U.S. to Islamic world: 'No free speech restrictions'

U.S. to Islamic world: 'No free speech restrictions'

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The 2010 Astrotheology Calendar Video

We've created a brand new video that highlights my new 2010 Astrotheology Calendar. Enjoy!

Death threats against ex-Muslims

My latest Freethought Examiner article -

Death threats against ex-Muslims

"In writing this column, I have been dancing around the 800-pound gorilla in the room as concerns secular freedom and religious fanaticism: To wit, Islamic fundamentalism. Despite the constant claims of "religion of peace," this subject provokes so much violent frenzy that it is tread upon lightly in the mainstream media. From this very timidity, we know we have a problem. This sort of exploration, analysis and investigation have been relegated largely to the non-mainstream media, while individuals critiquing Islamic fanaticism who do appear on the MSM are savagely and relentlessly attacked, again demonstrating that, Houston, we have a problem. And it's a doozy on a par with that national crisis.

"In the past month, several terrorist attacks were aborted across the United States. The case of the runaway teenage ex-Muslim Christian convert Rifqa Bary has been all over the news. Islam is continually in the headlines, both globally and nationally, and not in a good way."

Please read, comment there and pass around!

Acharya

Acharya S on Bounce Radio, 10/14/09

Hi there -

On Wednesday morning, October 14, 2009, I will be appearing from about 1:20-2:40 PM EST/10:20 to 11:40 AM PST on a show on Bounce Radio. We will be discussing religion as concerns mental, emotional and spiritual health. The show is heard via the radio in eastern California, Arizona and Texas. It can also be heard live through the internet as well.

Please go to:

http://www.bounceradio.net/

(Hit the big "Bounce Talk" button on the right.)

or

http://www.bounceradio.net/talkradio/

There's also a chat room, so please join us!

Enjoy!

Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

One Law for All campaign

I am a supporter of the Council of the Ex-Muslims of Britain and receive emails from its courageous founder Maryam Namazie. The Council consists largely of apostates from Islam who want to be free of sharia law. On November 21st there will be a worldwide demonstration against sharia law, spearheaded by the Council. Please support the rights of Muslims everywhere to choose how they wish to live!

One Law for All campaign

Hat tip to vega for the vid of this event:

Is atheism the answer? Part 4

If you're looking for something interesting to do, please read my newest Examiner article!

Is atheism the answer? Part 4

Here is a short excerpt:

It's been a couple of months since I began this series, and I've been putting off concluding it because it's such a huge subject and there's just too much to discuss. Yet, at the same time, in my own mind the whole theism-vs-atheism debate is entirely reconciled. And that is precisely the reason I am writing this series, which I thought might end with this entry but which may be continued...

If your perspective of reality as manifested on a daily basis in your interactions with others is hostile, aggressive and selfish, whether you are a theist or an atheist, your mindset is not an improvement over what we already find dominant. Fanaticism and extremism in any ideology is not the answer.

For the rest, go to:

Is atheism the answer? Part 4

Please read my article, comment there and pass it around!

Acharya S on 'Smoke & Mirrors' Radio Tonite!

Hi there -

Sorry for the short notice, but I will be appearing on the "Smoke and Mirrors" radio show with Jay Weidner tonight, Thursday, October 8, 2009, from 9:00-10:00 PM EST/6:00-7:00 PM PST.

http://www.jayweidner.com/RadioShow.html

We will be discussing...religion!

The show's archives are available only to members, so please join us live!

Enjoy.

Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

P.S. "The 2010 Astrotheology Calendar" is now available through Amazon U.S., Canada, U.K., France and Germany -

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/2010calendar.html

Shroud of Turin a fake?!

It's about time!

Of course, we've known about this fake all along...

Shroud of Turin a fake?!

Ex-Muslims in U.S. want civil rights assurances

Please see my latest Examiner article -

Ex-Muslims in U.S. want civil rights assurances

One of my friends, Amil Imani, is a co-founder of an important new organization, Former Muslims United. Please support our fellow human beings in their struggles to ensure that apostasy from Islam is no longer a death sentence.

Please read, comment there and pass around!

Why debunk atheism?

I've just posted a new Examiner article -

Why debunk atheism?
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-17009-Freethought-Examiner~y2009m9d22-Why-debunk-atheism

"These days, we often see the battle raging in news items, on websites and in forums between theists and atheists, as one tries to outwit the other, etc., ad infinitum. Each side takes great glee in providing a more clever or morally superior position than the other. The question is why? Why does one side or the other care?"

Please read, comment there and pass around.

Enjoy!

Acharya

P.S. Here's a terrific message I received on MySpace in response to my Examiner article that truly gets at the heart of the matter.

i loved your article. it seems to me that in the crossfire between theist vs atheist there has to, ironically, be a voice of pure *practical* reason to keep things in perspective, so neither side loses sight of the goal, which ultimately is the expansion of intellectual boundaries. on the other hand, for me, living in the south and being subject to irreligious persecution, i equate the validation of arguments from the atheist side roughly to the Civil Rights Movement. each time we make headway in establishing atheism as something that must be accepted as a valid meta-ethical or religious position, atheists come closer to being true citizens and human beings in more than a merely "technical", de facto sense. i hope Dr. Dawkins will read and absorb what you've written to avoid future outbursts like the ones you describe in your article. ....you rock.

