On religious obedience

Custom, tradition, and intellectual laziness lead men to follow their religious leaders blindly. Religions have been the sole cause of the bloody wars that have ravaged mankind. Religions have also been resolutely hostile to philosophical speculation and to scientific research. The so-called holy scriptures are worthless and have done more harm than good, whereas the writings of the ancients like Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, and Hippocrates have rendered much greater service to humanity.

Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyā al-Razi

On the Quran

You claim that the evidentiary miracle is present and available, namely, the Koran. You say: “Whoever denies it, let him produce a similar one.” Indeed, we shall produce a thousand similar, from the works of rhetoricians, eloquent speakers and valiant poets, which are more appropriately phrased and state the issues more succinctly. They convey the meaning better and their rhymed prose is in better meter. … By God what you say astonishes us! You are talking about a work which recounts ancient myths, and which at the same time is full of contradictions and does not contain any useful information or explanation. Then you say: “Produce something like it?!

by Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyā al-Razi

Enough said!

News on Saturday morning

Very witty and timely

In memory of mama

Yesterday marked 6 years since mama passed on. In her sweet memory, I dedicate this beautiful song for all the mothers and all loved ones. She continues to live in our memories!

Long live mama!

Genesis 19

The Doom of Sodom
19 Now the two angels[in the previous chapter they were three, where has god gone to?] came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom[I see they had gated communities or else why would there be a gate]. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square [this were the best times to live, you could offer accommodation to the gods or his angels. 2000 yrs later none of them has bothered to show up again! What went wrong?] .” 3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate[ Did we stop baking enough bread? I see they loved bread].

⁴ Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter[How did they know Lot had heavenly visitors? We have Lot meeting them at the city gates, they have a discussion and go to his house! Was Sodom so a small town or hamlet that everyone knew everyone or how do you explain every man coming to Lot’s house! And is there a drought of women in this hamlet? Something here doesn’t seem right] ; ⁵ and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them[ I thought they still lived in tents? have they started building permanent houses? Some enlighten me. If they are living in a tent, it’s easier just to tear down the tent. I don’t find it plausible that even young men, under 18s, would have gone with their fathers and grandfathers just to have sex with two angels. And they must be female angels or else all the entire of Sodom is gay! Is there a different explanation out there] .”

⁶ But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. ⁸ Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like[ what type of parent is Lot. How do you give your virgin daughters to be gang raped? Are his daughters listening?]; only do nothing to these men, in as much as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

⁹ But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door[as a writer of fiction, this scribe sucks, how strong is Lot and how many people are outside his door? Unless he had security doors by MultiLock installed in his house, but the men could just have taken the keys from him]. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ They struck the men who  were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway[all able bodied men have just been struck blind, and the scribe tells us here they wearied themselves trying to find the door, this is absurd. They were standing at the door, how then would they weary trying to get it unless the angels or switched the location of the door to the back of the house or to the roof!].

¹² Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; ¹³ for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ Lot went out[this must be a joke! The men who had wanted to know the angels haven’t left yet and Lot has walked out to his sons houses? By the way since all the men of the town were at his door, were his sons also there? That being the case, apart from Lot, every other male is now blind and even his sons will not be able to pack] and spoke to his sons-in-law[arranged marriages?], who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

¹⁵ When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city[ How far out of the city has the family been taken? They are not horse back or camels!]. ¹⁷ When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away[In a future geography lesson we will look at maps of the area and see just how far the chosen family would have gone].” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords!

¹⁹ Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die[how does Lot know this? or is he suggesting that the angels of the Lord are wrong to live him by the gates of the city or can we say that the scribe writing this part has witnessed a volcanic eruption before and knows that volcanic waste travel large distances? You can add to the possibility of questions]; ²⁰ now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” ²¹ He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town[did the angels have other ideas?] of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar [ am tired at the moment but I promise to get you the location of Zoar soon] .

²³ The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah

Destruction of Sodom

brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, ²⁵ and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt[ for all intents and purposes, her sons have just been left behind, her friends, her family, what is the crime in looking behind? How bad is this Lot’s god?].

²⁷ Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; ²⁸ and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace[Abraham must have witnessed an earthquake, but how far does he live from Sodom? He must have slept through the entire eruption!].

²⁹ Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered[ I have said elsewhere, this god has defective memory] Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

Lot Is Debased

³⁰ Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains[why did he have to retreat from the city to the mountains unless something is cooking!], and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. ³¹ Then the firstborn said to the younger[ what is so hard in giving the two ladies names if they have such a central role to play? Unless you convince me otherwise, the god who inspired this scribe doesn’t have a place for women], “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth[Now if I may, they just left a town to live in the mountains, why not head there?]. ³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night

Lot sleeps with his daughters

, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁴ On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.” ³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose[Wait a minute, how drunk was the old dude? I see no reason why Lot’s family was spared if the crime of the other city dwellers included drunkenness and debauchery among others. Any dissenting opinions allowed]. ³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day[ On a more serious matter, St Paul writing to Timothy lists 4 things that scripture is to be used for, could someone please be kind enough to tell me where the 4 if any fall in this story of Lot and his daughters! I will wait].