most astronomers believe in dark matter in spite of the fact there is no physical way to measureit. It's basically invisible. And yet current models of the structure of the universe require the existence of dark matter to work properly. You demand proof in order to believe in a god or gods. Well, there is no proof of dark matter--only speculation. And yet the scientific community generally has faith that it exists. How do you reconcile that?

Although I don't have any evidence of the existence of God or gods, science has ironically given us plenty of evidence for the benefits and evolutionary advantages of faith. Have a read.

The Evolutionary Advantages of Faith

So, your insistence on doing away with religion is actually quite amusing, as you would be fighting evolution apparently.

Damnit Jim! This is blasphemy!
I'd rather see keyboard cat serving Kirk some Tranya.

Her most powerful quote in the article:


. . . many of us in Ireland recognized the idea that we needed the church to get closer to Jesus as blasphemy.

To Irish Catholics, Benedict's implication -- Irish sexual abuse is an Irish problem -- is both arrogant and blasphemous. The Vatican is acting as though it doesn't believe in a God who watches. The very people who say they are the keepers of the Holy Spirit are stamping all over everything the Holy Spirit truly is. Benedict criminally misrepresents the God we adore. We all know in our bones that the Holy Spirit is truth. That's how we can tell that Christ is not with these people who so frequently invoke Him.

almost blasphemy to redub some an hawsome film.. but dang it's well done!

So, this is what Blasphemy feels like on the religious end, huh... I sort of get it now.

Yeah, beheading people for the crime of blasphemy or showing their female face in public isn't very peaceful.

Christ gave winter solstice meaning? Nice try, the church declared Christ's birthday as dec. 25th to curtail all the pagan celebrations during the winter solstice and give the people something christian to celebrate. From what I understand a lot of biblical scholars think his birth was in the spring. So basically the church stole the meaning of winter solstice for their own, and in doing so probably created some sort of blasphemy by their own standards.

>> ^gwiz665:We got a blasphemy law in Denmark too. It's bullshit!


Since you can't say it, let me help you out: God dammit, blasphemy laws suck more balls than Jesus, Allah, and Buddha in a threesome!

>> ^Almanildo:
I remember reading about this, and I am quite amazed. How does it take two hundred years to get rid of something unconstitutional from a constitution?
It's like the Norwegian blasphemy paragraph. We have a paragraph in our penal code that makes blasphemy an offense (yeah, Scandinavia can have bad laws too). Though it hasn't been used in ages, getting rid of it has turned out to be harder than we thought.


We got a blasphemy law in Denmark too. It's bullshit!

I remember reading about this, and I am quite amazed. How does it take two hundred years to get rid of something unconstitutional from a constitution?

It's like the Norwegian blasphemy paragraph. We have a paragraph in our penal code that makes blasphemy an offense (yeah, Scandinavia can have bad laws too). Though it hasn't been used in ages, getting rid of it has turned out to be harder than we thought.

>> ^aceofkidneys:
>> ^Simple_Man:
As a Canadian and a Vancouverite, I am embarrassed that this happened. What has happened to my Canada?

Amen brother, as a fellow vancouverite I have never felt more shame for my city and my country. I hope we don't win a single medal on our own soil (again), due to all the horrible karma stirred up from this situation, taking billions of our tax dollars, not letting other countries practice on the turf THEY WILL BE COMPETING ON, and now this blasphemy, it makes me so disappointed and mad. Fuck you Vanoc, fuck you both provincial and federal government, and fuck you olympics in general.
There called olympic GAMES, not olympic I'm better then yous.


This comment makes me ashamed to be a Canadian.

It's the Olympics. A couple weeks will have passed and the only thing that'll happen is a few countries will gain a small amount of national prestiege and in 4 years, it'll be forgotten in everything but the Olympic History book.

You're still a Canadian, As am I. Born and raised in Ontario, and i'll probably die here, too.
Americans may be known for fierce patriotism, but god knows Canadians are right behind them. I'm proud of my Country, viewed by the world as peace keepers and neutrality.

Sure, we're pulling a dick move with these games, and I agree that it should be rectified, but I would NEVER betray my own country by wishing it does badly. Now, as far as I understand, it's mostly Americans that are shocked over the lack of us allowing them to come train with us. Truthfully, lets think of this for a minute. In terms of "Dick Moves" I think the Americans have quite a bit more racked up then we do, however I understand "An eye for an eye." and still agree, that its not right.

However, This article basically explains it all, better then I can ever say here.
There's an advantage. There always has been, and there always will be, however, maybe it's our turn to actually use it for once.

>> ^Simple_Man:
As a Canadian and a Vancouverite, I am embarrassed that this happened. What has happened to my Canada?


Amen brother, as a fellow vancouverite I have never felt more shame for my city and my country. I hope we don't win a single medal on our own soil (again), due to all the horrible karma stirred up from this situation, taking billions of our tax dollars, not letting other countries practice on the turf THEY WILL BE COMPETING ON, and now this blasphemy, it makes me so disappointed and mad. Fuck you Vanoc, fuck you both provincial and federal government, and fuck you olympics in general.

There called olympic GAMES, not olympic I'm better then yous.

>> ^thinker247:
I'm offended by people who clap after every statement.


*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*

>> ^demon_ix:
I'm offended by people who tell me I can't offend other people when they offend me.


*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*

>> ^Sagemind:
>> ^demon_ix:
I'm offended by people who tell me I can't offend other people when they offend me.

Should I be offended by that?


*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*

>> ^choggie:
The best offense, is a good fencepost.
If Dawkins got paid for this appearance, one might see the similarities of his salary for the show having been payed by the students or school at Berkeley, and that of the the tithes that members of a church pay for physical plant and the pastor's salary.
Atheists are so preachy nowadays.
Most people don't discuss with others their voting record or personal income, why bother to bring any God into the argument against throw-back practices like stoning, preaching eternal hellfire,etc. Simply take their children from them those that would pollute their minds with blasphemy against common sense and humanity....and free them from their idiot parents.
Licensing for couples who want to reproduce is essential in the choggie paradigm.


*CL-......... hmm.

The best offense, is a good fencepost.

If Dawkins got paid for this appearance, one might see the similarities of his salary for the show having been payed by the students or school at Berkeley, and that of the the tithes that members of a church pay for physical plant and the pastor's salary.

Atheists are so preachy nowadays.

Most people don't discuss with others their voting record or personal income, why bother to bring any God into the argument against throw-back practices like stoning, preaching eternal hellfire,etc. Simply take their children from them those that would pollute their minds with blasphemy against common sense and humanity....and free them from their idiot parents.

Licensing for couples who want to reproduce is essential in the choggie paradigm.