Conforming by any other name

“The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It’s people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages”

I watched Make Bradford British today, and sometimes what betters the controversial programme itself is reading what people have to say about it on Twitter. Some funny but expected things said by the programme's participants was Average Joe working class white guy saying 'and the (Pakistani) women look all funny because they wear high-jabs or whatever they're called'. Aaaah Joe that's high-liarious. The middle class ex-policeman joking that on his force days he used to say to his partner 'let's go Paki-bashing' and then to reiterate his point that racism is SOOO funny he then immediately called another participant a 'black bastard'. There was also the emotional revelation from the mixed heritage pub landlady that her saying 'Paki' was the equivalent of her getting called a 'nigger' and her mother a 'coon lover'. No shit Sherlock.

Anyway it is obvious that many people hate religion, (the programme really focussing on Muslims in Bradford) judging by the ever lasting popularity of google searching atheism and finding me. In regards to the programme one tweeter wrote 'Praying 5 times a day FUCKING WHY?!'
I retorted 'What kind of question is that? Why do people smoke 20 times a day, why do people drink every week, why do people watch TV every day?' as it seemed bizarre to me as to why someone would have a problem with how many times someone prayed.

This person, like many others, thought that praying to a deity we don't even know exists was a waste of time (fair enough but we all waste time) and moreover didn't like the idea of someone feeling obligated to do something because of religion and fear. It's a strange argument because as much as we all like to think we are free, we are NOT. We do things, consciously or unconsciously, either because everybody else does it, (or our particular society or family) or because of fear. Following fashion is self-explanatory. And there is nobody out there that can really tell me they never ever ever did something or did not do something purely because of the fear of the consequences, whether that comes from God or the law or hurting someone or whatever. It would be nice if everyone was a nice person and did not commit horrid crimes just because they are a good person but wake up this is not the case! People think religion is a strain and it is just a tool to make people conform but are you not conforming yourself by obeying laws made by men in suits?

People complain A LOT about immigrants not assimilating or integrating but what does that really mean? Changing your identity to be as alike to British people as possible? Conforming into nothingness? Say our life conforms to expectancies and we die as old folk on our death beds. When we're there do you think that devout Muslim Rashid will regret his life spent praying? When Tom, Dick and Harry are on their death beds do you think they will regret their life of conformity, of partying, of watching tv, of buying things they don't need, of worshipping nobody but themselves? Mull it over and think about what you want to flash before your eyes before you die, whenever that may be...

Is being a lefty compatible with believing in God?

I consider myself a die-hard lefty but it's come to my attention that so many people on 'my side' do not believe in God, not only that but religion is openly despised. In my view if you are truly liberal you accept people's differences, and as long as it is not immoral or affecting your life why should anyone take it upon themselves to revel in shitting on other people's beliefs? It would not be socially acceptable to deride someone's race or creed yet it is deemed OK to be intolerant toward faith. Right-wing Christians admittedly make it much too easy to take the piss out of them, but people of faith are believe it or not, sometimes sane and educated. Stereotyping and generalising is something I thought was the domain of right-wingers.

Some people call themselves socialists because they believe in the philosophy that advocates government controlled economy, at almost complete odds with those who favour unregulated capitalism (apart from when the corporations need saving of course, then it's state to the rescue!). The theory of socialism comes from books yet one would not call a socialist 'retarded' or whatever otherwise abuse people level at people of religion.

Some would say Islam is close to socialism, in that the government should be responsible for the well-being of its people, to make sure everyone has an entitlement. Islam does not discourage enterprise and business in contrast to the Biblical quote which is 'it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God'. It however always emphasises social responsibility in economic terms by laying out that everyone pay 2.5% of their salary, after expenses and living costs, to charity. If everyone in the world did just this no-one would be hungry this Christmas, or any day for that matter. This is a minimum percentage and most go beyond this recommendation ALTRUISTICALLY, especially in Ramadan which serves as a yearly reminder to think of others. Monetarily the banning of interest in Islam (and the Bible) makes economic sense, it means that every man, woman and child does not have to be ENSLAVED by this so-called FREE market. The more money you have, means the more interest you deserve to get? And when you are in overdraft you get kicked in the teeth and interest deducted from your already low funds? This is perverse.

Ramadan, even something as simple and universal as fasting has been contested by others in my life yet most religions practice this. It would be amazing if people thought about people other than themselves and their immediate circle EVERY SINGLE DAY, but the fact is they DO NOT and Ramadan is just a practical way of reminding people of others who are less fortunate. It is merely 30 days out of 365 in which from dawn to dusk we experience a REAL EMPATHY for those who do not have the means to eventually break their 'fast' at will, and not a momentary and useless 'awww how sad'. Although it is a mere taste (for want of a better word) of how the starving feel, not being able to simply have a snack whenever you like makes you more disciplined, makes you think of things other than your next meal and more aware of how you behave. This discipline you experience is intended to affect how you then live the rest of your year/life. If you can constantly improve your sense of discipline and empathy you will NEVER BE ENSLAVED by things that are bad for you and waste your time. It has also been medically proven that fasting serves as a detox and is not punishing on health, even for those who are professional athletes.

