Growing Agnosticism Isn't Limited to Christianity

I've often said that the best friend of religion - especially fundamentalist religion - and those who make a livelihood from using religion as a means to shakedown others for money is ignorance and an uneducated populace.  Hence why Christianity in the western world is seeing a sharp decline in believers.  But Islam is experiencing its own version of growing agnosticism - something that many of the powers that be frightened because so often religion is used to manipulate the masses.  A piece in Deutsche Welle looks at the issue and the reaction in Saudi Arabia where the monarchy - despite the personal conduct of members of the royal family when out of the public eye - supports a reactionary form of Islam.  Here are article highlights:

In Egypt and other Arab states, societies are heavily influenced by religion. Even so, many people evidently regard themselves as atheists, and both governments and religious institutions see this as a threat. 

[A] poll conducted in 2014 by the Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Having canvassed 6,000 young people, the university - which has a formidable reputation in Sunni Islam - came up with an atheist proportion of some 12.3 percent of the Egyptian population. That would amount to 10.7 million of 87 million Egyptians. 

Appearing on state TV in October, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyib, warned that atheism was no longer a side issue - the conscious dissociation from any religion was, he said, a social problem. According to the Gulf News daily, the Egyptian Ministries of Youth and Religious Endowment both pledged to launch campaigns designed to combat this attitude.

Whether they are Muslim, Christian, or Jewish, hardly anyone in the Middle East publicly renounces religion. But the number seems to have increased in the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011, and most Arab countries have seen the emergence of atheist groups with their own Facebook pages.

The government in Saudi Arabia, which imposes a particularly strict interpretation of Islam, seems to feel especially threatened by this attitude. In spring 2014, Saudi Arabia declared that, from a legal point of view, atheism was as dangerous as religiously motivated terrorism. But in a global survey published in 2012, the Win/Gallup International research institute determined that 19 percent of Saudi Arabians rated themselves non-practising. A further five percent categorized themselves as atheists.

The strong reaction to people quietly turning their backs on religion comes as a surprise in the face of the real threat posed by radicalized islamists. In Islam, sowing seeds of discord is considered a grave sin, and someone who denies God's existence can easily come under suspicion of creating dissension among the faithful.

In most Arab countries, being an atheist is not outlawed outright, but the laws against religious defamation often leave enough leeway to take action against atheists, and such cases are recorded by human and civil rights groups again and" again. In December 2014, security forces in Cairo raided a café purportedly visited by atheists, with the authorities declaring that satanic rites had been practiced there. On its Facebook page, the "Atheist Society in Egypt" commented: "Even the Muslim Brotherhood didn't go this far when it was still in power."

While Karl Marx was very wrong on his theories of communism, it may have been right when in referring to religion, he said " It is the opium of the people.

Rand Paul's Isolationist Views Rebuked by Senate

Rand Paul may be a Tea Party darling, but he went down in flames in a vote in the U.S. Senate.  And that doesn't even take in the tongue lashing he received from Chris Christie on the issue of federal aid to a state - i.e., New Jersey receives 77 cents for every $1 sent to Washington - that gives much more money to Washington than it receives versus a state - i.e., Paul's Kentucky which receives over $1.5 for every $1 sent to Washington - which is a freeloader in comparison propped up by federal money.  The overall effect is to show that Paul is not ready for prime time outside of Tea Party circles.  The Washington Post looks at the rebuke in the Senate.  Here are excerpts:

Chris Christie, the popular GOP governor of New Jersey, last week called Paul’s libertarian views “dangerous.” And on the Senate floor Wednesday, Republican colleagues dealt the junior senator from Kentucky what can be described only as a resounding rebuke. 

Even the 86-13 vote against Paul’s proposal to strip Egypt of its foreign aid doesn’t capture the lopsided nature of the defeat. In the final seconds of the roll call and long after the outcome was obvious, a bloc of six GOP lawmakers led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) quietly cast their votes with Paul — not in agreement with him but in fear of the tea party voters who adore him.

