If you are an atheist, you may have to reconsider your plans to travel to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has included in definition of terrorism
calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based”.
I sympathize with atheists in Saudi. If this isn’t an affront to freedom of thought, then I don’t know what is.
Meanwhile pope cuddles has said, or so I hear, that religions should not be ridiculed. That ridiculing someone’s faith is close to ridiculing his mother. Why should sincerely held beliefs not be open to ridicule and criticism? How can they be changed?
Random thoughts 
I had never had any plans to go to saudi arabia, anyway.
In regard to the pope, my mother is strong woman who’s hardly offended by insults.
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I don’t know how those atheists who live there do it.
Your mother sure is strong
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She is. My mother had a breast correction surgery last Tuesday, from which is now recovering. But she called me yesterday, and she is fine.
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Sorry to hear and quick recovery for her. My very best wishes.
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Thanks.
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Wishing and wanting the best for your mother too.
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As you’ve said before: if they kept it to themselves then we wouldn’t have cause to ridicule them publicly.
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Why they bring them to the public domain and not expect ridicule is beyond me.
For example how can believing a man lived in a fish for three days be beyond ridicule?
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I think that since very few freedoms are available to the Saudi people, their law against defamation is really no surprise. As for the fake pope and his thoughts, well, I guess since his belief system makes him divine, he’s afraid the ridicule will reveal the fact that’s he’s a mere mortal after all. Love you, man! 🙂
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Fake pope is in competition with the sanctified one, am not sure he will win even with his billion plus following
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You’re the Sanctified One! You will triumph! 😉
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It’s frightening at first glance, but upon near inspection there’s a myriad of interpretation:
‘calling for atheist thought in any form’ – this clause does not forbid atheist thought, only the call for it.
‘the fundamentals on which the country is based’- again, calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion isn’t prohited, only those on which the country is based.
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Oh dear. You have left me so confused.
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How does one know if someone is thinking atheist thoughts? Are there different forms of atheist thoughts?
So ridiculous and depressing.
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Maybe they will be stopping people at random to scan for any atheistic thoughts
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I have no doubt that the technology is out there somewhere. Or they will pick up a suspect and use some pretend technology and say you are thinking such and such. Who is to stop them?
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Who is to stop them is really the question
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According to Mr. Pope, then, we should not dare question groups like ISIS or jihadists who kill satire writers. Their deep religious beliefs called them to do those things, so, we just have to deal with it because it’s rude to call religion out for the bullshit it is. Right, Mr. Pope? Or is it only when YOUR religion is called out that you say it’s wrong? The strongest demonstrations of ‘faith” are those of religious extremists. I truly believe that they truly believe god has told them to act as they do. If we can question the validity of these psychos, we can question the psychopathy of religion in general. Sorry, Mr. Pope, your just another wart on the ass of society that needs to be cauterized. $Amen$
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In deed, the members of ISIS hold their beliefs sincerely, if we can’t satirize them, does the pope want us to cow in fear that some idiot will bomb us?
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Exactly. To say religion is off the table to be seriously criticized is bull crap. Otherwise, let’s just let ISIS do whatever the hell they want. It would be insulting to their religion to stop them.
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If he continues this way, anything can be defended as long as it is sincerely held. Religion seems to do damage to brains
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Yes. Indeed it does.
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I am sincerely offended by the tyranny of theistic belief. Theists can only go so far before they should expect a response.
Pot, meet kettle.
Fight fire with fire, get the marshmallows, let’s watch the world burn, Pornography for pyromaniacs of thought.
They burn all that encrouches on their monolith, striking jawbone with stone axe to resolve the merest insult.
Apes using fire and brimstone to create a heaven on Earth in the belief that forging fires make steel, not realizing that wild fires of unconscionable belief simply raze the forrests of reasonable existence. They are certain of their belief and profoundly unaware of their unthinking push to have us again living in trees.
Stupid is as stupid does. Education is the answer until you have to implement it at the end of a gun. Just pull the trigger and let the world burn!
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The question has been what type of education do people need to free them from their prejudices.
That they have to push their beliefs through violence is to me abhorrent.
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Exactly!
