Thoughts

On my view of religion

How can you say ISIS practices Islam when they don’t even pray in the right direction? When they go against the laws forbidding violence and forcing people to join Islam? I think you have a very Westernized, myopic view of the religion. Would you say the KKK is the Christian equivalent? Or do you just care less about black people being killed?

I always forget how Islamophobic you are.

 

If you knew who I was, if you had even the slightest idea of what I’ve been through, you would immediately apologize for coming at me with this punk-ass mealy-mouthed bullshit.

I did not come by my world view lightly. This is not theoretical or academic for me. I have more scars than you have opinions, and I have profoundly earned the right to detest organized religion.

Fuck Islam. Fuck it.

Fuck Christianity. Fuck Judaism. Fuck all that Abrahamic nonsense. Fuck it all, and while we’re at it, fuck you and fuck your delicate sensibilities and fuck all your half-formed positions that you’re parroting from another source, because you clearly don’t understand what you’re even talking about.

I could run circles around your sloppy notion of Islamophobia. I could make you violently dizzy with so much knowledge that you would regret ever being so casual with the meaning of words.

I am not to be messed with on this topic, and I could give two shits whether you think my politics are dainty enough when I criticize the horror men do in the name of their repulsive gods.

I have read all the scriptures, I have stared into the abyss, and I have been swallowed up and spit back out by death itself. The only wisdom I have comes from the constant acknowledgment of my own cosmic ignorance, and still, I have to listen to assholes like you come at me with weak tea and soggy crackers because my philosophy doesn’t pucker up to an imaginary friend in the sky.

Fuck. That. Shit.

I am done with the all right wing racist Christians who treat xenophobia like it’s a virtue. I am done with all the left wing Muslim apologists who make endless excuses for a horrible belief system. I am done with all the incessant pigeonholing and pearl clutching and praying. I have heard every justification for every last bit of irrational nonsense, and I am simply done.

Believe in whatever crazy bullshit you want. If you need a savior, feel free to pick one. If you need a heaven, go ahead and hope. If you need a god to make sense of it all, that’s your fucking business, but I will not let anyone else make it mine.

My church is the church of reason. My religion is common fucking decency. Come at me with anything less and I will teach you a lesson in disrespect, because my patience has ended, and I don’t have to be tolerant of bad ideas.

None of us do.

Standard

116 thoughts on “On my view of religion

  1. Rebecca says:

    Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Coquette, thank you for writting such a succinct and encompassing statement on the bullshit that is the Abrahamic religion (whatever branch people want to be defending).

  2. Richard says:

    Realtalk: Yeah, the KKK is just as Christian as ISIS is Muslim. All that hatred, violence, and fear is inherent to the religion. I suppose it’s sorta nice that most people have chosen to not practice those parts of their religion but it’s always rather silly how, when they’re confronted with those parts, they wanna pretend like it’s not really their religion.

  3. CynicalGrey says:

    Yeah, no where have I read that CT hates Muslims. She really hates ignorant people who do violent acts in the name of a cooked up god. Fuck anyone who preaches their intolerance and hatred thinly veiled behind a rerereretranslated set of books about some jealous pedophiles.

  4. Chops says:

    The question seems to operate from the premise that there is a “true” way to practice religion. There isnt. ISIS is as fully muslim as the KKK is fully christian.

    There are also peaceful people who are fully islamic and fully christian. To insist otherwise is to practice the No True Scotsman fallacy. You have to accept that there are “true” practitioners of a faith who are violent assholes.

    It’s an uncomfortable part of practicing any religion. Just like, I imagine (I dunno, Im christian) most well meaning atheists are uncomfortable with the shit stains in the atheist community.

      • Chops says:

        Right? I see so much “but theyre not REAL muslims” shit on my various feeds and I’m like “but they are. Theyre just asshole muslims. And its ok to say that”

      • a grouch says:

        THANK YOU.

        I’ve said that before… I’m sick of hearing ‘No true Muslim’, or ‘they’re not real Muslims, then, Islam is peace’. It’s the religious equivalent of grammatical prescriptivism, people act like there exists a perfect, theoretical standard that everyone should be compared to. Like with language, religions are what people who call themselves their followers do, and Islam has a largely abominable record, judging by its followers.

        Also, I really wish you’d write a memoir someday, maybe decades in the future when you’re old and retired and don’t have to give a shit anymore, or to be released posthumously, I really want to read that now. I know you actively don’t want to be famous, but not even under your name, that shit would be fascinating.

