Deal - A - Dogma

First, take a pack of cards and shuffle well....

I belong to a Yahoo group called Athiesthaven. The group's main contributors hail from the Eastern Hemisphere, and I enjoy the obsevations and the occasional, cautious, political news from that part of the world. You might take that last as a reference to China, but there are many countries in that part of the world where political activism is vigorously discouraged. Some of them might be thought of as "free", "democratic" societies by the average US citizen. I digress. Do your own homework if the subject interests you further.

Lately, a fellow going by the name of Basem Omar has been attempting to promote Islam on the site. I guess he likes a challenge. Of course, the scope of that challenge gives him a built-in excuse for holding himself blameless for failure. That thought, and this volley, got me thinking again about the sleazy nature of dogma.

The conversation starter:

RM wrote:
Islam Idiocy (Moronic Mohammedans)

http://www.thejesusmyth.com/islam-idiocy-moronic-mohammedans.htm

[snip] Muslim woman are not allowed to be viewed by men outside the
family, not even by physicians.

Pregnant Belgium Muslim woman needs an emergency cesarean delivery,
only anesthesiologist available is a man, and the woman's husband bars
his entry into the operating room.

Basem Omar replied:

"the man is wrong
if it is emergency and there isnt any women doctor its allowed in islam to have the operation

now a question for you
whose in your opinion had preserved his pure nature till now

this man or that who share or switch his wife with his friends

i dont wait for an answer

best wishes

basem"

He had to wait a while for it, but I gave him one anyway. My response:

The man is not wrong because HE doesn't think so. He is also not wrong because the jibbering cleric who filled him full of this nonsense left that impression, either deliberately or through his own stupid interpretive rantings. One of the biggest problems with unfounded religious fanatical bullshit faith-based belief in what some bullshit-artist shaman/priest/cleric tells you, is that it is subject to a myriad of interpretations dependent upon what the control-freak-in-charge decides is convenient for his agenda that particular day. What kind of creator would give a rat's ass about this stuff? It's all designed to create embarrassment, submission to the power hierarchy, and to divide the human race into factions of exclusive ritualistic morons. A man who thinks for himself is not easily controlled, and probably won't do your dirty work without at least asking embarrassing questions first, and negotiating fair payment second.

Basem, you are so secure in your delusional bubble and so happy living life inside a fairy tale that you will probably never be able to see the actual point of all this hypnotic, ritualistic rubbish. Promiscuity is only a problem for those who wish to re-channel the human sex drive into religious ecstasy. Marriage is only sanctified because it provides a stable environment for breeding a replacement set of victims. The wealthy of this world tend to "go alpha" and do whatever the fuck they please. Rules are for the rest of us. Rules make us soldiers in other people's causes, and they get to cry crocodile tears when we get the shit blown out of us.

Back to your example of the, “man who share or switch his wife with his friends". Your example bespeaks a mindset wherein it is the male's decision, prerogative, whatever. Arrangements that take place between mutually-consenting, reasonably hygienic adults have nothing to do with you. If that lifestyle does not make you comfortable, then no one should have the right to force you into it. That works both ways. People do things without a complete understanding of the risks involved and pay the consequences. That goes for marriage too.

There are unethical aspects to the institution of marriage. Any relationship can suffer from coercion and be poisonous. People change. That's why in the real world, the one that's not pursuing wealth through guilt-tripping, we have divorce. In the current system, divorce is an opportunity for another breed of social parasite, the divorce lawyer, to make money. Alternative legal frameworks could be developed to protect the rights and future of children, but have not. This is because the institution of marriage is fanatically defended by religious fanatics.

**********

I hope I wasn't too harsh.

The contradictions and ambiguities in scripture are deliberate. The preacher-man of [insert-sect-here] can stack the deck to support his message du jour. He can also, when required, point his finger at any religious absurdity and say, "No! You're interpreting that wrong! You're taking that: out of context/too literally/not literally enough!" The take-away lesson for the would-be Televangelist is... The True Faith is what you say it is this week. Anyone else is doing it wrong.

Today's slogan: "Faith. It's not just unprovable, it's unaccountable!"