The Devil made you do it

Chapter 3 of my brother the Atheists book starts with a discussion of the cop out a lot of people in the world take when it comes to personal responsibility. “I sinned because Satan deceived me”; “I killed that group of Jewish people to fulfill my jihad as outlined by Mohammed”; “I shot at those Muslim’s because they’re on land given to me by God”; “I decided to molest those boys because that’s what I learned in Catholic school”. Ok, that last one was a cheap shot – I might want to leave the cheap shots to my brother the Atheist. But you get the point. Do we really do things without knowing we’re doing it? When I lie, is it really a surprise to me? What about when I commit another sin? If someone cheats on their diet is it because they didn’t have self control, or did some other worldly being temp them? I’m one who believes people make their own decisions – right or wrong. For Christians it’s called free will. For everyone it’s called having a brain and thinking for yourself. Even if someone tells you to do something, you still have to act. His chapter on this starts light and funny, and then gets into a scary story related to why he wrote the book in the first place. It’s an awesome example of misguided Christianity, or a person deciding to justify their behavior by blaming Satan. C’mon, do these people really still exist? I guess so. When I think about it we all probably do it to some degree – it’s a form of self defense so we don’t have to admit that we’re basically evil beings on this planet with our own agenda’s. No matter how hard we try we’re still sinful beings.

Why No Cartoons of Mohammad or Allah?

In my brother the Atheist’s book, “the why do I have toenails?” he’s got several pithy comments about Christianity. He’s got quite a few cartoons about old and new testament historical figures and stories. But in all of his discussions he doesn't bother to take on Islam – not even one cartoon making light of the extremists he’s concerned about. I find it interesting that while he’s railing on all things Christian, he skips Muslim’s completely. Heck, the Dane’s published a cartoon of Mohammad (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=12146&offer=&hidebodyad=true), and several newspapers got together to defend the artist. If all religions are dangerous, as stated in his book, then why not take on the Muslim’s that are touting fear and killing based on their religious beliefs? Mock Mohammad! Question the church leaders in Muslim countries for not stopping the madness! Ask hard questions about why they believe that Mohammad had a vision, the way he asks how anyone can believe that Joseph Smith had a vision. Why leave this large (and growing) religion off the table? I’m OK with asking questions, questioning beliefs, and disagreeing with my beliefs. But the more I dig into this book the more I think the subtitle should be “How to be the best non-Christian you can be”, vs “How to be the best Atheist you can be”.

And since we’re asking the question about Muslim’s, what about Scientologist's and L. Ron Hubbard? He was a wacky sci-fi writer who came up with a religion on his own. Something about space ships coming to earth and dropping people off near a volcano (sorry to paraphrase, but you can visit http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/what-cos.htm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology for more details). Doesn't this sound like something you can really make fun of? South Park mocked them quite a bit (one of my brother the Atheists favorite shows). I’m sure other people have taken shots at them. But not this book. Why?

So after rereading the first couple of chapters I'm starting to conclude that my brother the Atheist might not believe in any supreme being, but he's really mad at Christianity. I'll need to look deeper into this as I read and talk to him, to gauge what this is all about. Although it's reminding me of the anger some people felt when George Bush was elected last time - there was this weird anger at all republicans and people who voted for him. Not disappointment in not having John Kerry win, or frustration with the process, but an out and out anger at people (including little George) over the results. Is there a link here, or is this a coincidence?

Mohamed Bashing?

I'm not an expert on religion at all - but I do know that around the world when Mohamed is disparaged or even drawn in a political cartoon, there tends to be serious repercussions. However, is this response true in other faiths? If I draw a cartoon making fun of Vishnu, do Hindu's come looking for me? I know when people speak ill of Jesus it bothers me, but not to the point of jihad. So what's the deal? If Mohamed sacred to the point of killing other human beings? What about Alla? What about the other prophets in Islam? Is it just the one guy, or all guys are untouchable when it comes to humor? The Simpson's make fun of all faiths - except Islam. The same with South Park. Is it because if they cross the line and depict Mohamed in a negative or humorous light a jihad will be declared on them and their families? Can we have firm political discussions about faith without it leading to violence? For example, if I believe that Christianity is the true faith, and have this discussion with a Muslim, is he expected to get violent if I think Mohamed was just a guy vs something more? Man, getting clarity on this would help go a long way to preventing my Brother the Atheist from getting killed for things he's putting in his book about Islam and Mohamed...