        • Sarah says:

          Agreed. I would kill to know coquette’s background. I just feel like she must have had a crazy ride to have developed so much wisdom. And the amount of knowledge she has is pretty admirable. Not that many take the time to be fully informed on so many issues.

      • WilhelminaMildew says:

        Could also be “No True Christian” at this point, since so many of them love to point this out when yet another example of ‘godly’ bigotry is highlighted.

    • j says:

      I think the same way, except in the opposite direction: that there is no such thing as “true” Islam. The statement “I am a true Muslim” is invalid no matter who says it.

      This view, rather than lumping the speaker into the same category as a terrorist, acknowledges that Muslims are individuals. It seems to be a bit more accurate. Probably no less offensive, but whatever.

  5. Lalique says:

    You can’t just kill people cause they beleive in something in their heart. That’s not your space to enter and have opnions about. My friend is jewish, remember Hitler? Just because you don’t like somebody comment don’t me you should threaten them with this nonsense. I mean I like this blog and I agree or whatever but I feel like people can be who they want.

    • WhoAmI says:

      when the hell did she threaten to kill the guy she’s answering
      why would you extrapolate so wildly
      why would you want coquette to be such a dickhead
      why would you try so hard to find a reason to despise her

      • Lalique says:

        She hate muslim because they bomb us I get that. Why she is so mean about other people like Christians is something you should ask her. Also I never said dickhead, Bukowski

        • Strangely Rational says:

          Aw, she’s being “mean” to Christians? How old are you?

          In the US, do you know who threatens our freedom by expecting laws to conform to their belief system? Christians.

          Who spews hatred at LGBTQ people, atheists, people struggling with addiction, etc., going so far as to stalk and make death threats? Christians.

          Who stands securely in the position of majority while crying about being persecuted because they can’t force people to say “Merry Christmas” or pray in school? Christians.

          Who insists that everyone who believes differently from them is immoral, evil, or incapable of human decency and deserves to go to hell? Christians.

          I know you’re going to object that they’re not all like that, but organized religion breeds that shit. It puts people on a moral high horse, it feeds their arrogance, it makes seductive promises, and it legitimizes all the bullshit by invoking divine mandate. It’s the most effective way for leaders to achieve power and money, to drive people to wars for them, and to keep people submissive and unquestioning. If you think that organized religion was not created for this purpose, you are very naive.

          The only reason it all looks okay to you is that they’ve put this shiny, candy coating on top of it to fool everyone.

  6. Ailey says:

    This post is one of the many reasons why I love you, Coke! I wish I had your way with words. Perhaps someday I’ll be able to write a tenth as well as you do. At least I have the ability to learn!

  7. JC says:

    Wow, spectacular. You my dear are a genius, and it shows. I hope someday you choose to reveal yourself so that we can know all the interesting facets of you.

  8. AlligatorO says:

    I think religion is bullshit but don’t tend to say so to religious people. In general I’m too lazy to deal with the drama that ensues when you try to pry their hands off the draconian concepts.

  9. dime-sized-amount says:

    ok, but the original asker DOESN’T have any notion of what you’ve been through. None of us do. And until you tell us, we wont. You just said that you’ve been to hell and back and that passage has justified your wisdom in this case ( as it does in every case). Going to hell and back is the only way one becomes wise. But telling us you’ve been hurt by the Abrahamic religions is not the same thing as telling us what, in your estimation, is essentially damaging about Abrahamic religions, and I for one would really like to know what you think about it.

    As someone who is not a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Jew, or an Atheist, or a Pagan, or any of it. As someone who’s earnestly curious about spiritual practices in the scholarly contemporary world…
    I’d just like to know.

    • Sarah says:

      SHE CANT TELL YOU BECAUSE THIS IS AN ANONYMOUS BLOG YOU IDIOT. BESIDES IF YOU TOLD YOU HER NAME YOU WOULD STALK HER AND MAKE HER FEEL EVEN WORSE

    • The Coquette says:

      Yes, fair point. The collective and historical damage done to humanity by Abrahamic religions is worthy of its own post. Hell, it’s worthy of its own book with full chapters on slavery and misogyny and ignorance and oppression. Honestly, though, I just don’t have it in me at the moment to start building you an answer. As for me personally, I can’t go into depth about where I’m from or what I’ve had to deal with in terms of religion without revealing too much about myself. I hope you understand.