Is atheism the answer? Part 3

Is atheism the answer? Part 3

Is atheism often the result of a reaction against human abuse by religion? So it seems to be, at least in significant part, as opined by both theists and atheists. Therefore, it is to this debasement of humanity in general by religion that we may look for the cause of much turmoil, including that of the past century, which is held up as a black mark against atheism because of such figures as Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot. A common argument against atheism is that these individuals were all atheists who wrought horrendous atrocities against vast numbers of people. While this latter contention of these individuals committing infamy is certainly true and should never be forgotten or whitewashed, is it true that they were all atheists or were motivated by atheism, such that it is to be blamed? Was their lack of belief in a God behind their actions, which led to the deaths many millions?

Please read, comment there and pass it around!

Freethought Nation

Here is my revamped website, where I will be posting news briefs and commentary on a daily basis. Please note that we are looking for volunteer guest writers!

Freethought Nation

'The Christ Conspiracy' in the Huffington Post

'The Christ Conspiracy' in the Huffington Post

My friend Dr. Robert Eisenman, a well-known Bible scholar, has just scored a major coup—albeit one that may not be immediately recognized—in his article for the Huffington Post entitled, "Redemonizing Judas: Gospel Fiction or Gospel Truth?"

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Islam and the Media: Terrorism Pays

I have posted a new article at Faith Freedom.

Islam and the Media: Terrorism Pays

"The media and the entire world simply must call a spade a spade and stop verifying by their cowardice and coddling that terrorism pays. Otherwise, we humans as a whole can no longer call ourselves ethical and moral. And our future will be dire indeed."

Please read, comment and pass around!

'"Who Was Jesus?" is an important and enlightening book!'

The following is a review of my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. While excerpts of it have been posted at Amazon, the entire review is republished here.

An important and enlightening book
5.0 out of 5 stars (September 10, 2009)
By Donovan Haagensen (Johannesburg, South Africa)

At first, it would seem almost needless that the Bible should be examined and dissected to such an extent as to reveal its seemingly obvious man-made fabrication. After all, there appears to be no need to apply the same painstaking investigation into debunking the works of Hans Christian Andersen, or the Brothers Grimm, or C.S. Lewis, or any children's fairytales, considering that they have long been unquestionably accepted as fictional creations originating from the minds of the authors who wrote them. And it doesn't take a learned academic to spot the apparent similarity of the writing styles of these fictional tales and the texts contained in the Bible, the most predominant resemblance being the abundance of verbal exchanges between characters whose names, incidentally, change according to the language they’re translated into – something you don’t generally find in historical accounts.

But the difference is, innocent children's fables are not the basis for world-dominating cults or religions; and if they were, most people would surely think it to be absurd, fanatical, and outrageously extreme, or, in simple terms, just plain crazy. Yet, is it not just as crazy and ludicrous that millions upon millions of people on this planet are doing exactly that when it comes to these religious texts?

Sacred allegories historical events?

However, since the vast majority of the world actually believes these sacred allegories to be authentic records of actual events, it is therefore necessary to expose the folly of such gullibility in logical and easily understandable terms, which is what D.M. Murdock has quite clearly done (in this case, focusing specifically on the four Gospels of the New Testament) in her book Who Was Jesus?: Fingerprints Of The Christ.

"Murdock reveals the obvious erroneousness and fictional nature of the Gospels in a very rational and objective manner."

Not only has she revealed the obvious erroneousness and fictional nature of the Gospels, but she has "dismantled" and carefully laid out all the essential elements and clues on the table, so to speak, focusing on each individual component, and plainly demonstrating, in a very rational and objective manner, the indisputable facts, as well as highlighting the evident flaws. Even if the information she divulges seems obvious to anyone who has long been suspicious or sceptical of the content contained within the "Good Book", it is nevertheless a riveting and enjoyable read – uncomplicated and coherent, and free of condescension and convolution. Furthermore, she does not express personal opinions, make speculative judgments, or attempt to sway anyone to a particular school of thought, but instead applies the same acumen and impartialness that any scholar or scientist would be expected to employ in the investigation of any subject under examination. In short, Ms. Murdock’s conclusions, which are reached by use of logical deduction and rationale, appear to be incontrovertible.

"Murdock’s conclusions, which are reached by use of logical deduction and rationale, appear to be incontrovertible."

Personally, I believe that all it takes to be suspicious of the Bible’s claims is to read it with an objective approach, and it will soon become apparent that it does not follow the natural laws of logic, reason, common sense, or consistency, and very much of it has no correlation with the real world. In addition, it is written in a blatant puerile fashion, is replete with implausible events, and, more importantly, contains no dates whatsoever (which suggests to me that its writings are very unlikely to be historical records). Surely it would be naturally expected that anyone recording such events, or authoring the so-called letters, would include the dates in their accounts, such as any historian or custodian of historical records would do. And if "God/Yahweh" was indeed the actual guide behind these writings, then surely they would have been put down in such a way as to appear a lot more convincing and indubitable, and not riddled with confusion, vagueness, and ambiguity. Surely, these issues alone provide enough food for thought and legitimate questions concerning its validity.