But whether Paul’s position had seven Republican votes or 13, the isolationist gadfly found himself in the decided minority of the 45-member Senate GOP caucus. And in the hour-long debate that preceded the vote, Paul was alone on the floor defending his position against an emotional onslaught from his party’s most respected voices on foreign policy.  

The result reinforced the proud tradition of internationalism in the body, and in the GOP. For all the talk of a Republican civil war over foreign policy, Wednesday’s vote showed that the internationalists still dominate. McCain portrayed Paul as the heir to the America Firsters. 

Paul, attempting to attach his proposal to a domestic spending measure, made his familiar argument for “nation-building here at home” instead of overseas. “Detroit crumbles. Chicago is a war zone,” he said. 

His colleagues had different ideas. Sen. Jim Inhofe (Okla.), the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said he might have agreed with Paul 15 years ago, “before we realized the threats that we have in the Middle East.” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tried a practical appeal, saying the aid cutoff would mean “you lose leverage.” And Graham read aloud a letter from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee opposing Paul’s amendment.

Paul responded to all this with rambling speeches and wild gestures, refusing to yield when colleagues asked him to and accusing his opponents of “empty thoughts and empty promises.”

For the Republican internationalists, this wasn’t about winning but dominating.

Clinton: Middle East Faces Disaster Without Reform

As the forces of anti-modernity and religious repression continue to hold sway across the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has issued a frank and all too accurate assessment of where the Islamic nations are headed without reform, and an end to corrupt and repressive regimes, and a religious elite who are are determined to stamp out opportunities for a more democratic and progressive future. Worse yet, given the constraints on outlets for advancement and opportunity for the exploding number of young citizens, all too many may opt for radicalism that could topple the existing regimes and spread instability across the globe. Insisting on an adherence to knowledge a millennium out of date is a disaster waiting to happen - both in the Middle East and in pockets of religious extremists across the world, including the Christo-fascist elements in the USA. These forces base their politics on religious derived hate and division rather than cooperation and mutual advancement. It's yet another example of religion being a great force for evil in the world. Here are highlights from Huffington Post on Clinton's analysis:
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Wrapping up a four-nation tour of U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf with unusually blunt remarks to a regional development conference in the Qatari capital of Doha, Clinton said economic and political space must be opened up for the Arab world's exploding youth population, women and minorities.
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Without that, respect for human rights, improved business climates and an end to pervasive corruption, she said young people and others will increasingly turn to radicalism and violence that will bleed outside the region, threatening not only Middle Eastern stability and security but the rest of the world.
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Those who cling to the status quo may be able to hold back the full impact of their countries' problems for a little while, but not forever," Clinton said. "If leaders don't offer a positive vision and give young people meaningful ways to contribute, others will fill the vacuum." "Extremist elements, terrorist groups and others who would prey on desperation and poverty are already out there appealing for allegiance and competing for influence," she said. "This is a critical moment and this is a test of leadership for all of us."

But the limits of Clinton's message were clear in Yemen, a fragile, politically closed and impoverished nation that is a critical U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. She said civil society in Yemen is viewed with deep suspicion by the government.
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"There is not the level of cooperation that there needs to be to improve the lives of the Yemeni people and put Yemen on a firmer foundation going forward," she said.
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Developments in Yemen appeared to underscore that concern. A day after Clinton met Yemeni opposition leaders at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, authorities in Yemen announced Wednesday that citizens must get prior approval before entering a foreign embassy. Yemen's official news agency Saba said the conditions were security precautions and part of efforts to fight terrorism and to preserve the embassies' security.
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It is sad to see backward monarchies and religious zealots continue to put power and control over the true well being of their people. Sooner or later, the lid will blow off and violence will sweep away these forces of reactionary thought and culture. Unfortunately, many innocent people will die in the conflagration. History has shown us this model time and time again, be it the Ancien Regime in France, Tsarist Russia and other nations.