    • hm says:

      Let’s be fair, though– throughout the years, Coke Talk has provided us with plenty of implicit information. It is often expressed clearly that she has a deep and personal understanding of microaggresions, she is from the dirty south (was the exact phrasing, “grew up poor and ugly”?)

      In the same way you might use context clues to figure out what a word means in a book a few notches above your reading levels, you can to a degree, figure out Coke Talk. We know she’s a successful woman with a graduate degree and part of (probably) a religious minority from below the Mason Dixon line.

      We can strip our way our identities, guilt– altogether disassociate ourselves from where we came from and start anew, but the experiences that come with your circumstance of birth cannot be undone.

      Essentially, the explicit details of her experience don’t matter in the face of a
      cogent, informed opinion. They matter as much as her face does. Read with your feet planted firmly in the ground and your disbelief suspended.

      Also, with a little bit of scrolling (or the search bar, it works [!]) you can probably find a more distinguished damning of the abrahamic religions.

  10. Tiny Rick says:

    I’m really sorry you’ve been through so much shit, Coke. You’ve been chiselled away into something spectacularly strong and beautiful though. Thanks forever for sharing.

    • Carole says:

      Nice to know the mystique of anonymity is fueling your personal fantasies, Tiny Rick. She doesn’t need to be beautiful to be strong you know. She could be ugly. Would you still be pandering without understanding her content if she was? You probably only read this blog so that you pretend to be interested in women’s issues so they will talk to you.

      • Strangely Rational says:

        The fact that you assume that “beautiful” must refer to physical features says a lot about you.

        So does the fact that you assume that men (or someone you assume to be a man based on username) can’t be genuinely interested in women’s issues.

      • Jim says:

        Um, got a chip on your shoulder much? Tiny Rick’s comment does come off as a bit pandering but you’re the one conflating his use of the word beautiful with some societal physical standard. Her writing can be beautiful. A worldview can be beautiful. Hell, the avatar for an anonymous blog and all its inherent personality can be beautiful. It may sound corny, and maybe you don’t like that tone, but nowhere does he imply that he’s referring to an ugly v. attractive standard that you seem dead set on throwing back at him. Give people a little bit of a break until they make themselves clear or ask for clarification.

      • PolicyChick says:

        ‘Beautiful’ does not always refer to the physical. I took TR’s comment to mean she has a beautiful intellect. You are the one who jumped to the conclusion he (do you know he’s a ‘he’?) meant physical beauty, and then proceeded to speculate on the commenter’s ‘pandering’ and weak motives for reading this blog.

        Those are YOUR unfounded biases coming through, my friend, not Tiny Rick’s.

      • Dina says:

        Interesting you jump to his point about beauty as being grounded in the physical. Beauty isn’t inherently physical, and it doesn’t just run skin deep. I would argue that Coke has a beautiful spirit – and that may well be what Tiny Rick was commenting on.

  11. Jackie Q says:

    The thing is, Coke, I feel like you don’t even need to explain yourself. That’s even a step too much. You can safely assume most of these people don’t have relevant degrees to match their overthought opinions so why even bother? Shit makes me dizzy.

  12. J Lynn says:

    There’s a remarkable in-depth article about the religiosity of ISIS from the March 2015 Atlantic, “What does ISIS Want?” By Graeme Wood. It goes into the history of the group & its leadership as well as its belief system. It is long but well written so it’s not at all hard to read. In short, ISIS may be morally horrible but they are true believers, citing chapter & verse to justify their program … just as right-wing Christian fundamentalists do.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

  13. definitely not batman says:

    Feeling this so much right now. Back when Charlie Hebdo happened I’ve had a “fuck your white-guilt, left-wing self-flagellation over what religious cretins do” moment and got shit on by my activist friend. I simply can’t do it this time around, I’m so fucking tired. So tired. I’ve been avoiding everyone and everything for days now, until the all-too-familiar cycle of post-tragedy idiocy completes itself and everything goes back to normal. It’s like people find a new level of narcissism to reach every time something like this happens, it’s unbelievable. I need some new friends. And fewer hyphens.

  14. Ben says:

    This is an excellent post. God, I’d love to take a course with you as a TA.

    Lastly, I hear the last paragraph in my head in Samuel L. Jackson’s voice.

