These are just the things I think of whenever someone points a finger at a specific religion or group of people. I am in no way claiming you are wrong. I am hoping to point out that the problem is a human problem and it is so much bigger than just looking at Islam. I am also not trying to imply we should not look at Islam. We should look at the inhumane treatment of people wherever it occurs. I’m just sharing a reaction.
Naw… You are missing a whole lot of fun religions out there.
The Jews are still practicing animal sacrifice.
Voodo is a great religion based on the Catholic faith. (You don’t need a video on this one.)
Speaking of Catholics, (Symbolic cannibalism is a real thing.)
Have you checked out the Philippines lately? You can nail yourself to a cross. (And the self-induced flagellation parades are really a joy from the past.
Hinduism also has animal sacrafice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMZNHYLAiy0
Contemporarily, almost no rabbinic authorities justify wifebeating for the purpose of education, but many still do not allow a forced divorce to free the victim.
Honestly, it is not a religious problem, but rather, a human problem. There are of course Atheists who treat women badly or beat their wives. The real issue of religion is that it justifies and institutionalizes the maltreatment of human beings. An atheist pedophile can be arrested and sent to jail. A Catholic pedophile just has to move to a country where he will be less noticed.
We live in a fucked up world… but it has always been fucked up. The real issue is not that the world is fucked up. The real issue is that we are beginning to open our eyes and look around. It’s taken 2000 years for some of us to wake the fuck up. It may be another 2000 before something is actually done.
What’s really scary about all this bullshit is this. Speaking for myself. I was raised in poverty, reliant on state aid. Early in life, I had trouble with the law. Alcoholic father, abusive mom. Brother and sister both did time in prison, B and E, kidnapping, fraud, etc. I dropped out of school at 16, about the same time I became a born again Christian. (I tell myself that I was looking for the family I never had.)
By 18 I had given up on my dreams of becoming a preacher. I worked in a warehouse. One day, I overheard a conversation. Two men talking about their families and their bills. I was working along side of them and earning the same money they were earning. They had families? How? I didn’t make enough money for me? This was fucked up. I made the decistion to go back to school.
2 university degrees and 10 years later, I am an atheist. I have traveled the world. I have a good life. No legal troubles. No issues at all. I walked onto a car lot last year and paid cash for a new car, and it didn’t even dent my bank account. Live is fucking good. But, statistically, I should be one of those religious zealots. I should be drinking ritualistic blood and eating dogmatic flesh. There is absolutely no reason for my escape from poverty, ignorance, or religion. The only thing I knew growing up was that I did not like the life I had been given. I believed education was my way out, but I had no direction. I only knew, go to school. Learn! I blindly went to school. I blindly took classes. I blindly, not knowing where I was going, studied. And I blindly got very high marks. Eventually I discovered that I was on the path to escape my whole life, but did not know it. And now, I too, look at the insanity of the world. But, I think I remember what it is like to be so ignorant that I once believed in ESP, magic, spirits, evil, and even Gods.
Perhaps, freeing ourselves and setting an example is the best we can do in the short lives we have. It’s not enough. It will never be enough. Ignorance is everywhere, not just in Islam. Frankly, there are even dogmatic atheists that treat their atheism like some Iron Age mythology.
All I can really say is … I’m happy to be here. I am glad it is no longer me.