Free The Animal

As much as I try to tone it down, it does get difficult, sometimes. Other than what I initiate on this blog -- which people are free to go to, or not, I have made an effort to avoid the subject of religion altogether in other communications and in person. But now and then, I get something like this in email, sent not only to me (by someone I know), but to a whole collection of Cc's (some being others I know). This leaves me in the difficult position of having others believe that I can be so easily fooled.

Subj: Allah or Jesus

Living in the Detroit area I can concur with this, we have more Muslims in our neighborhood monthly and they are very active in the schools preaching all the time about their "rights" and how tolerant we should be of their faith. However tolerance is a one-way street with them. We are to learn about Ramadan, etc. but they are not to learn about Easter or Christmas. What is below is very true. "In God We Trust"

The Basics of Islam

This is a must read -- it's short but Very informative!

The Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion per capita in the United States, especially in the minority races!

Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance.

During the training session there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths, who explained each of their beliefs.

I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say.

The Imam gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam complete with a video. After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers.

When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Imam and asked: "Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the  world. And, that by killing an infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel?"

There was no disagreement with my statements and without hesitation, he replied, "Non-believers!"

I responded, "So, let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can go to Heaven. Is that correct?"

The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He sheepishly replied, "Yes."

I then stated, "Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine Pope John Paul commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith or Dr. Stanley ordering Protestants to do the same in order to goto Heaven!"

The Imam was speechless.

I continued, "I also have a problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me. Let me ask you a question. Would you rather have your Allah who tells you to kill me in order to go to Heaven or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to Heaven and He wants you to be with me?"

You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in shame.

Needless to say, the organizers and/or promoters of the"Diversification" training seminar were not happy with Rick's way of dealing with the Islamic Imam and exposing the truth about the Muslim's beliefs.

I think everyone in the U.S. should be required to read this,but with the liberal justice system, liberal media, and the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized

Please pass this on to all your e-mail contacts. This is a true story and the author, Rick Mathews (sic), is a well-known leader in prison ministry.

Yea, did you get that? The Imam "hung his head in shame." I'll bet. And there's probably a version out there -- believed by everyone who wants to -- that the Imam dropped to his knees, confessed his sins, and asked Jesus to redeem his soul and become his personal Lord and Savior. In fact, if I made such an edit and started sending it out, how long do you suppose before we'd start seeing it pop up in our in boxes?

Moving right along, it's actually "Rick Mathes," and as you would expect from the so-convenient flow of the thing, it's completely fabricated. Of course, given that it has been forwarded back-&-forth between Christians -- mostly born-again fundamentalists -- for over three years, and Googling "Rick Mathews" brings up nothing while Googling "Rick Mathes" brings up an cornucopia of stuff (so one may arrive at a factual conclusion), I have no problem believing that the name was likely changed somewhere along the line in order for it to be more difficult for the average not-too-Internet-savvy person to fact-check (as if, even still, you can get most people to even do that before they go forwarding every sensation they get in email to everyone in their address book).

So, it's like I asked in a follow-up to my original email response: "Now, what does Jesus say about fabricating falsehoods about someone and passing them off as real (and then being an accessory to their distribution far and wide for the purpose of stirring up hate and fear)?"

Here was my original response.

Sorry L., but I don't believe this. It sounds contrived (though, clearly, there are places and small groups on Earth where this is the prevailing view). And don't forget the millions murdered by Christians over the centuries "for their own good." Such "primitivity" is not limited to the Muslims, though they seem to be one of the last hold-outs toward ignoring the vast numbers of murderous stupidities within their "holy books," pretending such evil doesn't exist -- or ever existed. But hey, if Muslims ever get to the point where they can lie to themselves about the evil history and murderous nature of their doctrines --like Christians do -- I suppose it will be a good thing on the road towards outright rejection of silly fairy tales and whose imaginary friend is the best.

At any rate, the notion that Islam is the fastest growing religion anywhere except the Middle East has pretty much been discredited. Most new Muslims (by far) are by birth, just like Christians, and the worldwide population of Christians is 1.9 billion compared to 1.2 billion for Muslims.

Here's an article that pretty handily debunks the myth.

Moreover, this article explains why the claim is nebulous to begin with, as it's never specifically defined.

So there you go. Another chance to reject freedom-limiting irrational fear and silly superstition to live full and free. Just go right ahead.

I'd be lying if I said I don't derive some perverse pleasure from throwing shit around like this. I do. I'm sorry that it's sometimes directed at people I know and like, and even family. I really struggle with it, but in the end, conclude it's the right thing to do.

Now, this is an easy call. It's a fabrication -- a damaging one -- so deserves to be dealt with in the same wide distribution on email in which it came. On the other hand, I get lots of criticism, especially from my own family, concerning my callous ridicule of religion and its adherents.

At times, that has an effect and I pull back. Then, it seems as though the pressure builds and builds, and something like that email just sets me off and the pressure-relief value must fulfill its purpose. Trying to explain it to people goes nowhere.

Understand; imagine that you live in a world where 90% of people believe seriously and literally in the Tooth Fairy, and you'll have some idea of my general social experience.

I'm dead serious. If you're a believer, then on some level -- even though I may otherwise adore you -- that's what I see in you. Sorry, but it's the God's honest truth.

I always remind myself of a Leonard Peikoff lecture series I listened to over a decade ago. In one of the lectures, during the Q&A session he was asked whether a parent ought to be concerned if their child were to express an interest in religion. His response was quick and off-the-cuff:

I dunno; what would you do if your child expressed an interest in drinking arsenic?

You see, dear reader, dear friends, dear family: it's just a pernicious poison in my view, and that's never going to change.

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