Ancient Gay Lovers - in Africa

As a history lover one of the things that drives me crazy with the Christianists is their total disregard for true historic facts and never ending endeavors to re-write history to match up with their theocratic agenda. A case in point is the efforts of homophobic Christianists in Uganda and other parts of East Africa to depict homosexuality as something "imported from the West." Unfortunately, too many of their countryman know apparently little or no history and are easily duped by such fabricated stories. I stumbled across something this morning via GayAgenda and Living on the Real that highlights the ridiculousness and disingenuousnress of this false story line. The truth is that homosexuality has a long history on the African continent going back at least 4,400 years. As Living on the Real notes:

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Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum are considered the to be the first same-sex couple in recorded history. Considering they were brothers; which was very common in ancient times, they signify the starting history of gay culture.
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Once again those pesky facts get in the way of the Christianists revisionist story line, suggesting yet again that if the lips of a professional Christian are moving, most likely they are lying. They seem to think they has a self-granted exemption from the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness. Wikipedia has this on the ancient gay couple:
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Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum were ancient Egyptian royal servants and are believed to be brothers and probably twins.[They shared the title of Overseer of the Manicurists in the Palace of King Niuserre during the Fifth Dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs, circa 2400 B.C., and are listed as "royal confidants" in their joint tomb. They are considered to be the first recorded same-sex couple in history.
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The tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum was discovered by Egyptologist Ahmed Moussa in the necropolis at Saqqara, Egypt in 1964, during the excavation of the causeway for the pyramid of King Unas. It is the only tomb in the necropolis where men are displayed embracing and holding hands. In addition, the men's chosen names (both theophorics to the creator-god Khnum) form a linguistic reference to their closeness: Niankhkhnum means "joined to life" and Khnumhotep means "joined to the blessed state of the dead'" and together the names can be translated as "joined in life and joined in death"[5]
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In a banquet scene, Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep are entertained by dancers, clappers, musicians and singers; in another, they oversee their funeral preparations. In the most striking portrayal, the two embrace, noses touching, in the most intimate pose allowed by canonical Egyptian art, surrounded by what would appear to be their heirs.

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Of course, many other parts of the ancient world also had same sex couples and relationships including but by no means limited to Ancient Greece and Rome, Persia, and East Asia. To say that homosexuality is a western import to Africa is categorically untrue.

Pat Robertson Proves He's an Ignorant Ass Yet Again

Local embarrassment and Christo-fascist Pat Robertson proves once again that he's a total bigoted ass and that he apparently needs to take some history classes so that he can stop telling the popular Christianist lie that gays have destroyed previous nations. He's likely referring to the fall of Rome and interestingly enough some historians cite the rise of Christianity as one reason Rome fell - along with political instability due to a lack of a succession plan for emperors, too high of tax burden and the Roman army becoming too dependent on mercenaries. Here's his quote via Towleroad:

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"A month to celebrate gay, lesbian, transgender pride month? Somebody's proud of being transgendered? It's a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of our population. One to two percent has this particular orientation, yet they dominate the news. It's just smiply amazing. Any country that openly embraces homosexuality throughout the history of mankind has gone down into ruin. Thats history. Thats the historical record. Whatever nation embraces this so-called lifestyle, it ends up in the garbage heap of history. So, lets watch what happens."

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Here's Queerity's take on this idiotic statement:

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Listening to Pat Robertson talk about the role of gays in America sounds like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking about, well, gays in America: They're the reason we're in such despair!

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Robertson says that "any country that openly embraces homosexuality through the history of mankind has gone down into ruin. That's the historical record." Surely he must mean ancient Egypt, and the Romans and the Greeks, which all "embraced" same-sex relationships to some degree? And by that logic, any country that embraced, say, agriculture, technology, and art all went down in ruin, so PLEASE KNOCK THAT OFF, America.