The Writings of an Apostate
So, fun factoid for the day:
"All five major schools of Islamic jurisprudence agree that a male apostate must be executed. A female apostate may be put to death, according to some schools, or imprisoned, according to others."
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam )
While I haven't done anything as overtly heretical as burning a Qur'an or something of the like and it could be said that the fact that I was Muslim before I was really an adult might mitigate things, I could technically be killed under Islamic law.
Wow.
There's a reason I'm not Muslim anymore.
We were translating a Bible passage in Arabic today - the first bit of Genesis, actually - and I couldn't help but feel I was reading one of those "ridiculous" Native American creation "folk tales" where Coyote and his mischievous brother Wolf create the Cheyennes or whatever the fuck. The only way I can possibly, possibly believe that fairy tale is if I take it in a figurative manner. Which, it makes perfect sense to do so - humans wouldn't latch onto the idea of "...it will suck a lot..." in reference to Hell and as a result, Hell is described as a place where the smallest punishment is being made to wear red hot boots that make your brains boil. (I'm not making that up. That's in the Qur'an, folks.)
I have a lot of trouble believing.
It occurred to me the other day that it is possible to believe in something despite it being completely absurd-sounding. I believe in karma and jinxes. I know that the Universe probably doesn't give a shit if I rob a bank and that the concept of karma is probably just a means of keeping people from dicking each other over even more than they already do (and thus causing chaos and societal malfunctioning...) Still, I believe in karma and don't risk it.
However, eating pork and believing in more than one god and harsh punishments for loving someone of the wrong gender is...very arbitrary. I can't believe that. It's just a stagnant, unnatural means of preservation of ancient Middle Eastern society and its concerns.
Bah.
I still feel relatively friendly towards religion - unlike, say, Hatter or Michael, who spit acid everytime religion is mentioned. I don't want to take Catholicism from those little old Mexican ladies. People need something to believe.
It's all just so weird.
Nadia is in my thoughts here. What would she choose - the Qur'an or me? I know that if you asked her, she'd say the Qur'an. She'd also say that ShayTan is "pissing in my ear" and fucking with my mind and that I've been led astray. But when it comes down to real, actual nitty-gritty things - would she still reject me?
I guess we'll see.
Sincerely,
Omar.
"All five major schools of Islamic jurisprudence agree that a male apostate must be executed. A female apostate may be put to death, according to some schools, or imprisoned, according to others."
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam )
While I haven't done anything as overtly heretical as burning a Qur'an or something of the like and it could be said that the fact that I was Muslim before I was really an adult might mitigate things, I could technically be killed under Islamic law.
Wow.
There's a reason I'm not Muslim anymore.
We were translating a Bible passage in Arabic today - the first bit of Genesis, actually - and I couldn't help but feel I was reading one of those "ridiculous" Native American creation "folk tales" where Coyote and his mischievous brother Wolf create the Cheyennes or whatever the fuck. The only way I can possibly, possibly believe that fairy tale is if I take it in a figurative manner. Which, it makes perfect sense to do so - humans wouldn't latch onto the idea of "...it will suck a lot..." in reference to Hell and as a result, Hell is described as a place where the smallest punishment is being made to wear red hot boots that make your brains boil. (I'm not making that up. That's in the Qur'an, folks.)
I have a lot of trouble believing.
It occurred to me the other day that it is possible to believe in something despite it being completely absurd-sounding. I believe in karma and jinxes. I know that the Universe probably doesn't give a shit if I rob a bank and that the concept of karma is probably just a means of keeping people from dicking each other over even more than they already do (and thus causing chaos and societal malfunctioning...) Still, I believe in karma and don't risk it.
However, eating pork and believing in more than one god and harsh punishments for loving someone of the wrong gender is...very arbitrary. I can't believe that. It's just a stagnant, unnatural means of preservation of ancient Middle Eastern society and its concerns.
Bah.
I still feel relatively friendly towards religion - unlike, say, Hatter or Michael, who spit acid everytime religion is mentioned. I don't want to take Catholicism from those little old Mexican ladies. People need something to believe.
It's all just so weird.
Nadia is in my thoughts here. What would she choose - the Qur'an or me? I know that if you asked her, she'd say the Qur'an. She'd also say that ShayTan is "pissing in my ear" and fucking with my mind and that I've been led astray. But when it comes down to real, actual nitty-gritty things - would she still reject me?
I guess we'll see.
Sincerely,
Omar.