I am a strong Atheist as i feel its common sense that there is no God.
However, I completely fail to understand the Blasphemous Art thing. I mean is it part of some bigger plan or something. Because somehow, deliberate offence does not fit into my common sense.
Can someone please put more light on the matter?
Thanks and Regards,
DigitalNoetic
You canāt offend a deity that does not exist.
As far as humans who believe in deities: that fact that you even exist (an atheist) already offends those who believe.
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There are some atheists who revel in just being nasty. They get their thrills by offending other people.
Personally, I do not enjoy such practices. I prefer to slowly remove the pillars theists use to prop up their beliefs. And part of that is to point out to theists that the evidence for a god is just as ludicrous as a belief in Leprechauns. It is sarcasm.
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I personally do get some enjoyment out of making ābelieversā uncomfortable when ever I go out in public. Iām heavily tattooed and probably every piece of artwork on me could be considered to be blasphemous or heretical. I didnāt start out to be offensive to anyone. Itās just that the subject matter and the imagery that I have on myself is either halloween(my favorite time of year) or occult based.
Iām a big fan of anything ādarkā or horror themed, I always have been. As a lifetime atheist, Iāve just happened to collect nothing but offensive(to christians) artwork, and Iām not afraid or even mildly bothered to show it off. My wife( a christian) isnāt thrilled about any of it, but she goes out in public with me. The tattooes havenāt changed me as a husband or father, Iām a decent person that just doesnāt look like everybody else. The fact that I have long(kinda) hair and have worn a concert shirt(metalhead) every day for the past 40+ years adds just adds to it.
One day a few years ago, an older lady in a crafting store took a look at me and called me the ādevilā. It put a smile on my face.
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I can speak only for myself.
I do not go around deliberately insulting others, not even some of the loonier sects.
Nothing to gain .Besides, it breaks one of my more sensible life rules; avoid making enemies if possible.
As for the images of the Prophet. Itās my understanding that the practice was forbidden by Muhammed to prevent idolatry. BUT has not always been so in practice. Images of the prophet were made for centuries. (Check out Google images)
I have Muslim neighbours at the back. Iāve met him once, havenāt met her. (theyāve only been there about 4 years) Theyāre very quiet. Going by the women hajib Iāve seen, there are a lot of Muslims in my suburb.
Itās all very well to claim oneās free speech, and Iām appalled at the common response from the more extreme, primitive Muslims. Having said that, there are times in life where ādiscretion is the better part of valourā (anon)
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Me neither. But once they knock on my door itās open season.
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Iāve never been rude vulgar to such people, but I can be a bit terseā¦
Last time JWās knocked on my door was several years ago. Usually takes me about 15 seconds to identify them. Mormons, less.
I asked the man who seemed to be in charge if he had seen to sign next to the door: "DO NOT KNOCK. NO SALES PEOPLE: (issued by the legal service commission) He said he had noticed it. I said he was selling religion and I didnāt want any, then I closed the door. Whole encounter took less than a minute. 
Such people disturb the Wa of my home.
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Personally, I find the āblasphemous artā somewhat frivolous, when there are far more serious methods of dealing with mythology fanboy nonsense. Furthermore, if the mythology fanboys keep their nonsense out of my sensor range, so to speak, I donāt go hunting for them.
But if they try shoving manifest drivel into my face ā¦ itās DefCon 1. 
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okā¦ honeyā¦ try and explain to me how there can be any created things like people, animals, fish, insects, trees flowers. oceans, peopleā¦ already said peopleā¦ how can there be any created things iff no ONe created them?? how can there be creation without a Creator??? explain that ā¦ wow just appeared out of no where. wow. that makes great fucking senseā¦ are you the R word?? ā¦ well that ant is cute but there is no Godā¦ so where did the ant come fromā¦ umā¦ just appeared out of nowerheā¦ cool that makes fucking sense do you have a college degreeā¦ noā¦ i just like to say random shit to be 'coolā¦ by the way satan who is telling me there no Godā¦ but of course I am an āatheist and dont belive in a devil or Godā¦ we all just appeared out of no whereā¦ there is no heaven and no hell i can do whatever i wantā¦ there is no āsinā this Jesus guy made up never happeenedā¦ the Bible is a lieā¦ all religions are a lieā¦ oh . i know I AM God and I know there is no God so now i can do whatever I wantā¦ itsā a free country, right.