    • a grouch says:

      TA? Think bigger! Classes are fleeting… this is life…

      The comments on this site are awesome now. Adding my further 2 cents, I’m glad to see an intelligent person just say ‘fuck Islam’. I’m sick of persnickety liberal types accusing anyone who criticises Islam of holding a ‘Western’ viewpoint, as though rationality and equality can be said to be ‘Western’.

  15. Ashley says:

    I’ve personally always seen islam is an immature christianity. whenever i think of the sunni vs shia conflict in modern islam (played out through geopolitics) i think of the christian example, of all the wars fought as a proxy geopolitical battle between protestantism and catholicism. all of the abrahamic religions have similar beliefs, the one exception being judaism itself with the whole anti-evangelism belief (hence why theres so few jews in the world – it wasn’t all hitlers doing contrary to popular belief – jews by default didnt conquer lands and force people to convert to their religion unlike christians and muslims).

    what TRULY amazes me is how ignorant people are of islam and don’t realize it shares the same roots as christianity and the belief systems are near identical.

  16. Mil says:

    I’m really glad you are open about reading all the scriptures. I have been considering this task, so I can confidently affirm my anti-religious beliefs, but I’m stubborn. Arguably lazy too. NONETHELESS, I think I gots to. You are such an inspiration Mme Coke.

    Also, can’t shake the feeling that the fucker who originally wrote in is a troll.

    • WhoAmI says:

      you should definitly read some of the scriptures
      i don’t know about the Quran, but the bible has its good bits (Ecclesiastes or Revelation for example), even from a non-believer point of view
      The Old Testament as a whole is ok if you skip the parts about all the rules

  17. nineleaf says:

    Perhaps the rhetoric has become corrupted but the message that “ISIS is not Muslim” is meant to protect the vast majority of peaceful Muslims from persecution and retaliatory violence. Since Islam is often so interwoven to culture and community for many people, it’s often not as simple for apologist Muslims to reject the faith, as it would mean ostracising themselves from their entire culture and community.

  18. randy says:

    How a White Person Reacts to Being Called Racist: Exhibit A.

    Anyone can buy an unofficial English Koran at Borders. It’s required reading for any first-year religious studies course. Stop patting yourself on the back. “I’ve stared into the abyss.” Could you be any more self-important? When you were “reading the scriptures” I guess you missed the part where “seeking knowledge is mandatory of every Muslim” or “Who so does that which is right, and believes, whether male or female, him or her will We quicken to happy life” or “Assuredly, We have sent down the Book to you in right form for the good of man. Whoso guided himself by it does so to his own advantage, and whoso turns away from it does so at his own loss. You certainly are not their keeper.”

    Miss those parts huh? Queen Rania of Jordan has come out recently and denounced characterizing ISIS as an Islamic group for the reasons the asker explained (which you did not address because of your hurt fee-fees, Miss Rationality, btw). Just a guess but I wager she has more experience with the practise of Islam as a religion and its treatment of women than some blogger in Cali.

    ISIS is a reactionary extremist group. Exactly the kind of group that experts before the US Invasion of Iraq said would appear as the area became more radicalised as a result of the invasion. In fact, in your September 25 ask, you yourself said, “it’s perfectly legitimate to suggest that President Obama is morally superior to Abu al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, but so what? The US has visited far more atrocity onto the world than ISIS could ever hope to commit, and the fact that the President is a good guy has almost nothing to do with the intention of the US military industrial complex as a whole. ” Huh. So, I’ll assume that because you don’t immediately move out of America, denounce your entire American family and all of your friends, quit your American job, refuse to celebrate American holidays and burn all of your American possessions, you’re an “America apologist?”

    Do you really not see how religion and cultural become completely intertwined over thousands of years, to the extent that people can’t exactly extract themselves without losing basically all of their identity? Or was that not “in the abyss?”

    Stop thinking that because “your church is rationality” (barf, how cliche, CokeTalk) you’re absolved from any critical thinking blindspots. Newsflash, that’s exactly what Dawkins says when he calls diverse cultures (and genders!) uniformly ignorant and he’s human garbage. If you’re going to really be in this “church of rationality” maybe start examining your knee jerk reactions when being called on your shit.

    • The Coquette says:

      Ha! Nah, I don’t mind big troll bait. Every comments section needs a dude named Randy who likes to condescend with the term “Newsflash.”

      What’s interesting is that if you strip away all the seething hyperbole, Randy and I seem to be in agreement about a lot of stuff. He’s right about culture and religion being deeply intertwined and connected to identity. He’s right about Dawkins being ignorant (specifically to his own privilege), and he’s right about his characterization of ISIS.

