Finding my religion

Touched By His Noodly Appendange

I always knew about the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, since that nutty student wrote his letter mocking the concept of “intelligent design” being taught alongside evolution.

But I have to admit I hadn’t been touched by His Noodliness until I read this week about the Mohammad cartoonist being attacked at a talk about free speech. That really bothered me.

First, a disclaimer – I see no problem with Muslims going apeshit over a depiction of their prophet; depictions of their prophet are, indeed, forbidden in their religion. THEIR religion. So they can feel pissed about that, fair go. But I still have to side with (and echo) Bobby Henderson on this one.

In truth, I have had my share of run-ins with religious nuts myself, though none of those nuts have been Muslims. I find Christian nuts the creepiest of all religious nuts, although a nut is a nut, no matter what shell it’s clad in.

But this cartoonist has become a symbol for the RIGHT to criticise religion. I don’t believe it’s about religion or values, I think it’s about dogma.

There is nothing inherently wrong with what nutty Muslims (and Christians) believe – what’s wrong is that it’s no longer a set of beliefs, it’s a set of Truths that cannot be questioned, and that is dangerous.

I proudly claim not just my right to religious freedom (that is freedom to practise whatever religion I choose), but my freedom FROM religion, that is my right to reject, criticise or otherwise take the piss out of any religion I find silly.

The ability to listen, debate and reject (or accept) divergent opinions is what separates us from the beasts, and if your religion can’t stand up to a little satirical lampooning without your resorting to violence, I think it means your beliefs are indefensible and won’t stand up to intelligent scrutiny.

Also, the Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn’t care if you draw it as something unclean … like a stripper.

So now I’m a Pastafarian. All hail the FSM.

16 Replies to “Finding my religion”

  1. I agree with most of what you are saying as i am not religious nor can i stand all this religious nuttery. But i could understand Muslims reaction to this some of this so called free speech. Surely if you have the right to criticise and take the mickey out of religion, then the religious have the right to express how they feel about your criticism of their religion. And if your views and expression are taken as offensive, then surely the offfended have the right to react appropriately. But how do you distinguish free speech from offensive speech and what reaction is considered appropriate.

    If i step up to JB and say “Yo Mama ….” for no reason, then surely JB has the right to react (possibly violently) – though we all know I’d whip his ass
    So whilst i could claim being attacked for my exercise of free speech, in his defence JB would surely say he was provoked and his response was understandable under the circumstances. Or maybe we should expect JB to exercise his “ability to listen, debate and reject (or accept) divergent opinions” about his Mama….as after all this “is what separates us from the beasts”

    I know religion and YO Mama are completely different but some nuts would argue that their religious beliefs are far more personal that their relationships with their Mamas. And if you go around insulting pples Mamas, then you bound to get yo ass whipped.

  2. Religion and mamas are totally different – a set of practices and beliefs are not the same as insulting someone’s family.

    Like I did say, I understand them getting pissed, but it’s an exchange of differing ideas, IDEAS being the key word.

    As for resorting to violence, that’s for the lowest common denominator, e.g. the Christian fanatics over the years.

  3. all i’m saying is that shit is personal

    a debate and an exchange of ideas is totally different from simply “taking the piss”. If you decide to take the piss about a personal issue then pple will take it personaly.

    and yes, whilst voilence should not be condoned – as far as personal attacks, difference of opinion, political issues are concerned violence is a very common reaction. So should the religious be expected to react any less violently than the average person would…or shld we stop take the piss out of pples personal issues.

    Maybe we should just accpect that we live in such an intolerant world dude
    – the nuts in Pakistan have blocked FB and Youtube for in response to a draw Muhammed FB group
    http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/pakistan.mohammed.day.facebook/index.html?hpt=T1

    and on a non-religous issue
    – a Malawi court has sentenced a couple for up to 14 years with hard labour for so that the Malawi society is “not tempted to emulate this horrendous example” …of being GAY
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/10130240.stm

  4. With freedom comes responsibility. Religious folk take their shit seriously. Devout folk, even more seriously.
    Debate and ridicule are not the same thing.

    Im highly pissed at the gay thing. I live in the gay capital of Africa and I’ve evolved from being a default homophobe and have added gay activism to my personal human rights portfolio.

    Ignorance is a bitch.

  5. If religion is the opium of the people, surely the stuff they are doling out at the moment must be laced with something else. I thought opiates were supposed to make you mellow out? Or is it now the level of addiction that you are like a crack whore selling off other people’s possessions and you are not open to reasoning of any kind.

  6. Ooh, Mos Native! You sound too good to be true! 😉

    Whatever happened to taking the high road? Why do people got to be so sensitive and shit. People do shit to get a reaction. how about just ignoring them and letting them look stupid. Yes, I know sometimes you gotta make a stand, but sheesh, pick your battles. Religious folk really boggle me. Take the whole drawing thing, it’s as if the religion’s survival depends on it. It’s as if if a picture is drawn, God will disappear or something. Like if you don’t make a big stink about the drawing, God is gonna be like, ‘so you let that oke get away with drawing that picture’ or something. Like God is really that petty. God!

  7. Christians love God, Muslims love Allah… you insult something I love, of course I’m going to react. It’s not that hard to understand.

  8. Resorting to threats and violence usually belies the fact that you don’t have the eloquence to reason your point logically and with a cool head. If religion were a football game, you should go for the ball, not mow down the man a la Boris Johnson, to show that you are truly skilled, not just some thug. And the thing is, sensibilities change as time goes by. It is through discussion and debate that we redefine our terms of reference, not just by bludgeoning people into consent. And to quote a great ‘why can’t we all just get along’?

  9. I will insult the thing that you love because I am FREE to insult the thing that you love. If I say, for example, fuck your god, and you get excited and resort to violence, that’s your choice.

    But the law of the land will take care of you, and I will always win that one. If you can’t debate your point, and make your point, you’re a fucking idiot.

    A pious idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.

  10. Intolerance is now the norm but by the very same notion you must not expect everyone to accept your position.

    Fundamentalist of all kinds are shit heads.

    Jihad – Crusades la meme.

  11. God, did you hear? The Queen invited the Pope to town, and guess who’s footing the bill? Can you believe that shit? Only 1 in ten is Catholic in this country. Surely the Queen and the catholics should be paying. Not Joe Public who could careless about the Pope. What the hell, man.

  12. Tara, if you are going to get offended by how your tax dollars are being spent, start with your local councils first, they are fleecing you at every turn. At least the Pope only comes around once every like 10 years or so, and I think he brings his own security details, complete with bulletproof glass bubble car. And he’s not a royal who will be taking the army chenooks to fly his friends to a stag night. So if you are going to get your Victoria’s Secrets knickers into a twist, there are much bigger issues to bunch your panties about.

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