Prove anything was created. Your argument presupposes that there was a creator. FYI there are many other rational and logical explanations built off coherent thought and observation, which I lean towards.
And please expand your statement, what is this āRā?
I suggest you begin to educate yourself with cosmology (the beginning of this universe), abiogenesis (the beginning of life), and evolution (how animals evolve).
What does that matter? What if I told you I did graduate from college? What if I told you I did not?
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Your word created. To establish this process, first you need to demonstrate a Creator.
I mentioned that sexual reproduction and germinating seeds do a great job of passing down their genetic materials.
Chemical interactions and bondingā¦water - H2O ā¦etc, etc.
Exactly!
My, myā¦ there are laws in place, by man, that have evolved with manās āwell-beingā in mind. A type of secular, humanistic āmoralityā that escaped godās rules.
How about thisā¦ My brain/body die - and as far as anyone knows so does any thinking/moving processā¦so - I will enjoy and value my life while I am aware.
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I really understand similar depictions in the past as well and some who want to seek revenge and yes there have been .
However
- If an act/crime has been done by a certain individual or an organization does not mean that everyone else can do the same simply based on the reason that someone else did it in the past and got away with it, they are entitled to do the same.
- Seeking Revenge: I donāt think that anyone here is dumb enough to understand that an act of revenge can never be justified with logic and nobody can ever be ENTITLED to revenge.
As a part of Atheist Republic, I was expecting that we are also leaving such petty beliefs behind.
I still cannot find any logical explanation for Blasphemous Art and actually it leaves me heartbroken.
I love Atheist Republic a lot. but we must ask ourselves if it is really necessary to deliberately offend any religious people.
After all they are also humans and such things may even lead to mental trauma.
Werenāt we supposed to grow together without religious limitations? Lets make sure its not we ourselves who are now holding ourselves back through such things.
No offence meant to anyone. I just say all this straight from my heart.
It is pointless to worry about offending someone, when it is your very existence is what is really offensive to them. They will always be offended by us, art or no art.
The only way we could stop offending them, is to go back into the closet. You arenāt the first person to come here and cry about the artwork. But you are the first person to āclaimā to be an atheist while doing it.
LOL, mental trauma from seeing a drawing of a deity? I think your slip is showingā¦
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Iām told this is supposed to be the Prophet Muhammad and Lord Rama getting some hot guy on guy action!
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well I agree that our presence does offend them. thats definitely true and I have faced it almost all my life, well thats how it is for all minorities in India.
But I think the other way around too. Will i agree to subject someone else to similar treatment as I go through through almost all my life? That question makes me uncomfortable. really uncomfortable.
I am not here to whine. I am here to learn and grow alongside you guys. thats exactly why i think there must be a much deeper or a better reason behind such art.
If it wasnāt that feeling, I could simply categorize it as adult material and move on.
My take on the Blasphemous Art is that it contributes to desensitize religious people, and to slowly make them less uptight about it. For example, in Norway, there was a group of Monty Python-inspired comedians that did a series of skits making fun of christian priests in the 70ies and the 80ies. It was all in good nature, and good humour. But for the time, it was deeply offending to some people, and it had somewhat of a shock value when aired on TV. But slowly, over the years, christians were desensitized to humour that touches upon religion, and reactions to similar humour has vanished. Today, those skits will only offend the most uptight fundamentalists.
So I see the Blasphemous Art as a similar project, it contributes to desensitize the hyper-religious and to normalize other artistic and humourous expressions wrt religion other than what is currently acceptable to religious people. Imagine if lots of projects like these could desensitize most muslims to not even lift an eyebrow if exposed to a Mohammad charicature! THAT, my friends, would be a big win!
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Now that makes sense. much more sense.
I guess another way to put it: if they are offended by a cartoon or our simple existence; it is impossible to not offend them. Anything we do will always be offensive to them.
So suggesting we stop offending them, could be interpreted as: atheists shouldnāt exist. That is how I interpret your suggestion.
For what it is worth, in my experience, that is true everywhere.
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I donāt know what treatment you were subjected too, but since you mentioned it Iām guessing you were treated poorly. Iām guessing it was āworseā than just occasionally encountering a comic strip that contains something potentially offensive to people who believe in magic. Iām guessing it was a lot worse.