Posting:

Due to the current troll infestation we will be requiring you to sign in to leave a comment. Also, please note that we will be very nice in the regular posts, but we will not be gentle in the Sunday Blaspheme posts. You will be expected to back up any ideas with facts.

I am always happy to answer any questions I can:)

New Rule! Staff reserves the right to cuss you out and post your correspondence if you send us annoying emails.

Best!

Brett

Sunday, May 9, 2010

No Images of Muhammad!… er…. wait … it's Sunday!

Muhammad getting his ass tickled by and angel, who knew he liked the kinky stuff?;)

Going in a slightly different blasphemous way today, enjoy!

For years we've been told that images of the 'Prophet' are not allowed, forbidden to it's Jihad time. Well this isn't actually true. You see there is nothing in the Qur'an that mentions this and this site, Zombietime, has a WHOLE bunch of nifty images from modern artist all the way back to old timey Islamic artists. Here are few bits I thought enlightening from Answering Islam:

"Numerous passages in the Qur’an prohibit idolatry, and worshipping statues or pictures, but there is not even single verse in the Qur’an that explicitly or implicitly says not to have any pictures of Muhammad. This bears repeating: There is not a single verse in the Qur’an that prohibits making or having pictures of Muhammad or people or animals or trees. In fact, there are some verses in the Qur’an which mention images in a positive context and which therefore presuppose that some statues or images were approved by God,"


From Dante's Inferno, Muhammad walks around with his guts out, yummy!


And this one:

"Pictures of Muhammad are "not exactly" forbidden in the hadiths either. The hadiths do not single out Muhammad’s picture. Rather, in the hadith we find the prohibition of all pictures of people or animals, which would include pictures from a camera."

I guess the Christian aren't the ONLY ones ignoring parts of their holy book. There are even some comic book like pages taken from the Qur'an where the 'Prophet' isn't show in a flattering light.

Found over on Pharyngula.


Oh and some ID fun also found via Pharyngula.

14 (+ 1) Reasons Why Creationists Are More Intelligently Designed Than Evolutionists
Paul DesOrmeaux
1. "Creationism" comes before "evolution" in the dictionary.
2. Radiometric dating has determined that Kirk Cameron is between 6,000 - 10,000 years old.
3. The banana has obviously been perfectly designed by a designer for eating and for using in other creative, non-edible ways.
4. Where the hell are those transitional species, like flying squirrels, for example?
5. If we evolved from monkeys, why don't we look more like the Planet of the Apes chimps?
6. Ben Stein offers a perfect example of irreducible complexity "wherein the removal of any one of the parts [such as dying brain cells] causes the system to effectively cease functioning."
7. Especially when filled with animal crackers, my Noah's Ark cookie jar is an exact replica of the real deal as depicted in my illustrated Bible.
8. Evolution violates the second, third, fourth, and any future laws of thermodynamics that science types can dream up.
9. If the earth were actually billions of years old, all the water from the Genesis flood, which currently covers three-fourths of the Earth's surface, would have disappeared down the drain by now.
10. After supposedly "millions of years," tetrapods haven't evolved into pentapods.
11. Evolution is only a theory, like the theory of the Scottish origin of rap music.
12. There are well known, professionally published scientists who believe in God and who think dogs can telepathically communicate with humans.
13. If you leave bread, peanut butter, and Fluff on a counter long enough, does it eventually evolve into a Fluffernutter sandwich? Not likely.
14. Contrary to claims by Darwinists, Ann Coulter is not a transitional fossil.
15. If creationism isn't a valid alternative theory, then what are we going to do with all that crap in the Creation Museum?

Happy Sunday!

Brett





15 comments:

Fatboy73 said...

