Holy Cow!

Another episode in the tale of religious stupidity.

A calf with a white marking on its forehead in the approximate shape of a cross was born last week at a dairy farm in Sterling, a small rustic town on the Rhode Island border. Owner Brad Davis told WFSB-TV he thinks the marking may be a message from above, though he's still trying to figure out what that message might be.

Yeah folks, there you have it, a literal Holy Cow. With the Jesus appearing on the iron and now a holy cow, something big must be in the works. Perhaps we are about to witness the second coming of Jesus -much to the chagrin of us, the disbelievers.

Iron Jesus -the religious stupidity marches on

I was browsing through the day's news and couldn't resist to click on the news headline: "Methuen woman says she found image of Jesus on iron"

Just when I think that I have seen all that is ridiculous about religion, I keep running into stories like this.

The woman in this story goes on to say that:

"It just gave me a sign that life is going to be good," Coady said. "I think he's listening."

If this is not an insult to human intelligence than I don't know what is. Where does one even begin to reason with this woman? Maybe this is a fair warning to all us non believers that this latest appearance of Jesus on an iron is a bellwether of his second coming.

I am waiting.

What would Jesus use?

Yesterday while watching football on Tivo and fast forwarding, I for a gazillion times saw an ad where some alien objects were falling from the sky like an steroid. Then the commercial shows a guy hovering over the fallen object and in the midst of dust and smoke, h he asks the questions 'What the heck is this thing?' ... or something to that effect. It turns out that the commercial was for the new Google Verizon phone 'Droid'.

And out of nowhere, my thoughts wandered. I started thinking about people who believe in the second coming of Jesus (Muslims, Christians). But the question that tickled my fancy after watching the Droid commercial was, "What would Jesus use as his phone on his second coming?"

Would Jesus use an iPhone, Blackberry or Droid? What would he be wearing on his second coming? Jeans, Khakis or Chinos? What brand would he be sporting? Gap, Calvin Klein or Armani? I couldn't help but notice this cheesy smile on my face as I pondered through the possibilities. Where would he land on his second coming? Jerusalem or LA? LA sound so much appropriate -Isn't LA after all a city of angels? What other place could be more apt for a prohphet to make a second landing? How would Jesus announce his coming? Last night outside Safeway I saw this guy in garb and sandals begging for money. It was obvious that he hadn't showered or shaved in days. I really thought he was Jesus until I noticed his long blonde dreadlocks. But then who knows, to mix will with the current population, Jesus may sport a blonde hairdo and flash his fancy Droid phone. Would he be texting kind of a dude too? What language would he text into? Does the smart phones have Armaic or Hebrew support? If not, they better get on to the new feature development. I am already thinking of writing to Steve Jobs to get his Apples in order for the second coming of Jesus.

Religion strikes again

Religion strikes again -well almost, until the King issued a pardon. No, this is not a mideval story, rather something that just happened today in stone aged Saudia Arabia.

The story goes that a female Saudi journalist was sentenced to 60 lashes for her role in some TV programming and the program material was deemed as sexual in nature. As we all know that God hates sex, the Saudi courts convicted the female journalist and sentenced her to 60 lashes. This news covered by Reuters and other news outlets. I just learned today, that now the Saudi King has pardoned the journalist. As Reuters reported, 'The flogging has been dropped'.

This is yet another ridiculous saga in long standing history of religious stupidity. Where does one even begin to comprehend this bullshit?

From Agnosticism to Atheism

Today it was one of those mornings when while driving I didn't want to listen to news, pod casts or music. It was drizzling and made up for a perfect moment to look back in time and contemplate.

I started thinking about how long it took me from the point of agnosticism to reach the point of atheism. There was a point in my life when I finally :stopped caring: as to what God will or will not do if I act in a certain way. This was the time in my life when I came to full realization that morality does not come from God or religion. Not 'caring' about what God thinks, does not mean that I started stealing or lying (more than usual :)).

Several years gone by in this agnostic state. Then there came a time that I couldn't even recall when was the last time I attended prayer in a mosque -which by the way even when I did pray or attended mosque was forced upon by family and circumstances.

It has been only in the last two or three years that I eventually came to the conclusion that I am no longer an agnostic but rather an atheist. It is no longer enough for me to merely 'ignore' God's existence but I am at a point where I am actively engaged in a dialogue with people about non-existence of God.

All I can say that my consciousness has risen. It is hard to explain in words the feeling one get when unrestricted from thoughts of God and religion.

The Punishment of the Apostate according to Islamic Law

I am always on the lookout for original texts from Islamic scholars on the issue of Apostasy in Islam. Today I happened to come across a book by very famous and influential Pakistani Islamic scholar, (late) Maududi. He was also the founder of Pakistan's influential political party
Jama't -e-Islami.

His book on the subject of Apostasy was originally published in Urdu language as "Murtadd ki Saza Islami Qanun men", which in English translates to "The Punishment of the Apostate according to Islamic Law".

Here is the first paragraph from this book.

To everyone acquainted with Islamic law it is no secret that according to Islam the punishment for a Muslim who turns to kufr (infidelity, blasphemy) is execution. Doubt about this matter first arose among Muslims during the final portion of the nineteenth century as a result of speculation. Otherwise, for the full twelve centuries prior to that time the total Muslim community remained unanimous about it. The whole of our religious literature clearly testifies that ambiguity about the matter of the apostate's execution never existed among Muslims. The expositions of the Prophet, the Rightly-Guided Caliphs (Khulafa'-i Rashidun), the great Companions (Sahaba) of the Prophet, their Followers (Tabi'un), the leaders among the mujtahids and, following them, the doctors of the shari'ah of every century are available on record. All these collectively will assure you that from the time of the Prophet to the present day one injunction only has been continuously and uninterruptedly operative and that no room whatever remains to suggest that perhaps the punishment of the apostate is not execution.


He then goes on presenting the proof from Quran and Hadith as follows:


"Here I wish briefly to offer proof that will quiet the doubt in the hearts of those who, for lack of sources of information, may think that perhaps the punishment of death did not exist in Islam but was added at a later time by the "mawlawis" (religious leaders) on their own.

God Most High declares in the Qur'an:

But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then are they your brethren in religion. We detail our revelations for a people who have knowledge. And if they break their pledges after their treaty (hath been made with you) and assail your religion, then fight the heads of disbelief -- Lo! they have no binding oaths in order that they may desist. (9:11,12)[1]


After the Qur'an we turn to the Hadith. This is the command of the Prophet:

1. Any person (i.e., Muslim) who has changed his religion, kill him.[3]"

So, as you can see that when I started this blog, I made a point that I am really scared of the consequences of my act of Apostasy. This is no joke. It still comes as a shock to my non Muslims friends when I tell them that my act of Apostasy could end up in my being killed.

I have not even yet talked about the fear of extra judicial killing. If the state of Pakistan does not kill me, it does not mean that a mob would not. Extra judicial killings are too common in Pakistan. You may have heard of 'Honor killings' where a husband/father/brother is justified in killing his wife/daughter/sister if he is in any way suspicious of her.

Religion strikes again

"I am guilty of trusting my Lord's wisdom completely. ... Guilty of asking for heavenly intervention. Guilty of following Jesus Christ when the whole world does not understand. Guilty of obeying my God,"


These are the words of the father who along with his wife who prayed rather than seek medical care for their 11-year-old dying daughter. Both were sentenced to 6 months in jail and 10 years probation in the girl's death.


Can you imagine if the parents were not Christians but let's say 'non believers'? Would they have gotten away with only six months of jail time or would they be looking at manslaughter second degree murder charges?