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What totally astonished me about the Pope’s statement was that he appeared to be advocating – well, maybe advocating is too strong a word, but certainly some level of acceptance – that violence (punching) was an acceptable response to verbal criticism! Against members of his staff too. My gast was flabbered! I know it’s not even close to gunning down people, but what of the principle?
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It is shocking that he saw nothing odd with his suggestion. If you allow violence in one form, how do you justify outlawing other forms
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America’s friendly relationship with Saudi Arabia is an embarrassment. I guess the only thing needed to keep the Middle Ages alive and in favor is a lot of money.
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And a lot of oil.
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Interestingly, “Hope,” from TA, who lives in Riyadh, informed me that the Saudi Ambassador was in Paris, marching in the Human Rights Parade, while a man was being lashed in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy.
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That is the irony and not only that, there were several leaders from other countries too where journalists have been killed or arrested for being critical of the existing regimes.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/11/flogging-global-outrage-saudi-arabia-silent
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That’s truly civilized. I read that on the first day of lashing, the people who had gathered in front of the mosque sang praises for Allah.
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Fuck Allah.
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And its prophets
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How thoughtfully humane!
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His health could have deteriorated since the lashing was cancelled yesterday and I hear his case is being reviewed by the supreme court
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That may have something to do with the fact the entire world is watching them flog a blog writer for writing the blog. I can’t say this enough, so I’ll say it again: “F U C K Islam!”
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That can’t be said enough times. FUCK religion in its most retrogessive forms everywhere
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$Amen$ to that, my friend.
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Unf**#!gbelievable!
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Get rid of the need for power and wealth and replace it with community. When people aren’t starving and opressed and alone, there is no need for the fantasy of god. The reality of life is all around us.
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They will not want to go to heaven.
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Of course they will defend their ‘religion’. If they don’t, they won’t make any money and it’s the same with Saudi Arabia. Without religion they can’t control others. 😀
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Whoever said, Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful, was right.
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According to Google, it was Lucius Annaeus Seneca that said it, and as always you are also right. 😀
PS: Thanks for the quote. You know how much I love quotes. 😀
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Statements and attitudes like these make it very difficult to be tolerant.
I’m not going to Saudi Arabia, that’s that.
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It doesn’t look like a place for reasonable people.
Two women are being tried for driving!
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Well, maybe they were bad drivers. 🙂 I wish we could try religions in court and give 1000 lashes to those we deem as the stupidest ones. Islam wins in my book.
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Islam will win twice in mine followed by the despicable catholic church
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You know, I was almost starting to think Pope Franny was different. Boy, was I wrong. What a despicable shit sack. And doesn’t he realize that Islam does NOT defend Catholicism, they hate it. Islam deeply criticizes Christianity and Judaism in the Koran. What the fuck, Mr. Pope? Should you not be punching them in the nose? Or maybe you’d prefer to have your band of pedophile rapists rape their children for insulting your faith in their holy book. Fuck you Pope and fuck your sick, perverted religion.
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I never had any such feelings about the pope. All I saw was a facade, a pretense. Now guys are getting to know him
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Yes. We most certainly are, and I’m not at all surprised.
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And in other news, did you hear the six leading porn searches are in mainly muslim countries?
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Yes. Gay porn was high up on that list, too. It is also high “up” (get it, high up) on the list of porn Googled in the Bible belt in the US. Thank Jeebus for porn. Where’d Muslims and Christians be without it?
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These people need more sex. They would be killing less people
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The sexual repression experiment has definitely failed. More fuckin’ and less killin’. $Amen$
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who searches animal porn? Seriously!
We should send leaflets written more fucking, less killing to these countries
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They were searching for animal porn? Wow. Praise Allah and hand ’em the Kleenex.
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Animal porn man, am seriously not making this up http://www.salon.com/2015/01/15/why_porn_is_exploding_in_the_middle_east_partner/
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OMG! Unbelievable!
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I tell you, unbelievable!
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Any powerful organizations, institutions and ideologies must be questioned and criticized. A legitimate and important way to do so is satire. And everybody, as a person and a a representative of such a system, should have a sense of humor to tolerate this. The lack of humor with respect to someones own belief system is a somehow childish attitude. Declaring something as being holy in order to forbid this form of criticizing is a way of wielding power.
Anyway, I did not really plan to travel to Saudi Arabia. 🙂
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It has not been in my list of places to visit
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