Not only do Christians ignore and are completely ignorant to certain parts of the bible but I just found out the other day that they're perfectly OK with some of the more reprehensible parts of it.True story,
I was out in the kitchen cooking while my fiancee and her friend were out in dining room chatting.I over hear the friend bringing up religion again.She had started reading the book of Job and she went on to explain the story to my fiancee.Well the friend just marveled at how faithful Job was and how she now understood what they mean by the patience of job and she hoped that she could show that much faith in god someday Yada Yada Yada.Now normally I keep my mouth shut when they startgoing on about their faith and god but I just couldn't take it anymore.I stuck my head around the corner and I'm sorry but are you seriously OK with a story of your god torturing a man almost to death,wiping out everything he owns and killing his ENTIRE family as a test to see how faithful he was and how much he loved god?
She got this wide eyed look on her face,thought for a second and said yes!She then replied well it wasn't god that did it!I said right it was satan doing it with gods blessing and all because of a bet.But it was just to see if Job loved and praised god only for the things he had or because he truly loved god.Again I said "and your OK with that?If your god did the sane thing to you you'd be fine with it?"But it say's he restored everything job had tenfold so he was rewarded for his faith.Did he get his family back? I asked.We'll I uh...I don't know I didn't read that far yet.NO I said he didn't,he got all his crap back but not his family.So you still think it's OK.Well it's just a story she said and changed the subject.So we went on about religion and to make a long story short I brought up things like logic,reason and proof,to which she replied I don't need those things...I have faith.Exactly the problem I said,last time I open my mouth again.You just can't take a blindfold off someone when it's stapled on by "faith"

Broken Tree Comics said...

Brett!

How are you? I hope this e-mail finds you doing well. I'm not sure if you remember me, but you did a pin-up and a cover for Broke Tree back in 2003. Its been a while, but the reason why 'm writing is to ask if you'd be interested in attending EPCON 2010, El Paso's first high-profile comic book convention. You can check out the website for a list of attendees at www.ep-con.com. I'd love to have you come out. The media has been all over this and to add you would only make it that much better. Anyway, check out the site and let me know if we can make room for you.

Best,

Julian Lawler
Editor in Chief
Broken Tree Comics
www.brokentreecomics.com
www.ep-con.com

Brett said...

Fatboy,

Well at least you tried, maybe she'll think before simply accepting stories now:) It's fun to talk and argue religion online, but in person, it's really frustrating:(

Hi Julian,

I do remember that. Sounds like it might be fun. Sure, I'm not sure if I'll be able to be there the entire time both days but I can make it.

Best,

Brett

brettbooth at gmail dot com

illustratorx said...

The profound question which Job faced, and which we Christians all must face is: "Why do we serve God?" Is it for the good stuff we get from him, or out of fear of getting bad stuff? Or, do we do it simply because we love him?

Fatboy you must be a pretty righteous person, so I have to applaud you for being in a position to pass moral judgment on a perfect and holy God.

You are either saying you are in a position to pass judgment on God's actions or you are stating you are ignorant to the meaning of the scripture you are so nonchalantly commenting on. So which is it?

Are you foolish when it comes to discussing and understanding narrative themes or are you perfect and more holy than God?

Either way I think you should dig a bit deeper and offer your friend a little more qualified response. I wouldn't be content to allow myself to look so foolish.

Steve

Brett said...

Once again Steve, you are the pot calling the kettle black. Once again only YOUR interpretation is the absolute truth. Atheists and many Christians have problems with this story, for Christians it's How can a loving God be so cruel, but for us Atheists it's how can ANYONE even begin to love something so profoundly evil. You draw strength from the story were it repulses us to the core.

He's not being righteous like you are, he's being human. Any 5 years old presented with that story would know the proper response, the moral back flips you have to do to make it 'double plus good' are nothing less than astounding.

Brett

Fatboy73 said...

Steve,
First your response makes quite an assumption that I take your god at the same face value you do.I in no way assert myself as more righteous than anyone else nor do I even believe in your god at all.
So that being said I am completely aware of the "stories" true meaning and purpose.And if your perfect,righteous and moral god existed your damn right I would question his unnecessary torture and complete degradation of a human being for no other reason than to prove a point.
As Brett stated a child could see that it's morally screwed up but you seem to think that such actions are perfectly justified,and next you going to be telling me the Jews had it coming right? So yes!Yes as a member of the Human race who has morals,knows simple right from wrong and has empathy for his fellow humans,I am in a position to pass moral judgment on a ridiculous fairytale about a god that obviously has none,and I will do just that.

illustratorx said...

Sorry I’ve been away from the computer a couple days, I cut my finger pretty bad helping my son with his homework. but gosh darn it he got an A!