      I still don’t quite know why he’s so angry, though. Apparently, he’s mad at me for having critical thinking blindspots and for not taking the PR talking points from the Jordanian monarchy at face value. Also maybe because he thinks I’m self-important. I dunno, but I have to admit I thought it was kinda funny when he said I had “hurt fee-fees.”

      Oh well. At least he’s a fan of my nails. (Obviously he’s a long-time reader.)

      • Anna says:

        The original comment was actually a lot of fun to analyse.
        My initial Coquette fan reaction was “gotta defend coquette on such a good piece of advice”, then I actually went through the comment. My impression was the person felt outraged, some kind of emotional reaction. However I didn’t find any thread of logic in his rant, and apart from personal attacks I didn’t find much I disagreed on.

      • randy says:

        I had the reaction I did because equating ISIS with all Muslims is Islamophobic and you know it. But instead of examining why you’ve allowed yourself to have the exact reaction ISIS wants Westerners to have vis-a vis Muslims or the glaring inconsistencies with the beliefs of Islam and the practises of ISIS, you stamped your feet and wrote “Fuck Islam (and by extension all Muslims)” with all the “elevated language” of a Creative Writing MFA who’s really swinging for the fences. Exactly the way all racists do when they’re called on their shit.

        Like, an increase in anti-Islamic sentiment is exactly what ISIS’s strategy is, you can see that right? So that they can say to moderate Muslims, “See how much they hate you? They say fuck you. We were right.” If you can’t see that, it’s worth pointing out your critical thinking skills gap.

        Hey, if you’ve had your own personal turmoil with religion, that’s legit. But don’t couch your Islamophobia in “reason.” Don’t assume that just because you’ve read a book literally millions of others have read and interpreted different, you’re on some unique shit.

        As for Queen Raina, I find it interesting that you would probably advocate that privileged people listen to prominent figures of a marginalized group (particularly ones with dozens of humanitarian awards) when they talk about how they would like their people to be characterized. Weird how you haven’t extended that courtesy to Muslims. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.

        What you are condemning about ISIS is a mix of cultural practices and politcal corruption. Let’s think about an American cultural practise, like maybe, invading sovereign nations, stripping them of resources and installing friendly dictators. Now, you would never say that the small group of assholes who plan and execute that cultural practise represent the other 300M Americans and certainly not you, would you CokeTalk? That’s absurd. You? Being exactly like Bush and Cheney? I’m sure most Americans would bristle at the characterization. That is exactly what you are arguing when you conflate Islam and ISIS. And even if that characterization was made far too often, no Americans would be at risk of retaliatory violence the way Muslims are when you write shit like, “Fuck Islam.”

        So if your religion is the one of “common decency” maybe actually practise it when considering how many Muslims have been attacked and threatened this past week before justifying said hostility as “puckering up to a best friend in the sky.”

        • definitely not batman says:

          Randy was foaming at the mouth so much it got into his eyes and he couldn’t see she was talking about Islam, not Muslims. Poor Randy.

          • randy says:

            Yeah, not “Fuck Muslims” just “Fuck their cultural identity and heritage.” Real material distinction there.

          • The Coquette says:

            Fuck their belief system, not their cultural identity and heritage. (Or is that too nuanced for you?)

        • Perspectivator says:

          ” equating ISIS with all Muslims is Islamophobic”

          The Coquette NEVER equated the two.

          “you’ve read a book literally millions of others have read and interpreted different, you’re on some unique shit.”

          Definitely true. Millions of people interpret it the same way she does.
          There is no point in her beautifully constructed rant that she holds extra fucking aside for muslims, nor does she think she’s special because she isn’t stupid enough to interpret scriptures literally. Additionally, it’s a perfectly balanced and distributed fucking of ALL religion and mysticism.

          You’re the one holding out hope that there’s some sort of discriminatory practice here so your butthurt nonsensical troll bait will have some scrap of meaning and you can cash it in for some pity and self righteousness coupons.

