Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, an Iislamic scholar of Sufism and also a politician in Pakistan, has written an article in the UK’s Guardian in which he suggests that “Teaching proper Islamic principles will help stem extremism”, he writes … Radical ideology depends upon a framework of (distorted) theological reference points and scriptural justifications. It is here that appropriate intervention can … Read more
Various news outlets are reporting a story about the rather infamous John Hagee. For example the UK’s Daily Mail explains … ‘That is one of the filthiest, most derogatory and sinful uses of the Lord’s name I can think of’: Women who cry out God’s name during sex should be jailed, pastor says Dr John Hagee, … Read more
Over a year ago I wrote a posting about a claim that a girl had been stoned to death in Syria for the crime of posting to Facebook. At that time I pointed out a few things … The original source was not credible: “It appears to originally come from the Iranian FARS News Agency” … … Read more
The things that pop up on GoFundMe never cease to astonish me and yet often the backstory can turn out to be even more compelling, so here is an example. Somebody, who opts to remain anonymous and signs herself “Relentlessly Gay”, started a GoFundMe to raise $5,000 to paint the roof of her house rainbow … Read more
Today is the start of Ramadan, and so to mark the event (as a non-believer), I’m posting a few stories from ex-Muslims who explain why, despite the deployment of intimidation, isolation, threats of potential violence and death threats, they have opted to courageously leave Islam. For this I have dipped into the website of the Council of Ex-Muslims, … Read more
Ramadan 2015 starts on Thursday, and if this is something you are not familiar with, then I’ll explain briefly. It is a fairly important religious observation practised by many Muslims and involves fasting from sunrise until sunset, and to be clear, when I say fasting, I mean no food or drink. One specific observation about Ramadan … Read more