Anyways, I don’t want to get in a long drawn out debate. Job is a difficult book for believers and non-believers. Even when you understand it, it is still a struggle to apply it. At some point you have to come to terms with God lets bad things happen. I have friends who walked away from their faith when their son died. I’m not in their place, but I have to face the fact that my God could let me witness my kids die and he would be no less holy. Job shows us Satan in the author of the evil and his desire is to kill, God doesn’t do evil but yet He allows it to happen. Right now a Pastor I admire a lot named Matt Chandler is suffering from brain cancer and short of a miracle will be dead in less than 5 years. I personally have a medical condition which prevents me from eating at least 75% of the foods I enjoy. Bad things happen to good and bad people alike. If God prevented bad from happening to Christians non-Christians would mock us (like Satan in Job does) for loving God only because he is Santa Claus to us. Persevering in turmoil and through pain proves our faith is genuine.

And as a final note, Brett you often say it is must my interpretation of the Bible. My interpretation is pretty boring middle of the road type stuff. If you research the Bible most of what I say lines up with at least 95% of modern and historical Bible scholars. And that is a conservative estimate. I’m really quite unspectacular in my Biblical hermeneutics. I differ from Catholic thought as I link my faith heritage back to the Reformation.

Steve

illustratorx said...

wow lots of typos, I must be tire.

often say it is must my interpretation

I thought I had typed must just be my interpretation

and

Job shows us Satan in the author of the evil

should be Satan IS the author of evil-

been a long day

Steve

Fatboy73 said...

So just curious.Would it be OK for a cop who came upon someone beating a child to death with a baseball bat and had complete power and authority to stop it but just stood there and let it happen?And I know what you going to say,but shouldn't the god from whom mankind supposedly gets it's morality from at least be held to the same moral standards as his creation?If you can honestly say no or who are we to question god or god works in mysterious ways,Then don't bother to respond to this because(and I do apologize)you are truly beyond hope and reasoning."Evil is when good men do nothing." and the same goes for god

Anonymous said...

Fatboy your misunderstanding of God is to think of sin in very humanistic terms. The Bible says the first sin was eating a piece of fruit. Heck that is normally a good and healthy thing. NO cops running around stopping fruit eaters today. Yet the Bible says this was punishable by death. Why? It wasn’t the action of eating fruit in general but the motivation to disobey God and eat forbidden fruit in particular which brought the curse and punishment of sin upon him and the whole human race. Adam had the pick of the Garden of Eden and chose the one thing He was specifically told not to do. Sin is sin. Murder, lying, cheating, adultery, gossip, greed, self sufficient pride, coveting, stealing, all are sins of disobedience against God. There are also sins of omission, the good we should constantly do to all others but usually do not because we are self centered hypocrites. We tend to think of our own sins as not being so bad and having a justifiable reason. It is only the sins of others which are really bad. We compare ourselves to others, but that is not the standard God uses. He doesn’t say just be better than those around you, or even be better than the worse people who end up in prison. He says be perfect-do no bad and don’t miss an opportunity to do good. By that scale we are all lacking. Just as Adam deserved death for disobeying God for the first sin we are all just as guilty for disobeying God daily hour by hour minute by minute. When you say why doesn’t God stop bad things from happening where would you have him draw the line? You are interested in him forcibly stopping the child beater are you as interested in God forcibly stopping you from having lustful thoughts or flipping off another driver? Are you interested in God stopping you from being greedy or covetous? Every time you go to tell a lie do you want God to stop you and force you to tell the unflattering truth? Or are you a hypocrite only interested in God stopping others who fall short of His perfect standard? Do you want God to operate by your moral code? Stopping murderers but letting liars go free? I think you now see if we are to have free will we also have to have the opportunity to fail and feel pain. You are right though, God would not be God if he just idly stood by. He first carried out a plan to save us from the penalty of sin and is now getting people opportunity to turn freely back to Him. The Bible also says the day is also coming when God will stop all sin permanently and bring history to a close.
-Steve

Brett said...

Steve I'm talking about your interpretation as your specific sect of Christianity (I'm not trying to label you a cult I just like the word;)) AS opposed to others, you are so NOT middle of the road being born again, that's far right, very different than the touchy feely Unitarians and others. But I could argue your interpretation is different from mine since I have y very own personal interpretation and you are following others. I read the bible (what I can of it) and I am repulsed, you get strength, another reads it and gets something else. It's actually highly individual if you read it personally as opposed to simply regurgitating or simply are sitting there being told from your priest/pastor what it says (the majority of religious people.)

