Litany

wanabe

wanabe-

Oh really?
15:2-3:
"Again and again will those who disbelieve, wish that they had bowed (to God's will) in Islam. LEAVE THEM ALONE, to enjoy (the good things of this life) and to please themselves: let (false) hope amuse them: soon will knowledge undeceive them."

109:6:
"To you be your way, and to me mine."

If you were really moslem, you would know that in nowhere in the Quran does it state to kill someone for leaving. God states that will be He who decides their fate not mear humans. That's a common misconception. You would also know that Christians and Jews have "nothing to fear on the Day of Judgement." I know you're not a moslem, and you came on here just bash Islam on your false misconceptions. An A+ for effort though. (It's a damn shame though that some moslems do kill those preceived to be apostates(God will punish them as well as the law) or whatever in other countries, but to comparison it's like the guy who hangs around the gay bar waiting to stalk and eventually kill his victims for "being gay". You hear about that sometimes in California)

All religions are tools of deceit...

All religions are guidance of good behavior and justice for as long as their preachers are not in position of power. Once the religion is in a position to rule, it becomes nothing but a tool of deceit and oppression. We should learn something from the experiences of the past 30+ years when Khomeini was considered a saint before 1979 screaming against injustices and corruptions of the shah, and overnight turned into a monster likes of which was never seen before since the invasion of Changiz Khan.

Opening Our Hearts…

“Ms Gillani, true religion exists, we just have to open our heart and throw away our biases.”

Believe it or not, I am a spiritual person and feel the presence of a divine power in my life. My criticism of Shi'a has been incorrectly depicted as hatred for a group of people who have been champions of hate in our motherland for 1400 years.

Long before IRI, spirituality was hijacked by Shi'a in Iran, and any voice of dissent was stifled. The last 30 years have been just the climax of Shi'a atrocities in our life time. The intimidations, threats, and bullying have been present in our alleys and neighborhoods, in our bazaars and schools for 1400 years.

As it was pointed out by another poster, what do you do with a religion that threatens to kill you if you decide to leave it? What do you do with a religion that sets out to eliminate the infidels?

Although I am a spiritual person, I am by no means a pacifist. If you set out to kill me, I reserve the right to kill you first.

Ms Gillani, true religion exists, we just have to open our heart

 and throw away our biases, what I posted is the sign of it but unfortunately it's truth has been obscured by power hungry clergy in Iran.

I have some more words of the true religion and spirituality for you:

"""

This is the purpose of religion not war, cruelty and strife.

With most regards,

 Tahirih

Want to be an atheist. Go for it.

Excuse me, we can’t. I was born a Muslim, if I change, my penalty is death. Do you fellows even know your own religion or just mechanically repeating what is hip?

Not Dumbfounded…

Apparently you are not so dumbfounded because you said all you wanted to say. For that, I applaud you. It is my turn to reply. And I have to say that I am not dumbfounded at all:

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution effectively abolished slavery in America. As a result, the stain of slavery was gradually and slowly wiped off.

Until Shi'a authorities have the courage to officially amend the Sharia laws, pedophilia will remain a stain on Shi'a religion. But how can one amend God’s law? That is the question, isn’t it?

Dumb-Founded

I was going to articulate for  you how the LAWS are evolved, being in Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. The reasons why certain laws are interpreted, or even enacted, for serve certain few in order for them to be able to effectively suppress a society.

I was going to argue how passages in the Bible
on the use and regulation of slavery have been used throughout history as justification for the keeping of slaves, and for guidance in how it should be done. Therefore, when abolition was proposed, many Christians spoke vociferously against it, citing the Bible's apparent acceptance of slavery as 'proof' that it was part of the normal condition. In both
Europe and the United States many Christians went further, arguing that slavery was actually justified by the words and doctrines of the Bible.

In 1452 Pope Nicholas V, in his Dum Diversas, instituted the hereditary enslavement of "nonbelievers".

In 1488, Pope Innocent VIII accepted the gift of 100 slaves from Ferdinand II of Aragon, and distributed those slaves to his cardinals and the Roman nobility;

In 1639 Pope Urban VIII forbade the slavery of the Indians of Brazil, Paraguay, and the West Indies, yet he purchased non-Indian slaves for himself from the Knights of Malta

I was going to argue about how Jefferson Davis justified slavery by saying [Slavery was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.

I was going to argue how, even to this day and age that some members of fringe Christian groups like the Christian Identity movement, and the Ku Klux Klan (an organization dedicated to the "empowerment of the white race"), and Christian Reconstructionists still argue that slavery is justified by Christian doctrine today.

etc.... etc..... etc

But I thought, well, If ones heart and soul is so full of hate and racism toward one group of people, there would be no room left for logic and compassion.

