Why Religion is Anti-Women

Martin S Pribble is my guest today. He is an Australian atheist- feminist. He has written this post for my respected readers. I hope you would like his opinions.

‘I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that I am an atheist. All this means that I hold no belief in God or gods. I could be called an “anti-theist” because of my distaste for organised religions and the harm caused by them. I am also an “a-superstitionist”, a humanist, an environmentalist, and a male feminist. These are all separate to my atheism, but the edges of these “ists” cross over in several areas.

For instance, my dismissal of superstition crosses over into my atheism in the fact that religions are built upon a bed of superstitions, and all superstitions are equally false. Humanism and atheism cross over in areas where atrocities against people are bolstered by religious dogma and doctrine, or where religions are used as an excuse to kill and torture people. Environmentalism and atheism cross paths where dominionist groups such as The Cornwall Alliance use their belief in god to justify the pillaging of the earth’s remaining resources, all because the Bible says that it’s OK to do so.

But the biggest crossover occurs between atheism, Anti-theism and feminism. This is because most religions hold women to be second-class, and some even go so far as to blame women for all the evils in the world. Particularly in the Abrahamic religions, the ones I am most familiar with, women are blamed for the “fall of man” in the garden of Eden in the genesis chapters of the Old Testament, and it’s all downhill from there.

Throughout these holy books, women are mere secondary players in their versions of the origins of humankind, with all the “good” and “big” things being played out by men. With the exception of Mary, who was a mere receptacle for the unborn Christ, no other women are attributed with doing anything “good” in these stories. In fact one could say that women are often blamed for such things as seduction and “leading men astray” with their evil feminine prowess.

This is all back-story, however, and matters little in today’s world, unless you try to figure out why women are treated badly when under the control of a religious society. What matter is what is happening now, in the name of religion, and in the name of culture, that hinders the rights and positions of women.

Under the guise of religion, attempts are being made to control the reproductive rights of women, claiming that since god put a soul in a woman’s womb, that it’s god’s will that a baby be born. Under the guise of religion, women are expected to shave their heads and wear a wig, because their real hair is seen as evil or “a temptation”. Under the guise of religion, girls as young as nine are forced into arranged marriage, using the example of Mohammed and Aisha as justification. Under the guise of religion, women are denied the right to become a religious leader, and in some cases, are not even allowed into a place of worship.

In all of these examples, religion is used as an excuse, or a reason, for the subjugation of women. Yet in most cases the religions that people use to justify them make no mention of these practices directly, either in a ritualistic sense, or in an allegorical sense. In fact, what we see is the translations of ancient texts into whatever language the people within a society speak, then at the behest of the men in charge of the region, cultural practices are inflated out of these ideas. And this is not something that happened by chance, it happened by design.

Culture then holds onto these practices to keep them alive. This makes some kind of sense, for men are the ones in power, and it is in their interest to keep all people in a state of powerlessness. So by instantly discounting 50% of the population, half the job is already done, and it just leaves the men to get on with whatever business is at hand. If ever challenged on these practices, all a man need do is point at the holy book and threaten, not only from their own man-made power structure, but from the powers of the almighty god. Women are to be subordinate. The Bible says so.

The point here is not whether the old books explicitly state that women are to be treated as second-class citizens. The point is that the religions are used as a justification for such acts, and that women bear the brunt of these interpretations of the holy books. When Pat Robertson spins hatred toward women, he does so with the apparent authority of God (tornadoes). When the mullah shows disapproval at the baring of women’s breasts, he does so under the name of Allah (earthquakes). When an Islamic man beats his wife, he justifies it using Sura 4:34, which allows this practice.

As a man, I can’t tell you how it feels to be the one discriminated against in the name of religion, for I will never know that. Neither can I tell you what it feels like to have the whole religious card-deck stacked up against you. What I can tell you is that I recognise it is wrong, and that I can do something about this. The systematic deconstruction of the anti-women tenets of religion is needed, and from this standpoint, we can then work toward destroying the cultural practices that use religion to justify their existences.

The humanist in me says that this idea goes for any and all practices that hold down men and women, and I know this is like trying to put out a wildfire with a water-pistol, but I feel starting with 50% agenda (i.e. that of women) is a better place to start than any other. This is because the anti-women rhetoric appears not only in the context of religion, but also in everyday society. If a practice impinged upon man and women both it would be much more likely to be addressed.

What we see here, and one of the main reasons why I am against organised religion, is the justification of age-old practices in a time when we know better. Not saying that the practices were ever right; they weren’t. However at the times of the writings of these holy books, there was no recourse for women. Now, we have the power, the numbers, the information, and the means to show that bronze-age patriarchal practices hold no place in modern society. This is the hangover from a time when religion held power, when the word of the priest was more important that the word of the scholar.’

I feel safe because I do not live with a husband or a boyfriend.

I was reading today’s news about how a doctor woman was killed by her doctor husband in Pittsburgh. I was thinking how they lived their family life in their nice beautiful house, whether they woke up in the morning and said good morning to each other, and then had breakfast together, whether they used to go to parties, theaters, vacations together, come home, watch TV, make love! What kind of life a couple could live when one planned to murder the other one? I imagined Dr Robert Ferrante as my husband. I told him about my happiness and sorrows, about my childhood and my youth, and about my love and my dreams, he listened to me and planned to kill me, I was cooking the food he liked and I was serving him dinner every night, while he was sitting on a dinning chair planning to poison me. I was passionately making love to him while he was planning to eliminate me. And one day he finally murdered me.

It does not happen only in Pittsburgh in the USA, it happens in Pirozpore in Bangladesh, in St. Petersburg in Russia, in Porto Novo in Benin, in Piteå in Sweden as well.

Two cheers for democracy!

Ghulam azam, a 91-year-old war criminal, has been sentenced to 90 years in prison for the crimes he committed during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971.

A collaborator of the Pakistani army, Azam was directly involved in killing 3 million people and the rapes of 200,000 women. After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, Azam returned to the country with the help of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the once-banned political party of Islamists, was given a free hand in the Islamisation of politics. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Islamisation went on to destroy the secular fabric of the newborn nation.

Of course, Azam will not live another 90 years to end his prison term. An ailing man, he will stay in the hospital until he dies. He will not really suffer like other prisoners. He enjoyed a celebrity life for more than 40 years as the top leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh, the country whose birth he had violently opposed. Even though he will be privileged as a prisoner in his last days, still his punishment means a lot for the secular people in Bangladesh.

The war criminals have got every opportunity to turn a secular country into Darul Islam, the land of Islam. Many of them were even made Parliament members. The Jamaat-e-Islami uses religion to win the hearts and minds of god-fearing ordinary people.

A few months ago, however, there was a big secular uprising despite the threats of the Islamic fundamentalists. Many secularists demanded the banning of Jamaat-e-Islami. I supported that demand even though I am all for democracy, because the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh is a terrorist organisation. The Islamists aim to bring theocracy and bury democracy and secularism forever.

The punishment Azam got now in his 90s is just a symbolic one. Sheikh Hasina has been in power before, but she was reluctant to bring war criminals to justice. But this time, probably, the popularity of the recent secular movement made her decide to punish war criminals. She got a huge number of votes in the last election after she promised to bring them to justice and fight the fundamentalists. Though she also promised to bring back 1972’s secular Constitution, as Prime Minister she showed no such initiative.

Her party is considered the most secular in Bangladesh, yet they arrested some secularist bloggers a few months ago. Indeed, there is no true secular political party in the country that can assure the security of all the people, including non-believers, and protect their right to express their opinions fearlessly.

Bangladesh may have won the war in 1971, but the war actually is far from over. A war is still going on, a war of two opposite ideas — secularism and fundamentalism; between rational, logical thinking and irrational blind faith; between modernism and barbarism, humanism and Islamism; between those who value freedom and those who do not.

The old generation committed an enormous mistake by letting fundamentalists influence the people. Now the new generation has to transmute their country into a secular nation — free of religion, fanaticism, fascism and barbarism. People need to get angry. I am painfully aware of the evil powers that once attempted to eliminate me, and with whom the pro-Islamist government ultimately conspired to throw me out of Bangladesh, my own country, 20 years ago, never to allow me in again.

Therefore, I would love to see millions of angry, passionate young people with a vision rise against the Islamists’ insanity, and guide the country to a new era.

Mid-day deaths

middaymeal

I learned about poverty when I learned about school children that stopped going to schools because they were not given free mid-day meal anymore. Just a little poor quality rice, and a little poor quality lentil they could get. But that was their main meal for a day. Mid-day meal was the main attraction for children to go to schools. After the scheme was closed, there were schools, there were teachers, but there was no mid-day meal and there was no student. Then one day the scheme was reopened. Children began to go to schools for both a meal and an education.

I learned about insanity when I learned how the poor school children were poisoned. Mid-day meal was cooked with deadly pesticide. 23 children died immediately. They were supposed to become educated and get rid of their poverty. They were supposed to enlighten their society.

Salute to the brave girl!

11 year old Yemeni girl Nada Al Ahdal escaped arranged marriage.

My grandmother was given in marriage when she was 9. My mother was forced to marry when she was 10.
My grandmother could not escape her arranged marriage. My mother could not.
Hundreds of thousands of girls who are victims of child marriage can not.

I wish all the children in the world learned from Nada Al Ahdal and became brave. I wish all the parents in the world who didn’t believe in children’s rights learned from the little girl and became sane.

Muslims give more money to charity. Not for humanity but for heaven.

Muslims give more money to charity. than people of other religions. The survey has been done only in the UK, so Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and other lion-hearted atheist donors are not in the list. It can be true that Muslims give more money to charity than people of other religions.

More than three in 10 Muslims, Catholics and Jews donated money during 2012, ICM Research found.
Followers of Islam gave an average of $567 compared to Jewish givers who donated around $412, according to the survey of just over 4,000 people in the U.K.
Christians gave considerably less. Protestants donated an average of $308, while Roman Catholics gave around $272, the poll found. Atheists averaged just $177.
In total 4,036 people answered the question: “How much, if at all, would you say you generally donated to charities last year?”
Respondents were asked to exclude buying items from charity stores or sponsoring someone for a charity activity.
The finding follows a recent Pew Research Center survey of more than 38,000 Muslims in 39 countries, which found that 77 percent said they donated to charity.
Data from the online platform JustGiving.com also shows that Muslims are increasingly using online methods for their Zakat — the Muslim practice of charitable donations — with a growth of close to 70 percent over the last two years.
“Our data shows many of Britain’s Muslim communities are at the forefront of digital giving, driving an increase in Zakat donations,” Zarine Kharas, their CEO explained.

I am happy for those Muslims who give charity and for those who receive it. It’s such a great thing for humanity. But why do Muslims give charity? Is it because they care about humanity? Maybe it is not important what motivates them to be so generous, they are generous, that’s the great thing. But my curious mind doesn’t stop here. It starts to find the reason of Muslims being kind and nice. The reason is: Allah asks Muslims to give zakat from the part of their income to poor Muslims. Muslims follow the orders of Allah because Allah promises them heaven if they do.

72huris

Muslims have to believe in five pillars of Islam if they want to go to heaven. The pillars are: (1). Believing in the Oneness of Allah and that Muhammad as His Prophet; (2). Offering daily five prayers to Allah; (3) Fasting in the month of Ramadan; (4). Giving Zakat [alms] to the indigent Muslims and (5) Performing Hajj in Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime, if one is physically able to do it.
Would they give zakat to poor non-Muslims or poor atheists? They would not. They would have given, if they were really concerned about humanity. But it is not the case. They ask poor Muslims whom they give zakat to pray for them so that they can go to heaven.

paradise
(Allah his Prophet Muhammad frequently promised believers of Islam with lustful heavens and erotic pleasures of various kinds.)

Syed Kamran Mirza gives vivid pictures of heaven where Muslims are desperate to go.

Zakat goes to poor Muslims, zakat also goes to build mosques and madrassas, and goes to Jihad. A percentage of zakat must go towards Jihad. — It is one of the common laws of Islamic Sharia which is practiced in the Sharia-based countries.

The Hadith says:

p.4.427
Heaven has 8 doors. He who prayed will be called from the door of prayer. He who paid zakat will be called from the door of zakat. He who fought will be called from the door of jihad.

Sahih Bukhari; No. 1214.

A foreigner is punished for being raped in Dubai.

The laws of Arab Muslim countries can be terribly barbaric! Women get whipped for their crime of being raped. I thought Dubai would be different. Foreigners are more in number than native Arabs. But the land’s barbaric laws are still used for everyone including foreigners come from civilized countries. A Norwegian girl raped by a man in Dubai, was sentenced to 16 months in prison and the rapist was sentenced to 13 months in prison. Under barbaric laws people get punished for having sex outside marriage, and more shocking thing is victims get punished for being tortured, abused and raped.

dubai1

It seems there is no such thing called rape or sex with or without consent in Islamic dictionary. It seems for the ancient Arab tribes, the consent was not at all necessary for sex. What was necessary was to have sex within marriage. If sex occurs outside marriage, no matter whether it is because of rape or relationships, punishment would be the same..

Rape cases are impossible to prove in the Islamic court. Because the court needs four male witnesses to prove a rape case. It is highly unlikely that a rapist would rape in front of four male witnesses who could give testimony against him later in the court. Arab countries still punish people for having consensual sex outside marriage. Rape is considered nothing but adultery or ‘sex outside marriage’. Raped girls get punished as well as rapists for having ‘sex outside marriage’. The Islamic courts can not treat a rape as a rape. The law could be different if there was no scandal involving Aisha, Muhammad’s youngest wife, some 1400 years ago.

The scandal was documented in the Hadith (Sahih Muslim, Book 37, Number 6673; Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 48, Number 829).

Aisha was once travelling with a group of Muslims, and she was one day left behind. She was found later and taken to her caravan. Muslims started talking about Aisha that she was having sex with a man, and that was the reason she was left behind. Aisha strongly denied this accusation. But people continued accusing Aisha of having adultery. Muhammad then came to defend Aisha. She was not just an ordinary woman. After all she was one of the wives of the prophet of Islam. The Quranic revelations were then revealed in which Aisha was declared innocent.

Quran 24: 13-16
Why did they not bring four witnesses of it? But as they have not brought witnesses they are liars before Allah. And were it not for Allah’s grace upon you and His mercy in this world and the hereafter, a grievous chastisement would certainly have touched you on account of the discourse which you entered into. When you received it with your tongues and spoke with your mouths what you had no knowledge of, and you deemed it an easy matter while with Allah it was grievous. And why did you not, when you heard it, say: It does not beseem us that we should talk of it; glory be to Thee! this is a great calumny?

Quran 24:4
And those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses – lash them with eighty lashes and do not accept from them testimony ever after. And those are the defiantly disobedient.

In order to prove adultery or similar types of sexual misconduct, four male witnesses should be produced. Male witnesses are necessary, not female witnesses. Because the Quran says, the testimony of a female is at most worth half that of a man’s. (Quran 2:282).

The rule of four witnesses was intended to protect Muslim women from being falsely labeled as having had forbidden intercourse. Unfortunately the same rule was applied to the rule of rape. If a woman makes complaints of rape will need to produce four male witnesses to prove her case against her rapist. If she cannot produce four witnesses, her case turns into a adultery crime and is thus punished accordingly.

A former member of Muslim association that was approved by Muslim brotherhood expressed his opinion on rape issue:

There’s also an impression, among a large number of Muslim followers, that if a woman is raped, it’s usually her fault; that her mere presence in the street without a veil, for example, has ‘tempted’ the poor man to rape her. A notorious example of this mentality among Western Muslims is a 7th century misogynistic Australian barbarian called Taj El-Din Al-Hilali, who said in a Friday sermon that if a woman gets raped, it is mostly the woman’s fault because she wasn’t in her home. He also said:

“If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem.”

Bigots come and go, but what’s disturbing in his case is that he is a leading Muslim figure in Australia, and that the Friday after his remarks were publicized, 5000 Muslims in Australia actually cheered in support of his remarks. Other Muslim leaders supported him, too (example).

I will need to make it clear and obvious that raping Muslim women is absolutely forbidden in Islam. However, there are some Muslims who go on raping rampages on non-Muslim women in Western countries, and they find justification for it, partly because “it’s the woman’s fault for going out without the veil”, and partly because of verses like Quran 4:24 and Quran 23:6, which permit a Muslim male to take non-Muslim women after a battle and keep them as war booty and as slaves.

All countries change their laws, make them better and modern. But Islamic laws remain stagnant in many Muslim countries. Because these laws are believed as divine laws, made by Allah. Changing laws mean challenging Allah.

Aren’t we supposed to become more civilized, more equal, more rational than before? How many more years will we allow religion to stop our thinking mind and to abuse humanity?

Stop going to mosques!

Mosques are dangerous. It is better not to go to mosques for prayers. Mosques are now the biggest target for Islamic terrorist attacks. A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Sunni mosque in central Iraq, killing at least 20 people in the middle of a sermon on Friday.

mosque blasts

Don’t forget about the other mosque blasts.

1. Mecca Mosque bombing.

2. Jama mosque attack.

3. Jama mosque explosion.

4. Malegaon bombings.

5. Walsal bomb blast.

6. Ajmer Dargah attack.

7. Red mosque event.

8. Red mosque suicide attack.

9. Bombings in Pakistani mosques.

10. Damascus mosque suicide bomb blast.

These are just a few of the hundreds of mosque blasts.

Mosques are called Allah’s houses. Allah’s houses are not safe. Non-Muslims or non-believers rarely attack mosques. Most of the times Mosques are bombed by believers of Allah to kill believers of Allah.

A woman was stoned to death for having a mobile phone.

In Pakistan, a woman called Arifa was stoned to death for having a mobile phone.

They have made Arifa stand in a hole in the courtyard.
There she stands submerged to her waist with head hanging.
They’re throwing stones at Arifa
Those stones are striking my body.
Stones are striking my head, forehead, chest and back,
They are throwing stones and laughing aloud, laughing and shouting abuse.

Arifa’s fractured forehead pours out blood, mine also.
Arifa’s eyes have burst, mine also.
Arifa’s nose has been smashed, mine also.
Through Arifa’s torn breasts, her heart has been pierced, mine also.

Are these stones not striking you?

They’re laughing aloud, laughing and stroking their beards.
There are caps, stuck to their heads, they too are shaking with laughter.
They’re laughing and swinging their walking sticks.
From the quiver of their cruel eyes,
Arrows speed to pierce her body,
My body also.

Are these arrows not piercing your body?


(Video: Woman stoned to death for having a relationship)

Classification of Atheists!

According to a new study, there are at least six types of atheists.

1) Intellectual atheist/agnostic

This type of nonbeliever seeks information and intellectual stimulation about atheism.

They like debating and arguing, particularly on popular Internet sites.

They’re also well-versed in books and articles about religion and atheism, and prone to citing those works frequently.

2) Activist

These kinds of atheists and agnostics are not content with just disbelieving in God; they want to tell others why they reject religion and why society would be better off if we all did likewise.

They tend to be vocal about political causes like gay rights, feminism, the environment and the care of animals.

3) Seeker-agnostic

This group is made up of people who are unsure about the existence of a God but keep an open mind and recognize the limits of human knowledge and experience.

They regularly question their own beliefs and do not hold a firm ideological position.

That doesn’t mean this group is confused. They just embrace uncertainty.

4) Anti-theist

This group regularly speaks out against religion and religious beliefs, usually by positioning themselves as diametrically opposed to religious ideology. Anti-theists view religion as ignorance and see any individual or institution associated with it as backward and socially detrimental. The Anti-Theist has a clear and – in their view, superior – understanding of the limitations and danger of religions.
Anti-theists are outspoken, devoted and – at times – confrontational about their disbelief. They believe that obvious fallacies in religion and belief should be aggressively addressed in some form or another.

5) Non-theist

The smallest group among the six are the non-theists, people who do not involve themselves with either religion or anti-religion.

In many cases, this comes across as apathy or disinterest. A Non-Theist simply does not concern him or herself with religion. Religion plays no role or issue in one’s consciousness or worldview; nor does a Non- Theist have concern for the atheist or agnostic movement.
They simply do not believe, and in the same right, their absence of faith means the absence of anything religion in any form from their mental space.

6) Ritual atheist

They don’t believe in God, they don’t associate with religion, and they tend to believe there is no afterlife, but the sixth type of nonbeliever still finds useful the teachings of some religious traditions.

They see these as more or less philosophical teachings of how to live life and achieve happiness than a path to transcendental liberation. For example, these individuals may participate in specific rituals, ceremonies, musical opportunities, meditation, yoga classes, or holiday traditions.

For many of these nonbelievers, their adherence to ritual may stem from family traditions. For others, its a personal connection to, or respect for, the “profound symbolism” inherent within religious rituals, beliefs and ceremonies.

This classification is probably not the best one. But I am glad that people are talking about atheists and different types of atheists in popular mainstream media. The word atheist is not being considered a filthy obscene word in the USA anymore. People are becoming religious. People are becoming atheists also, more than ever.
What kind of atheist am I ? I believe I am a mixture of 1, 2, and 4. What about you guys?