No, no, and no! I have no interest in making mockery of religion. It’s mocked enough I think. I will be first to admit that Yes I have done it and I am not that ashamed of it. What’s the problem with wanting to point out logical flaws in religious theories? There’s a big difference between critisizing and mocking something.
To me, there’s no difference between religion and cult. I created this thread to understand what YOU folks think the difference is. Clearly, you failed to do so. If we as people of this age do not show any tolerance towards cults, why do we let people do everything under the sun in the name of religion?
Why so against questioning your religion? Why do you accuse me of trolling when I have given you very defined reasons for my stated opinions? Reasons you don’t even have a rebuttal for! Except for calling me a troll or saying I have an agenda. If I have some atheistic agenda, you all have religious agenda that you will be passing on to your children… That’s a MUCH bigger agenda than me making a mere comment here.
Because you can sit there like the rest and critisize cult behavior, behavior you believe to be abnormal. To me what y’all believe is abnormal. I live among all abnormal people by that definition. So yeah, I should be able to at least critisize it ONLINE because I feel I am the sane one. I should have the right to question, to compare, to critisize religions. We treat religions like they are somehow different from cults. They are not! People do all sorts of crap in the name of religion but the moment another self-proclaimed prophet comes around, he is sent right to a mental asylum. If we let all those self-proclaimed prophets do their thing, we would have another million religions.
Point is…Mainstream religions have been shielded from any questioning and critique to this day! This has not only skyrocketed conversions, it has resulted in more persecutions of those who do not believe and other minorities. Religions should be questioned and critisized the same way politics are critisized… Besides, I wasn’t even trying to critisize religion to begin with (my comment about comparing god to the devil). I just stated my opinion and instantly “earned” those infraction points. This obviously ticked me off because it’s this behavior that makes me want to do this EVEN MORE…Why not have a debate, refute it, or ignore it…why delete/move it? Is this some sort of fear of more rebels coming out? Am I going to cause people to denounce their faith? If your faith is that weak to begin with, you don’t deserve to continue believing in it…This is exactly what cult members do. They shield you from finding out the truth.. They know another reality exists outside of their little churches and madrasas. Ever wondered why God asked Eve and Adam not to touch the tree of knowledge? What is it God was hiding?
As to why I come to GS? Well, it’s an outlet for me to be able to say things I can’t say otherwise . I live among muslim Pakistanis and I hear offensive things everyday and people don’t even realize how something is offensive. I don’t think much of it because they have the right to say/think what they want. However, it’s this same right I can’t practice because there’s a good possibility of me getting hurt and others being hurt (yeah, I will say it Muslims are by far the most intolerant people I know). I am fortunate that my family is understanding but others like me aren’t that lucky.
Last but not least, this is very similar to how minorities feel living in Pakistan, they have to watch everything they say. I watch what I say. They must do everything very carefully and in secrecy Or the big dogs will come and get them. 99% of the people have no clue I am not mulim because I will be judged cruelly, shunned, or even attacked if they found out. Why must they live their lives as if they are walking on eggshells? This is the same behavior that our country needs to change by changing its constitution. Pakistan is not ready for someone like me just yet… Why persecute someone for speaking up when they have things to say you can’t even refute? This is fear, ignorance, and jahalat…
The above reply is meant for everyone not just Mirch. I respect all of you a lot as people of principles and good pakistanis. However, this does not mean you must shoot everyone else down who doesn’t share your religion or culture. Let people practice feedom of speech at least on this forum (of course within limits, and as far as I see, there’s no tolerance.). Let’s not give people like me a reason to kill their patriotism towards Pakistan. I still have plans to do a lot for battered women in Pakistan. Do not kill my passion for it by scrutinizing what I say here! I don’t do this offline. At least let me be who I am here… If a comment of mine here and there about religion ticks you off, refute it or ignore it. Don’t delete it or give me infraction points. Similarly, I see a million comments that tick me off and I refute it or ignore it. Of course you shouldn’t let people call each other names and let them fight like hungry wolves. BUT at least take the time to understand their question before jumping to either call them Indian or a troll. If you notice, for all the infraction points I have gotten under this nick, it was in response to another member’s thread. My replies maybe different but not insulting. What would I gain by speaking up on this forum as I am probably the only active atheist on this forum? I could easily go to an atheist forum and badmouth you, your religion, and Pakistan. I have no intention of doing so because no matter how much Pakistan would hate to have people like me, I do love the country I was born in. It breaks my heart to see it falling apart. I come from there and I would love to one day change it for the better…