GodAnon

Our religious friends are trapped by dogma. " Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice . And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. " Steve Jobs

Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. We may help some of our religious friends by offering substitute principles. Humanists ground values in human welfare shaped by human circumstances, interests, and concerns and extended to the global ecosystem and beyond. We are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity, and to making informed choices in a context of freedom consonant with responsibility. humanism manifesto

Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.   We may help some of our religious friends by offering substitute principles. Humanists recognize nature as self-existing. We accept our life as all and enough, distinguishing things as they are from things as we might wish or imagine them to be. We welcome the challenges of the future, and are drawn to and undaunted by the yet to be known.

Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis.   We may help some of our religious friends by offering substitute principles. Humanists find that science is the best method for determining this knowledge as well as for solving problems and developing beneficial technologies. We also recognize the value of new departures in thought, the arts, and inner experience - each subject to analysis by critical intelligence. humanism manifesto

Some readers may have catholic friends and family, most of whom are unaware of the fictional limbo . It was ten years ago that The International Theological Commission issued a report about the fate of "unbaptised" infants. The 2007 report is titled, " The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized." Limbo is a fictional celestial middle ground between the fictional heaven and  fictional   hell. According to the pope, this means that babies who die without having water placed on the head by a catholic worker are now free to go to  fictional   heaven rather than being consigned to  fictional   limbo .

We may wonder about some silly beliefs held by our muslim friends. One such idea is that people will be turned into apes by allah. People who broke the sabbath were turned into apes: "And you know well the story of those among you who broke sabbath. We said to them: "Be apes - despised and hated by all. Thus We made their end a warning to the people of their time and succeeding generation, and an admonition for god-fearing people." Qur'an 2:65

Some people may wonder why their muslim neighbors (but only men) have an interest in being married to the wife of an adopted son. The answer is that the Quran permits a man to marry the wife of his adopted son. Allah apparently decided to permit this at the same time that Muhammad married Zaynab, the wife of Muhammad's adopted son. Interesting timing. "Allah has not made for any man two hearts within him; nor has He made your wives whose backs you liken to the backs of your mothers as your mothers, nor has He made those whom you assert to be your sons your real sons; these are the words of your mouths; and Allah speaks the truth and He guides to the way." Qur'an 33:4 It's interesting that the writer needs to include the opinion that Allah speaks the truth.

Perhaps we struggle to understand why our Islamic neighbors can justify having sex with prisoners of war. Of course, we speak of muslim men having sex with women prisoners of war . We call it rape , since it is in no meaningful way consensual sex. The opposite (women having sex with men prisoners of war) would be silly, for some reason. The reason is that the Quran offers cover for this behavior: "O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts, who migrated (from Makka) with thee; and any believing woman who dedicates her soul to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to wed her; this only for thee, and not for the Believers (at large); We know what We have appointed for them as to their wives and the captives whom their right hands possess; in orde

We may not realize why our islamic friends advocate cutting off people's hands. It's because their religious writings demand it. This is offered to reflect the wisdom of their god. Yes, cutting off hands for the offense of theft is considered wise and exemplary . If our  islamic friends do not advocate this punishment, they are disobeying their religious writings. "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise." Qur'an 5:38

Many of our Muslim friends may be unaware why Islam is so hostile towards women. The short answer may be found in portions of the Quran such as this: Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great. Quran 4.34 

Some of our islamic neighbors are trying to present a softer and friendlier islam by "authenticating the hadith -  the reports about Muhammad’s sayings and practices.  Maybe some of the stuff people claim they saw  Muhammad say and  do was not so reliable.   Maybe we should get rid of the stuff that conflicts with the  Quran  and that will solve some of the problems - so the argument goes.   Of course, this assumes there is no problem with the  Quran  itself, an assumption which is far from universal agreement. Still, if they can chip away at some of the religious content, that might be progress of a sort. moderate-islam-saudi-arabia

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in an interview Monday November 6, 2017 defended his tweeted opinion that Texas shooting victims “need our prayers,” and that, “prayer works.” “It’s disappointing. It’s sad, and this is what you’ll get from the far secular left. People who do not have faith, don’t understand faith, I guess I’d have to say,” Ryan told Laura Ingraham on  Fox News’s  “The Ingraham Angle.”  “Reports out of Texas are devastating,” Ryan wrote on Twitter. “The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now.” Of course, Speaker Ryan offered no explanation of how prayers "work" or how anybody could possibly know that.

"Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" To provide certain protections regarding a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction for persons, religious organizations and private associations.  To define a discriminatory action for purposes of this act.  To provide that a person may assert a violation of this act as a claim against the government.  To provide certain remedies.  To require a person bringing a claim under this act to do so not later than two years after the discriminatory action was taken. To provide certain definitions, and for related purposes. It is proper to discriminate on the view that one believes: (a)  Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; (b)  Sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and (c)  Male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual's immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth. Link

Churches in Ireland run 96 per cent of primary schools and about 50 per cent of the secondary level, even though the fastest growing cohort in the Irish population today is people with no religion. They are also among the youngest. Their number, including atheists and agnostics, increased by more than 70 per cent per cent between 2011 and 2016, and now number almost one-half million persons. They are now the second largest category in Ireland, at 10 per cent of the population, with an average age of 34 - younger than the average population age. All came through an education system dominated by the churches. The churches will lose this battle, and should.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently made headlines by saying he will try to return his country to “moderate Islam” as part of reform efforts. Though it is unclear what changes this may produce, this is part of a growing trend in the Arab world to use parts of the state-sponsored religious establishment to counter extreme religious ideologies. At least in theory, these types of changes would not be possible in the United States because we have no  state-sponsored religious establishment.