Respectfully

capt_ayhab [-YT]

The Magical Power

“I wish I had magic powers so I could control the rest of the shia.”

You do have magical power. You just don’t recognize it. The power that you hold in your hands is far greater than the power of an infidel like me.

Do you know what that magical power is?

What Do I Expect?

“But if you approach a discussion a debate or whatever with hostile emotion, what do you expect in return? No really, what do you expect?”

With all due respect, I expected a Shi'a to rise and tell us all that having intercourse with a nine year old girl with or without marriage vows uttered is wrong no matter which holy or unholy law sanctions it.

Instead, the Shi'a faithful is insulted because I haven’t asked them about their interpretation of the Sharia law. The Shi'a faithful is upset because I am blaming them for "the acts of a few."

The stranglehold of Shi'a on Iran isn’t limited to the last 30 years. These so-called “thugs” have been doing this for a long, long time…

What Is Pedophilia?

“If you're a Shi'a, you're essentially a rapist.”

Sharia laws allow a Muslim man to marry a nine year old girl. After the marriage vows are uttered, he is entitled to have intercourse with her.

This is the definition of pedophilia in my book. Instead of insulting me, please enlighten me with your interpretation of this Sharia law.

Laleh Gillani

Ms. Gillani,

I do hope, for the sake of humanity you could find it in your hate-filled heart to spare some [PURE]selected non-Shi'a, non-Muslim, people who have committed no ill in their lives[saints] from your WRATH, and your HATRED of Shi'a,  to carry on the human race.

I am a Muslim, who is NOT Shi'a and I am certain that there you will find non-Shi'a Muslims who have committed wrong, and I will be blamed for their acts as you are blaming so many for act of your [great grandfather], and acts of some IR THUGS.

This is not to say, IR has not committed atrocities and crimes against humanity in Iran. However an educated and open minded person such as yourself shall not blame the entire ethnic group for the evil that is being committed by a minority, which may not even represent the entire group, let alone Iran.

With the same token, as one of the ladies and the gentlemen pointed out, you can not blame entire Christianity for the crimes committed by Nazi Christians, or blame the entire population of Japan for the atrocities committed by Japanese Imperialists by murder of 30 million Filipinos, Malays, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Indonesians and Burmese, which includes 23 million Chinese alone.

It is astonishing how much hate you can demonstrate in one page worth of writing. Sadly enough, I have read many articles from you which were informative and thoughtful.

Respectfully

capt_ayhab [-YT]

p/s I suppose it is an [In-THING] to blame entire Iran for acts of some THUGS, who happen to be Shi'a.

pp/s Please lets show some respect for the brave souls who gave their lives to defend Iran, no matter under what ideology.

In Search of True Religion

“True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities;”

Thank you for the lovely, soothing post. I enjoyed reading it again and again. I have searched long and wide for this “true religion” and have found it only in the comfort of my dreams.

The reality on the ground is ugly and alarming. It will be a betrayal of that “true religion,” if we continue defending the horrors of past and present.

Hey laleh

good job! Why to not respond to your critics. Anyways, Islam is the fastest growing religion in America. Most of the new converts are?.... you guessed it, women. And they understand the correct and true interpretation and will not subdue themselves to the crap you try to propagate on your flithy blog. 2/3 of this world believes in God, good luck finding company. As X advised have fun in hell with the religous extremists and all your hate.

Peace out you old hag.

Yea, sure

Yea, sure.

If you're a Shi'a, you're essentially a rapist.

If you're an atheist, you're responsible for the crimes of Stalin and Chairman Mao.

If you're a Christian, you're basically a killer of abortion doctors.

If you're a Jew, you like to eat Palestinian kids for lunch.

If you're German, you need to answer for Nazism.

If you're American, you're an imperialist.

If you're Persian, you're a racist, anti-Arab chauvinist. You're also an imperialist, with dreams of a vast Persian empire.

If you're Arab, then you're a destroyer of pre-Islamic Persian polity, and need to answer for it.

The list goes on.

Religion in general!

"Divine religion is not a cause for discord and disagreement. If religion becomes the source of antagonism and strife, the absence of religion is to be preferred. Religion is meant to be the quickening life of the body politic; if it be the cause of death to humanity, its nonexistence would be a blessing and benefit to man."

Peace be on you Gillani

You are so full of blind hate and anger that no one can really talk and reason with you and no one will.

When you blame all Shia people for the wrongs of the few, you are just as guilty as the bad individuals that you hate so much.

Religious extremists say people like you will go to Hell and you think they go to Hell but it is quite possible that Hell will be filled with both the likes of you and religious extremists and then you can all hate and spit at each other over there. But remember, you can't kill each other in the next life, so you all get to hate each other forever!

May peace be on your angry and hateful soul before it's too late.

Such a moving story Ms Gillani, but it is a story of ...

A light turning into darkness by ignorance .

""Alas! that humanity is completely submerged in imitations and unrealities notwithstanding the truth of divine religion has ever remained the same. Superstitions have obscured the fundamental reality, the world is darkened and the light of religion is not apparent. This darkness is conducive to differences and dissensions; rites and dogmas are many and various; therefore discord has arisen among the religious systems whereas religion is for the unification of mankind. True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities; but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which unifies; so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion. They follow superstitions inherited from their fathers and ancestors. To such an extent has this prevailed that they have taken away the heavenly light of divine truth and sit in the darkness of imitations and imaginations. That which was meant to be conducive to life has become the cause of death; that which should have been an evidence of knowledge is now a proof of ignorance; that which was a factor in the sublimity of human nature has proved to be its degradation.""

 Regards,

Tahirih

How awesome

That's great I have blood on my hands. I guess the Christian Orthodox Serbs have a lot of blood on their hands too, right Gillani? After all they did genocide a few people on orders by their priests and raped all the women as well, as young as six year olds. That Chicago mayor must have blood on his hands, he is a serb. That makes me feel a little better I don't remember the Shia trying to genocide anybody in the near past.

I wish I had magic powers so I could control the rest of the shia. That way everybody would be like me. They would to go to university, get a job, help their parents retire, and pray and do all the fasting stuff. Also, I would magically make all the moslem countries turn into countries like Turkey, or UAE, or hell even Bangladesh. Then we wouldn't have any Shia like that anymore. I would love to be responsible for every single muslim on this earth. But apparently to you I already am, I better get started on all my wishes.

You and everybody else who wants to be an atheist. Go for it. You want to critize religion or islam, more power to you. But if you approach a dicussion a debate or whatever with hostile emotion, what do you expect in return? No really, what do you expect? You're going to get pushed back with the same hostile emotion. If you want to seriously have a dialouge about religion and its interpretation, that's great. You should approach it with an open mind be in the manner of "Hey, I don't agree with what you're book(s) say, let's talk about it."

But if you're just built on hatred for a certain group of people (moslems) you will look and sound like a douchebag. Just like comments from that Takbir guy or Gillani. Everybody knows that Zion has fanatical hatred, disgust, mistrust for all moslems. So when Jack responds with a comment, everyone one cries foul. Please. Here's the fact: if you are hateful towards someone they will most likely return the same feelings. And it's like this for everything. There's a lot of hate in this world for everybody you can imagine. And what's sad is hate is something you learn.

If you want have a serious debate on religion treat people the way you want to be treated. I hear that's a "humanistic" thing, and it doesn't take a genious to bring a case against relgion. If you want to be one of those people who ridicule, intimidate, and bash a whole people based on the actions of some, no one can stop you.

But anyway for all you here, I just hope you don't have to socialize, brefriend, or talk to moslems. Afterall they [Insert sterotype or thing you've heard a bunch of moselems do.] I mean I've heard most Iranians aren't moselm anyway.

Khodahafez or goodnight. Whichever you like.

Thank you...

The story was well-written. I love to hear about the few human-beings out there that actually get it and your grand-father got it. Khoda biyamorzatesh. As for the those who continue to copy and copy without questioning well may they stop and reflect....

A chip off the old block

Great article. And let's not forget that the Shi'a version of Islam is not any worse or better than the Sunni interpretaion of of it.

Great Article

Thanks for reminding us of the evils that religion can bring.

The Day of Reckoning Will Come

Shi'a is indeed the greatest light of all. Just Takbir and go on raping 9 year old girls after reciting the Relationship Agreement. Ignore the voices of opposition. They are the representatives of the darkness. Don’t forget to stick your head out of the covers once in a while and Takbir.

Nice writing

It takes considerable courage and understanding to become an atheist. Ever since childhood we all have been indoctrinated in a divine hand called god. This is true for all religions. God exist as much as Santa Clause exist. I think most people know that but they have a a hard time to break free. That is the power of brain washing children.

conscience over religion

That's the best motto! I wish everyone a healthy conscience so they can see the wrong in their religious paths and become a true human being instead of just following obsolete religions and ideologies.

Thank you Ms Gillani for sharing your personal story. 

Dear Jack 

Although I understand your logic, I think it's always best to read all messages and judge for oneself. The days that people told us what to read or not is over. The hypocrisy will become clear  ;-) 

let's not allow anyone to make up our mind for us.

IRANdokht

Given (2)

That's the best way of facing reality: Not reading, not listening, and not debating. Keep living in your own cocoon. Well done!

To: Anonymousjack

"The greater the light the greater will be the attack of the forces of darkness upon the light"--unknown

Given

Given that Zion seems to like this, I am going to do myself a favor and not read it.

Conscience

Your grandfather is a great soul.