People bemoan religionists but as long as someone has a moral code who gives a shit about what someone believes in their heart? If you want someone to agree with everything you believe in, you may as well be a fascist. A book that is holy is of course not the be all and end all of one's moral code or education it is just part of it, just like so many elements in life and sources make you the person you are. EDUCATION is at the forefront of Islam, and no holy book says you should only read that book yet education is not as yet a human right in man-made law. Furthermore, saying a book of morals is not necessary is like saying man-made laws should not be in common law or within statute because everyone knows what the law is anyway.

I don't know one single person that does good things solely for a 'reward' in the afterlife consciously or not, this is an arrogant assumption made by arrogant people. Then again, there are psychologists who say that no-one does good deeds TRULY altruistically because they want recognition, hence most charitable donations are not anonymous. Either way, this disproves any theory that only religionists do good deeds for reward like a dog would. There are various way in which people as a whole can be persuaded to do good, for many, doing good for good's sake is enough, but if this were enough there would be no need for laws, for jails and for any criminal reprimand. Like it or not, some lack a moral compass for various reasons so must be persuaded to not commit wrongs out of fear of punishment by God or law, whether it is murder and rape or tax evasion or benefit fraud. Out of 600 verses in the Qur'an, detailing of punishments make up ten sentences. Punishment (hell/imprisonment specifically) is a last resort in the case of God or law. All the while, forgiveness and redemption is always available for those who truly regret any wrong they have done in the case of God and not law.

The books of the Abrahamic religions speak of VIOLENCE and WAR because they are stories of what happened in those times, and yet to think that today in 2011 that we are above that same violence and war is to live in LA LA LAND. In the UK, in a little over a decade we have instigated and participated in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and profiteer from the weapons we sell to repressive governments. The US are the same, but have also dabbled in cowardly drone focused violence in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. We may not kill many of own like other governments do but we send our soldiers to war which does not involving defending our land, honour or people. The three things in which Islam say war is deemed necessary in self-defence. War is not pretty, most of the times counter-productive but 100% can be summed up by Prophet Muhammad who said 'War is deceit'. Yet MAN insists on violence and going to war; self-professed religious devotees, secularists and non-believers, it is unfortunately an inevitable part of life which holy and non-holy books must deal with if they deal in reality as well as spirituality. There are many man-made disasters, if not war, politicians override scientifically proven concerns for the environment of our planet because nobody wants to sacrifice a tiny part of their economies. This is nothing to do with religion or God but the stupidity of MAN.

A definition of God is not a human concocted, and in particular, Western concocted idea of a superhero, who saves people from evil, that is meant to be our job. But we are obviously shit at it and are looking for someone to blame. It would be nice if one single thing was responsible for all evil in humanity i.e. religion, but sorry that is not the case.

We in the Western world like to think we are free, yes we have more freedoms relative to other countries, but we are certainly more subservient to the will of our governments so how are we superior to the 'chains' of religion? Furthermore, is worshipping a deity worse than worshipping money?

Take something from each ideology and think for yourselves, don't demonise one, especially if you know little about it. Question everything and try to piece books and stories together from its CONTEXT and decide what might be as fair and just as life can be made for EVERYONE. Stop dwelling on the faults in all ideologies. Instead, be aware of them and harness their strengths. Extremes of belief, philosophy, thought or ideology have ever and always did little to serve the needs of mankind other than to create chaos, whether that be from religion or atheism or whateverism. All people need to start being more open-minded and stop being so far up their own arses and take their unholy crusade elsewhere.        

I have come to the conclusion that being a lefty is compatible with believing in God, what is not compatible with being a lefty is stereotyping, bullying, mocking, ignorance and generally being intolerant.

See also http://anbarrockny.blogspot.com/ 

God versus Atheism Part 2

OK I have been very diplomatic before with regard to the debates over atheism, but now I just feel annoyed about the attacking nature of atheists on Twitter specifically. People will claim that atheism is not a belief, that it is a disbelief yet it has so many over zealous champions the faith-hood nature it has taken on is difficult to deny. Most people get annoyed by Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on their door and who can forget that infamous Christian preacher on Oxford Street given an ASBO some years ago? ('Don't be a sinner, be a winner' Ring any bells?) Yet they do not see attacking believers in God as intolerant and irritating and of an extremist nature. They arrogantly claim it as 'truth telling'. As an advocate of free speech in a world where sometimes that's all we have, I believe people should be allowed to say what they please, but I just don't think that people should dress up their preaching as some sort of self-righteous good. If you are a tool, please recognise!

This year, so many things have happened, the world has woken up and people are dying every day to fight corrupt governments. Generalising generally never helps but from my young therefore admittedly limited perspective, the causes of most cruelty, past and present, are government self-interest, greed, tyranny, corruption, nationalism and intolerance. Note, the same intolerance some atheists are exhibiting. Not belief or disbelief in God.

One claim was that organised religion causes genocide, I asked which genocides, the tribalistic Rwandan? The communist Khmer Rouge? The atheist Nazi extermination of Jews? As I have said before the biggest genocide which killed more people than all of the genocides in the 20th Century is the selective abortion of foetuses with chromosomes of the XX variety. These have nothing to do with religion/God.

Yes there are plenty of so-called religious nut jobs but the common denominator of said nut jobs is not religion, they twist ideologies to suit their own purposes. Thinking that your beliefs or sweeping generalisations alone have the answer to the world's problems? Sounds familiar, like hmmm... religious extremists?! If nuns, priests, monks and all devoted religious people stopped believing in organised religion, probably because they were convinced by some OTT atheist preaching of course, would the world become better, would there be no cruelty and tyranny? No don't think so.

Admittedly, I have found Biblical quotations in a public sphere cringey but this new no God preaching and writing anti-religion quotes from public figures is equally vomit inducing. FYI snooty arrogance will rarely convince someone of whatever your argument may be. Both sides can be arrogant and human beings have been this way since the dawn of time. We have always thought we have known it all no matter how limited our education. If you told a foetus there was a world outside the womb, they would probably not believe you. Judging from the past, just because we have not discovered something, like the discovery of the shape of the earth, other planets, entities smaller than microscopic, does this mean that they do not exist?

Apparently being a liberal lefty is not compatible with believing in God, in the world where we must define our being in 160 characters or less, yet why should I have to fit into the box that people want me to. I am educated, I live in secular Britain, a society where most people are atheist or agnostic, I hardly have any religious friends and yet I believe in God and justice in the afterlife. Unless that is affecting your life please leave your ridiculous preaching/ ignorant generalisations to yourself. There are peaceful protesters and 84-year-old women being pepper sprayed in the face, whistle blowers being punished and ostracised more than war criminals and apartheid in the Middle East being championed because powerful corporations and lobby groups control the government in the land of the free. Surely these issues should take priority over your 'liberal' godless crusading?

See also http://anbarrockny.blogspot.com/

Two sure fire table conversation killers - religion and politics

I know these are the two topics that you MUST avoid at a dinner party for fear of the designated black sheep label but hey, these are the two most important topics in my lil ol heart and this ain't no freakin dinner party. It's strange that we all have a sense of spirituality and faith no matter how shallow some may seem on the surface, pondering questions like 'Why are we here?' Yet religion is SUCH a taboo subject especially in Britain. Even fiery me very rarely talks about religion and that's still only with people who I'd trust with my life, and even then it's only at a surface level. In a society which is so liberated and free you're made to feel so uncomfortable and even foolish when speaking on something which permeates your every fibre, your body and soul; what you believe in.

Atheists or people who just plainly hate religion may think that people have always needed a comfort to bring them to terms with the hardships of life so we made up this concept of God or a higher spiritual being. That the main three monotheist religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are following the words of a book that was written by a bunch of men who thought that they were something special. That religions were just formed from cultures and their practices. That religions were made to brainwash people.

The latter has been said in front of me with no respect to my beliefs, my family and my intelligence. I theoretically retorted (when actually I just left the place immediately) with the fact that, fair enough if you think that these words were written by man but you believe newspapers today like The Sun like they were the word of God. If you don't believe in a supposed divine message that has the same principles coming from different countries centuries apart then you should also not believe everything written by so-called journalists who work for dodgy billionaires. Even if faiths were created to brainwash or guide people, they all preach doing good deeds and living your life in a humble peaceful way so what's actually wrong with that?

Religion is the main cause of wars and killing people they would reply. I would say Hitler was an atheist and was responsible for exterminating how many millions of Jews? Not to mention how many millions have been imprisoned, tortured and killed in the name of Communism (Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, the Soviet Union, China etc), a rejection of religion and God for the sake of the community and state, which is really just some old dictator. In modern times, segments of the secular West have gone to war in countries thousands of miles away from them in an apparent attempt to 'liberate' them killing thousands in the process, quite any oxymoron but that's another rant altogether. Clearly, people of faith and people without faith both cause insurmountable pain and suffering. To conclude, shit happens. And the last time I checked religion hasn't been the common denominator.


The Sun, Daily Mail et al 21st century line of argument against religion is; 'Look at the child abusing priests' and 'Bin Laden and all the other Islamic extremists'. Clearly you cannot expect even two next-door neighbours to act in unison  so why would you expect that from millions or billions of people from the same religion. Plus, if we believers were so brainwashed wouldn't every single one of us act homogeneously? Aaaah the governments of the world would love that!

 I'll save politiking for the next time...

See also http://raraproductions.blogspot.com/ & http://anbarrockny.blogspot.com/