Borachio
Way past lunacy
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Link to video.
Well. What do you think? Good thing? Bad thing?
And more generally is the loss of faith, any faith, always a loss, or does a sense of freedom accompany it too?
Leaving Islam
- Thread starter Borachio
- Start date
Link to video.
Well. What do you think? Good thing? Bad thing?
And more generally is the loss of faith, any faith, always a loss, or does a sense of freedom accompany it too?
Recon Rover
Warlord
http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/episodes/season-premiere-a-sinner-in-mecca
The CBC recently aired a documentary titled A Sinner in Mecca filmed by openly gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma visiting Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, a religious pilgrimage. In the documentary he describes performing rituals such as slitting the throat of a goat as leaving him with a greater sense of loss than before. He desires to be a faithful Muslim and homosexual but discovers in the end that the two are likely incompatible. Nevertheless, the perseveres as a Muslim outside of Islam's contemporary realm.
In this particular case, Parvez Sharma hasn't entirely lost his faith however he appears to have lost interest in the community of faith or rather the doctrine exercised by the leaders of a faith. This loss can be interpreted as a gain for his personal spirituality.
I would certainly make the argument, the anecdote provided aside, that a sense of freedom or liberation certainly encompasses the loss of faith in even the smallest degrees.
The CBC recently aired a documentary titled A Sinner in Mecca filmed by openly gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma visiting Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, a religious pilgrimage. In the documentary he describes performing rituals such as slitting the throat of a goat as leaving him with a greater sense of loss than before. He desires to be a faithful Muslim and homosexual but discovers in the end that the two are likely incompatible. Nevertheless, the perseveres as a Muslim outside of Islam's contemporary realm.
In this particular case, Parvez Sharma hasn't entirely lost his faith however he appears to have lost interest in the community of faith or rather the doctrine exercised by the leaders of a faith. This loss can be interpreted as a gain for his personal spirituality.
I would certainly make the argument, the anecdote provided aside, that a sense of freedom or liberation certainly encompasses the loss of faith in even the smallest degrees.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I'm a so incredibly grateful that I was able to leave the religious organization my parents signed me up for when I was unable to give consent (The Catholic Church)... It was an incredibly easy process, I just stopped going to church and no longer self-identify as a Christian.
Most Muslims can't do that, I don't think. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in most Muslim countries that sort of thing comes with a punishment of death. And that's horrible.
Most Muslims can't do that, I don't think. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in most Muslim countries that sort of thing comes with a punishment of death. And that's horrible.
Lillefix
I'm serious. You can.
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Don't be so sure. In Norway the catholic church literally went through phone books(didn't even know they still existed) and added catholic sounding names(Polish and Spanish) to their lists. No questions asked.
Well I already tried that, but people who already knew still assume / believe I'm a Hindu, and every new person that meets me assumes / believes I'm a Muslim.
This is the single biggest reason why I want to obliterate mankind with nukes.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I'm probably on "This guy's definitely a catholic" lists, but so what? It doesn't cost me a cent.. I suppose the only problem with is that I might be counted as a catholic on a census sort of thing.. But other than that, who cares really? I've got the pope down as a member of NAMBLA, it doesn't actually make him one.
I mean yeah, I agree that it's a sneaky and immoral practice.. but in practice I am not Christian - and them adding me to their "Def. a christian!" list doesn't affect me one bit.
I am aware that in some countries those who are on these lists have to pay extra taxes (or some such nonsense).. and I've also heard of a fee you have to pay to officially be taken off.. and that's BS, really, but it doesn't affect me here in Canada. So from my POV this isn't a problem for me (other than the census nonsense, but I'm not even really sure I'm counted as a Christian for census purposes, since I've never told the government what religion I'm a part of - it's none of their business)
Always carry some beef jerky with you.. and bacon.
When someone accuses you of being a Hindu, just respond with "What's a Hindu?", while casually pulling out the beef jerky out of your pocket and munching on it.
Lillefix
I'm serious. You can.
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In Norway churches and religions and so on get public funding depending on how many members they have. So they have basically scammed the state for several millions.
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
No, that would obviously not be correct.
What I find amazing is that it took this long for anybody to even point it out.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
And if I were Norwegian I would have a huge problem with that.. Why hasn't there been a large push for people to quit the church then btw?
but as far as I know here in Canada my status as someone affiliated with a religious group doesn't affect any funding that this church receives. Maybe I'm wrong though? I have no idea to be honest, and I really have no idea what they've got me down for under "religious affiliation". My guess is that they don't really care or keep track of that information, but I could be wrong.
Last I checked well more than half of the majorly Muslim countries had some sort of a "You can't quit your religion you fool" legislation on the books. And I could be wrong about the punishment, maybe it's not death everywhere, but I do remember very strict punishments for this "crime".
edit: found a map
Borachio
Way past lunacy
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In Norfolk (England), the answer to this question is normally: "That lay eggs, that do."
Terxpahseyton
Nobody
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Wow, it would drive me mad if I had to pretend to be a Muslim while actually being an Atheist.
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
It is so frequently overstated by the Islamophobes it is no wonder there is so much confusion:
Laws Criminalizing Apostasy - Library of Congress
Not only is apostasy rarely punished by death in these countries, there are there only eight of them out of the 49 countries where the majority of the population are Muslim. They are also some of the smaller ones by population.
I leave it up to you do do the arithmetic if you wish to do so.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Alright, you got me, I'm an islamophobe who refuses to do arithmetic because it sounds Arabic or something.
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
BTW regarding the OP, religion is dead. Pass it along. Anybody who leaves is only doing the smart thing.
But keep in mind that in Southern Africa, Christians might label you as a witch and murder you. And in a few of the extremely backward predominately Muslim countries the same thing might happen, only they probably won't call you a witch.
Recon Rover
Warlord
If it's any consolation, I can point out a dozen instances where atheist bloggers, converts, and journalists accused of being apostates have been killed, severely injured, or have had money put on their heads.
There are certainly countries, Bangladesh comes to mind as one more recently, that don't seem to care much if certain individuals are killed for their beliefs.
Aleksey_aka_al
Smiley
edit: found a map
Spoiler :
Clear lie and propaganda.
The amusing thing is that the very first sentence of the source says "This report surveys the apostasy laws of twenty-three countries in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia". Less than half of Muslim countries were observed. In every third country death for apostasy is the law. And in most other countries the punishment is several years of prison, according to the same source. Not a problem at all.
Recon Rover
Warlord
You should alert Wikipedia as the map is found in this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam
