The Faith Column

18 comments from readers

jup184
04 February 2008 at 13:35

I couldnt agree anymore exept from an ex-christian perspective. I also believe in the seperation of church and state but wish it was truly so. In the United States, there is no seperation of church and state, look for example, at the governments reason for not recognizing same sex marriage or civil unions... Solely based on religion. I would understand if it were Iran, where there's really just one people, but in the US theres millions of different people to be represented that are currently in the shadows when it comes to their government.

Oldman
04 February 2008 at 13:44

I was brought up a Christian but after joining the RAF in WW2 and seeing the carnage, I could no longer agree with any religion. When I began to study religion seriously I soon saw that all religions were just a lack of the ability to say "I do not know". I believe most religions are the curse of mankind. Buddhism is the only one that i can partly agree with.

DavidPollock
04 February 2008 at 16:19

We should all admire the courage of people like Maryam in speaking out on public platforms against the totalitarian Islamism that threatens our liberal democracies and international institutions. See www.ex-muslim.org.uk/ for more about her and others' work.

PeaceNotHate
04 February 2008 at 18:54

Thank you, Maryam! The teachings of Islam pose an imminent threat to the world, and this threat needs to be confronted. Not with bombs, not with threats, but with the courage of people like Maryam. If I were a Muslim, I would immediate stand up and shout "I am an apostate!" even if it meant death for me. I believe this to be the only reasonable thing to do given the plain meaning of the Qu'ran and the hadith. If it were clear that 99.999% of Muslims did NOT follow the clear teachings of the warlord Muhammad, that is, if Islam were "just another religion," this would not be necessary. However, where we see terrorism on a daily basis, where large percentages of Muslims agree with the terrorists, the ONLY proper response for Muslims who want this to end is to stand up and say "I am an apostate! I renounce Islam! Kill me if you can, but this madness stops with me!" I love you, Maryam, and I will do everything in my power to help you and those like you who understand that if enough Muslims become apostates, the madness will stop.

Mazda
04 February 2008 at 19:08

I think that one significant problem with Islam is the amount that violence is inculcated in the Koran and in Hadith. More than any other religion Islam tells its followers who its enemies are (nearly everone except Christians and other Muslims) and what means they can use to fight them (any and all).

It is probably no accident that Muslims are in the most conflict with the religion that is number two in the world in terms of inculcating violence namely Judaism. Perhaps the world would be a better place if the bulk of Muslims decided to follow a reformist Islamic movement like the Baha'i Faith. Perhaps it would be even better if they went a step further and followed The path of the One which is Matrixism.

PeaceNotHate
04 February 2008 at 21:33

Hey, jup184 - a little focus here! Everybody out there, please read the Qu'ran! It's available right here: http://www.oneummah.net/quran/quran.html. It's a eye opening experience. This isn't a religious book; it's "Muhammad's 7th Century Guide to Warfare, Terror, Child Marriage, and Discrimination Against Women." To those out there who take the approach of "well, religions all say different things, some of which are controversial, and Islam is just another religion" WAKE UP! Read the Qu'ran and make up your own minds! The people who are committing terrorism in the name of Islam are just following exactly what the Qu'ran tells them to do! Muslims who AREN'T committing terrorism are: 1) secretly in favor of the terrorism; 2) afraid to do anything for fear they'll be killed; or 3) have their heads buried in the sand. Maryam is one of the few brave ones to stand up and say "enough!"

Infidel
05 February 2008 at 11:26

Yesterday Hazel Blears announced more Government initiatives on social cohesion and integration. This is the same Government that wants more faith schools that segregate children and their teachers by religion. We've also seen this week from the humanists that the Scouts refuse to let atheists and humanists do some dibbing and dobbing unles they are forced to lie about belief in a god (any one will do apparently) and see no issue with Muslim only, Jewish only, Catholic only scout troops.

So - segregated in school by religion, segregated outside school by religion. Yet our Government drive for integration and community cohesion actually encourages this segregation! You couldn't make it up.

Sout Africa had racial apartheid, Britain has religious apartheid. What a way to run a country

Abu Ali
05 February 2008 at 16:55

Great article Maryam - well said!

mollie muzaffar
06 February 2008 at 12:10

It's sad to read comments like "The teachings of Islam pose an imminent threat to the world" - those of us who have bothered to study the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad are growing weary of explaining over and over again that Islam should NOT be equated with violence and discrimination; that in fact, quite the opposite is true.

But anyway, whilst Maryam's own circumstances make it appropriate for her to renounce religion and declare herself a secularist, it is not a direction fit for everyone.

Having been brought up in the UK as a thoroughly secularised lapsed/non-practising atheist Muslim, I am becoming increasingly compelled to announce my Muslim identity at every opportunity. Why?

Because if the ignorant masses are to ever understand the true meaning of Islam, non-fundamentalist Muslims need to speak up, to reclaim the image of Islam from those who perpetuate these false representations.

It's a shame that Maryam, instead of trying to positively and constructively redefine what it means to be a Muslim, has instead simply washed her hands of a whole faith and culture. Kind of seems like taking the easy way out?

Irfan
06 February 2008 at 17:29

Mollie, you state: 'Having been brought up in the UK as a thoroughly secularised lapsed/non-practising atheist Muslim'. Really? Well you must have come from the most extraordinary family, totally detached from fellow 'Muslims'. Why? Because the reality is that owing to accident of birth, being born into a Muslim family is akin to life imprisonment - which is to say, it is almost impossible to break away. As all Muslims know, the penalty for apostasy is death (as laid out in the Hadith). So the likes of Maryam are hardly 'taking the easy way out' - quite the contrary - it is the bravest decision imaginable.

Oh please, your remark re the 'ignorant masses' is itself ignorant. Why? Because people are finding out for themselves what a brutal, barbaric religion Islam is; the Koran is not some secretive tract but freely available - and when they read it, they can understand only too well the origins of the ideas of 'fundamentalists'. The game is up Mollie - the genie is out of the bottle and no amount of self-deception and guilt-tripping is going to put it back in.

radius
06 February 2008 at 20:36

Mollie, leaving one's religion is not the "easy way out" - especially a religion whose theologians are unanimous that people doing so should be executed. As Irfan says, it's the bravest thing imaginable. It is very *very* hard to leave a serious religious family and community. Staying in it when you do not believe most of it - because it is a badge or a 'culture' - is by far the easier way out.

Mollie, think the unthinkable. Just for ten minutes. Read that Qur'an and those ahadith carefully, and with an open mind. Put aside 'culture' and 'identity' and pretend someone has just turned up and told you they've had a private conversation with the creator of the universe...

nawawimohamad
12 February 2008 at 03:38

Dear Maryam Namazie,

After reading this article I found out that you are not really convinced that you are an atheist. Your outspokeness is just your effort to fully convince yourself that you are an "apostate". Deep in your heart are so many questions unanswered which you find it difficult to forget and give you sleepless nights. You are not contented, you don't feel the bliss and all these make you want to shout out your anxieties and frustrations. Until and unless you start seeking the truth and obtained it, you will never be at peace with your life and action until you die. And believe me actually even after death!

wrongclubson
12 February 2008 at 15:25

There is nothing after life, enjoy it while you can, you're a long time dead.

Esther
14 February 2008 at 22:35

"the religion that is number two in the world in terms of inculcating violence namely Judaism", I quote from Mazda's comment, displayed previously.

Unfortunately, Mazda, it is very obvious that you have not read the Bible. Judaism does not advocate violence and does not condemn people who do not follow its religion. It does not threaten or proselytise.

If you are equating the State of Israel with Judaism, remember that although some religious principles underpin the State, most of its government are not religious Jews. And also there are Israeli Arabs who are ministers in the Keneset.

Valerie Tarico
29 February 2008 at 07:51

Esther - you're kidding, right? The Hebrew Bible prescribes death for witches, for people who try to convert you to another religion, for heathens who happen to live on land wanted by God's favorite people . . . I was with you on the bizzare claim that Judaism is the 2nd most violent in the world, given Christianity's bloody history, but your denial of the brutalities sanctioned by the Bible is astounding.

aKhmoo
03 March 2008 at 23:45

Dear nawawimohamad!

I find your post hard to understand. How are you such an excellent psychologist to have figured Maryam’s entire belief system, just by reading a few paragraphs in this blog? I also find it hard to digest when you say, “Deep in your heart are so many questions unanswered…”

But of course. There are millions of questions unanswered about many aspects of life. Nevertheless, it is quite obvious that all religions have failed to answer any of them with enough or any hard evidence. In the contrary, religion has done nothing but to force the masses in believing blindly in the words written in some books. They could very well be fairy tales like Cinderella; and if they are not, then we have the right to believe Cinderella in fact is based on a true story.

In addition, why do you connect “seeking the truth” to religion? If you indicate, “SEEKING” the truth, then you have given the freedom to an individual to find the truth within them; yet, you implied that Maryam is a depressed and unhappy soul for seeking the truth!

You also say, “And believe me actually even after death.” Why should I believe you? Are you dead? Do you know a dead who has come back to tell you the tales of after life?

Think about the time that we thought the earth was flat and people blindly rejected the idea of it being otherwise. Science will answer our questions far more intelligently than any religion ever could.

aKhmoo

Vitruvian
06 March 2008 at 15:21

We should all support ex-muslims escape from islam. It is a strong sign of how bad islam is for people to be willing to abandon it even though they will lose their friends & family and will forever be in danger of being murdered for the 'crime' of apostasy.

You will be told time and time again that this is not the true islam and that only a small minority of muslims are violent due to mistranslating parts of the quran. I too once believed in this, until I did some research into the matter. The nice verses that you will hear about are made null and void by the verse of the sword. Basically what happened is that some muslims asked Mohammed why some of his verses contradicted each other, and his reply was that the later verses replaced (or abrogated) the earlier verses. The fact that the quran is not in chronological order makes it hard to see which verse takes precedence, but every different source that I have examined states that the tolerant and peaceful verses were made first, and that the more violent ones were added later, thus replacing the peaceful verses and effectively making them null and void.

Also look into what the hadiths say. These are the writings of Mohammed collected by muslims and are the islamic equivalent of the new testament, what with being written by the prophet's followers in much the same way as the apostles did with Jesus. The hadiths are even more violent and cruel than the Quran and are treated with equal authority by the majority, if not all, muslims.

Do not just take their, or my, word for it. Look for yourself. They have a practice called al-taqiyyah which requires them to lie to protect islam, so you will be hard-pressed to find one who is truthful about islam's true nature and its intent to rule the world. I know it sounds like a Bond villain, but that's what is in the islamic holy texts, so do the research and see for yourself and make it clear that you will not just sit by while this cult of lies and murder grabs as much power as it can.

meysam
03 August 2008 at 11:27

viva maryam namazie

viva wpiran

viva socialism