  19. Anna says:

    I’ve seen a lot of interesting comments, but what lacks in this debate is the definition of 3 notions :
    1. Personal belief/human spirituality whatever its form.
    2. Organized religion.
    3. Religion as a political identity.
    People often forget to distinguish 1 and 2, and leftists insist on distinguishing 2 and 3.
    Concept #1 is a fundamental part of human cognition. Some live it through fantasy or imagination, through study of the world, others through religious association, or a combination of all of those.
    Concept #2 is more difficult to talk about, bc the debate of whether it arises from #1 or #3 is not clear if we’re talking about strict causality. The definition organized religion (in the Occidental mind) goes from local church groups, to the Catholic Church owning most of Europe at some point in the Middle Ages. But defining the “true nature” of religion is a false debate.
    History shows that concepts #2 and #3 have had mutual influence on each other. It also shows that #3 is consistently detrimental to a majority of the population.

    For my part, I grew up in an atheist family, with an entourage that believed in a lot of different religions and that were kind and ready to talk about religion in an open way. And even though I went through a bit of a hard time when coming out in my Catholic high school, to this day, I love to study and discuss theology.

    However I am staunchly opposed to religious groups getting involved in politics (which happens even in the most progressive countries today), and I think a secular state should protect its citizens against religious political groups by whatever means.
    And I am ready to take on any well-meaning idiots who think otherwise. (The religious zealots can go fuck themselves though.)

    • Anna says:

      And this comment doesn’t go into the details of how Islam was at one time a progressive religion, in terms of a range of details like administration, women’s rights, and intellectual discoveries. I also didn’t go into the details about how the theology of Islam is a realm of diversity in its own right, with scholars presenting a multiplicity of interpretations of the Coran, the Hadiths or other texts, from conclusions going from religious extremism to social liberalism, especially considering sharia law in Islam. Islam, as any other religion, has always been open to a multitude of different interpretations, and the history of these interpretations is particularly interesting in the case of Islam.
      That however has nothing to do with the argument that religious political identity often leads to disaster (especially combined with economic instabilities, like war).

        • Perspectivator says:

          It’s not that the issue is nuanced. It’s that you refuse to recognize the issue.
          Just to be clear.

          Fuck all religions.

          Unless of course the nuance you’re referring to is a failure recognize and list all of the rest of the religions that need to be squarely fucked in the face with a penis shaped meteor and a pair of comets.

          • Perspectivator says:

            No. I was not defending. I was attacking a convenient target. That’s a big enough difference I feel I should point that out.

            If there’s something creepy about it, please elucidate. Until you do, I will assume you’re projecting something I can’t understand.

          • CynicalGrey says:

            This is glorious. Randy is all huffy with their arms crossed because they read on some intersectional feminist FB group that anything and everything that is anti-Islam must be anti-Muslim. And here I go, feeding someone who uses “but I guess CT doesn’t understand nuance” as a legitimate insult. *popcorn*

          • Margo says:

            uh part of Randy’s critique was about how saying “fuck Islam” at this particular point in time doesn’t take into account the threat of violence to innocent muslims living in western countries and your comment included a violent sexual metaphor. I just think this sycophantic pile on the like one person who disagreed with Coke was super gross.

            She’s pretty great but she’s not a god. Her posts don’t have to be the final Word.

            Also like attacking an easy target? Take a step back on that phrase and you might find some baggage worth unpacking.

  20. Ragweed says:

    Aw man that’s the good old hi-octane shit. Wish I could carry this response around in a form letter.

    Also, the KKK absolutely is Christian ISIS/Daesh. Was this ever in dispute?

  21. Randy not Randy says:

    I read regularly and post infrequently. I had not posted in this thread but like Schrodinger’s Cat you would not have known that unless I told you. Anyway…there’s more than one Randy in the CT Multiverse. Carry on.

  22. Mellifluous says:

    I’m sorry organized religion hurt you, Coke. Religious men and women are, quite probably, the most dangerous people in the world. Regards, Mel.

  23. seshat says:

    I would like to draw Randy’s attention to the following;

    1.) Coquette has stated before that she is educated in comparative religion ( http://dearcoquette.com/on-christian-close-mindedness/ ) so yeah, I don’t think it’s wise to try and go toe-to-toe with her armed with some shit you read on Wikipedia. I feel like a BA gives one a hell of a lot of fucking nuanced knowledge. (Also, from what I can tell she has an MA in Physics or something to that effect, so yeah, you can’t really beat her in the scientific sphere either)

    2.) ISIS are Muslims. They’re *really* Muslim, in fact. Granted their interpretation of the Qu’ran is not one that others necessarily agree with, but they are very learned in the Qu’ran. Graeme Wood explains it very well here (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/).