I personally think it I'm to worship someone then it/he/she should be held to a higher moral standard than I am, if he (just going to use that for time sake)can simply let things go that I wouldn't doesn't hat mean he is inferior to me a simply human? You seem to think this 'Gods way or purpose' has some special get out of jail card, something we humans can't see or judge and that makes him special. But frankly if your God can kill an entire planet full of people and animals, his creations, his children then I'm sorry he's no better than a child playing with his ant farm. That I can relate to and see that his 'morals' really aren't so great. PLus he was real big at doing all sort of miracles and personally talking to people and meddling in their lives before, why not now? Why has he decided to ignore everyone and not show his might for thousands of years? Seems sort of fishy to me. Plus the whole damn Adam and Eve and ALL of there offspring seems sort of overkill and assholey to me. SO a child (and lets face it they were most likely not NEARLY as smart as we are now) disobeyed and ate a fruit that might have given them knowledge... What the hell is he hiding anyways?

The bible also says the sun revolves around the earth, the world was flooded all at once and that the moon is a star... guess what? Science and observation have shown us this is false. The fact that this book holds so much sway (or any of the others books which think THEY are the TRUTH) when they were mostly written by the poorest and least educated... thousands of years ago... well that seems to me to be something I can't swallow and never will.

Oh and I do hope your finger gets better, I sliced mine open a few years ago and it hurt like hell.

Best,

Brett

Fatboy73 said...

Congratulations,your whole spiel sums up most of what is fundamental flawed about,mankind's understanding of the christian god they have created.You just don't get it,there is no line,so please just stop with all this BS.If the all knowing all powerful god you refer to created mankind knowing what was going to happen,knowing that his creation would "turn" from him and Yada Yada Yada the whole story then why?Because if the creator of the universe and everything it contains did so for no other reason than to amuse himself at the chaos happening around him,then that makes him the most malevolent,evil,uncaring being that ever existed.And to slightly change the subject if your god exists why are believers so arrogant as to think he would give a flying f&%k about what happens on this speck of dust in the cosmos.Why would a being so cosmically monumental,portray such singularly human emotions.Because the creation bears the marks of the one or ones that created it.
Mankind created gods because we are
insatiably curious and creative creatures with a fundamental need to know and understand our surroundings.And when we don't have the tools necessary to understand something,our creative mind automatically steps in and comes up with a solution we CAN understand.Ex Why are we here,and who put us here?and why is this and why is that?Well we don't know,but it must have been something bigger and greater than us.And because we are social creatures and like to tell stories
the belief is spread and expanded,each group using their creative minds adding their own views and ideas on the established belief and filling in the gaps until you end up with a very complex and confusing but seemingly plausible for the time, system of beliefs about the world around us and the it's "creator."
Although we as a species understand more of this world and the universe now than those that preceded us and most of the things that were attributed to gods and magic can now be explained by science,the big question is still unanswered.Because of this the bulk of mankind still cling to their old beliefs because belief in something greater than us no matter how incredible it may be is better than not knowing.Even if that something is a selfish,jealous,childish,egomaniacal,hypocritical,tyrant it comforts us to know that at least something is in control and were not just helplessly flailing around the universe.As far as I'm concerned mankind is suffering from the greatest case of Stockholm Syndrome the world has ever know.It's just that our captor happens to be the god created by our own minds

Brett said...

Well said and nicely summed up!

Best,

Brett

Fatboy73 said...

Thanks Brett and I apologize to Steve,I don't mean to come of like an ass,but I get quite angry when someone suggests that my views are based on the fact that I just don't get it,like I don't understand god and religion like it's concepts are just too much for me to understand.
I understand religion and "god" VERY well,I lived it for quite some time and eventually came to my own logical conclusions concerning the matter.

Anonymous said...

Hey cool responses Brett and Fatboy, tons and tons of good questions here. I would love to answer them all, but this is a bit of an older post and that is a lot of information and minsinformation to sort out, can I hit you guys up on Brett's next anti-religious post (the shroud thing doesn't count, that stuff is just silly-both the pro and anti views.) NO offense taken-I tend to respond in correlation to the flavor of the post. I can be gentle if it is a genuine inquisitive comment or pretty adamant and straight forward if someone is just spouting off nonsense and trying to show how they are so intellectually superior to us religious simpletons.

-Steve