    3.) “Fuck Islam” does not mean “Fuck Muslims” and I feel like if you knew Coquette at all, you’d understand that. Given the admiration she has expressed for Middle Eastern culture ( She frequently states that she’s love to learn Arabic http://dearcoquette.com/on-fun-sized-advice-20/ ) I highly doubt she hates everything about Muslim people. Also, people’s cultural identity and heritage can exist outside of religion. I feel like assuming that a Muslim is a Muslim and *nothing else* is narrow minded and Islamaphobic.

    4.) Seriously, fuck off.

  24. Perspectivator says:

    You know what Margo, you’ve made me sorry in a number of ways.
    I’m sorry that I took the time to vehemently reiterate the patently obvious points of Coquettes rant. Being true to the nature of apologies, I realize that it served no function other than relieving my own personal stress about the poisonous nature of religion.
    I’m definitely not sorry I used the mixed imagery of the icon of human procreation as an extinction event for religion. I bet you didn’t unpack that.

    I don’t need to justify my vitriol for religion. But just to make you feel like a tiny cunt for calling me a sycophant; I lost my grandmother to stomach cancer as the fucking morons from her church stood around her death bed in her own home and prayed to god to cure the four pound stomach cancer that caused her so much pain. This came at a time when I only knew I wished she would make more benets and home made ice cream. It was only later that the full impact of the travesty against reason fully hit home. It’s taken years of experiencing pain and frustration with mystical fuckwads to build up a backlog of anger. So yeah bitch, it’s not me being a sycophant that made me take a pot shot at the village idiot. And I never defended her words, I reiterated them.

    For the most part I know I’ll never be the light, but I will reflect it. But right now…lick my dark side.

    • WilhelminaMildew says:

      Wow, that is some awful shit. I am so sorry!

      8 or so years ago a dear friend of mine suffered a brain aneurysm in his late 30s. In the ER it was revealed that the brain damage was so severe, that even if he survived (highly unlikely), he would be comatose & on life support for the remainder of his life. His wife, my friend of nearly 30 years, wanted to let him go peacefully, but his highly Christian family piled so much guilt on her that he ended up lingering on for three more days in ICU. I was there with my friend, and sitting in the family waiting room while his nutty family held hands, sang cheery Jesus songs, and prayed for the miracles that would SURELY bring their son/brother back to full smiling health was both completely surreal and utterly horrifying. And of course, none of them offered to help pay for the (uninsured) hospital bills that were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, or help his widow out in any other way (well, they did pay for the funeral, as long as it was all on their terms).

      Religion is FUCKED.

      • Perspectivator says:

        Religion was supposed to be a tool to help us cope with our painful existence but it’s only ever been a perverted extension of individual desires and shitty reasoning.

        It’s beyond gross that people who are alive and well use their own beliefs to extend other peoples pain and suffering.

        I can only imagine your mortification in that situation.

  25. perspectivator says:

    Wow. I tell you why I said what I did, and you excoriate.

    Where did you get your sense of empathy?
    Not all grandparents are dead due to religious idiocy, “kiddo.” And not all grandparents die before you understand that their own beliefs killed them. Your assumption that everyone’s grandparents are dead suggests you are probably old enough to have been through more than a few funerals. So just step back and consider how cold you are.

    And I reject your judgement of my behavior. You have no shame; and I don’t mean that in a good way.

  26. Datdamwuf says:

    Coquette,
    I have a fail in my reading of scripture. The only one from a major religion I have been unable to read cover to cover has been the Quran. I’ve bought 3 different English language versions over the years and get stuck, at best, half way through. Can you please recommend a particular translation for me?

  27. qamar says:

    I am a Muslim, I accept one God that is Allah who has created all of us(human beings) and the rest of all the things earth, moon, stars, sun and many many things we eat and drink. He is our lord, He has created us and sent us in this world to test us whether we do good deeds or wrong!

    Allah has sent 1 lac 24 thousand Prophets who guided us to the right path. May Allah guide all of humanity to that right path and spread the peace and prosperity and love among all humanity. All Religions always teach love, respect, care, helping others.

    May we be succeeded in the life after death which is a reality, and that life will never end, those who had done good deeds and keep on remembering their Lord, and read the scriptures and acted upon the right will be successfull in Paradise…………….. long happy life forever…..

    But those who kept on making joke of the religion and believers will be in the Azaab, the worst place , Jahanum, the Hell Fire…. for ever…. Please think Seriously about it and be loyal and speak truth to yourself!

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