If the same people who are convinced that these bizarre tales are inerrant truths are also capable of accepting the fact that children’s fairytales are clearly made up fantasies, then perhaps it’s about time that they apply the same logic when examining the Bible. And although this would normally be apparent simply by reading the Bible with an open mind, Ms. Murdock has gone the extra mile by not only stating the obvious, but also showing, in meticulous detail, how things just don’t quite add up (or, conversely, how certain things DO add up).

Regrettably, in this modern age, faith is just no longer an acceptable justification, when common sense and methodical enquiry demonstrate otherwise. And this is why it is important, if not essential, that more people read books by authors like D.M. Murdock, in the hope that these outdated and primitive notions will be appropriately seen for what they really are, that the "penny will drop", just as the Flat Earth was eventually rightfully "corrected".

Who Was Jesus? is an important book, essential in the ongoing enterprise of exposing the truth and enlightening the world, so that we may have a future where morals, ethics, integrity, and simple goodness are the order of the day.

D. Haagensen
Johannesburg, South Africa

For more information about this "important and enlightening book," please go to Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ.

The Real ZEITGEIST Challenge

I have written a lengthy article/ebook on the subject of whether or not the first part of the original, official version of the movie "ZEITGEIST" has been debunked:

The Real ZEITGEIST Challenge
http://stellarhousepublishing.com/zeitgeist-challenge.html

Here is a pertinent excerpts:

"...once more I step into the fray to demonstrate — as I have already done many times over the past decades — that a number of salient 'modern' religious notions are in fact very ancient, that Christianity is largely a rehash of earlier religions and mythologies, and that acknowledging this past, without all the brainwashing and conditioning that causes intellectual dishonesty, blindness and hysteria, represents the real 'ZEITGEIST Challenge.'"

This article is also available as a free 20+-page ebook for immediate download. If you are interested in the truth behind "ZEITGEIST," Part 1, you will want to read this article/ebook.

I believe this subject is very important, as I am convinced that proper understanding of humanity's religions are a major key to establishing a functional human family.

Here is how I end this article:

"For the sake of justice and mankind's magnificent legacy - this information actually represents the best of humanity - we must not let the cover up of this crime against humanity stand and the burial of our heritage occur again. We have the tools and freedoms at last to reconstruct the past to a greater extent, to restore the ancient cultures to their proper place, and to delve into religious origins in a way never before enjoyed. Let us not allow this amazing opportunity to slip away based on the same blind belief, calumny and specious contentions that buried this legacy in the first place. This awakening towards our collective past and call to preserve it in the face of continued censorial onslaught represents the real challenge of ZEITGEIST."

The Real ZEITGEIST Challenge article

The Real ZEITGEIST Challenge ebook

The Religion of Environmentalism?

I have posted a new Examiner article:

The Religion of Environmentalism?

It seems that the only thing which will keep humanity from completely obliterating its natural world and causing its own extinction is a return to the "Pagan" Earth-loving attitude that teaches respect and reverence for our global home.

Please read, comment there and pass it around!

Pacific garbage patch and religious fanaticism

I've posted a new Examiner article exploring the connection between environmental degradation and religious fanaticism.

Pacific garbage patch and religious fanaticism

"By now, many may be wondering if I will be tracing every human ill to religious fanaticism, mania, pathology and psychosis. On a global scale, there is much to be said for the notion that religious delusion has created a tremendous amount of suffering, including and significantly as concerns environmental degradation...."

Please read, comment there and pass it around!

Is atheism the answer? Part 2

For your edification, I have posted Part 2 of my Examiner series, "Is atheism the answer?"

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-17009-Freethought-Examiner~y2009m8d24-Is-atheism-the-answer-Part-2

"Last week in the first part of this series, I made the case for atheistic thinking as a natural part of the healthy human mind. I did not, however, draw any firm conclusions as to whether or not atheism as a worldview is a solution to many of society's ills, including and especially religious fanaticism. Indeed, the question remains, is atheism even a worldview?...

"I have sifted through some 200-300 comments on my article both here and elsewhere, remarks running the gamut from glorious to grotesque, encouraging to insulting. Mostly, however, these comments have been thoughtful, rational and profound...."

For the full discussion of this debate, be sure to go to my article:

Is atheism the answer? Part 2

Please read, comment there and pass it around! Your support is very important in getting the word out. Thank you, and enjoy!Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

"The Gospel According to Acharya S" Reviews!

I wanted to let you know about the great things people are saying about my new book The Gospel According to Acharya S. First of all, just so you know, this book is not about "the" gospel, i.e., the New Testament story of Jesus Christ. It's about MY "good news," which is one meaning of the word "gospel."

In The Gospel, I discuss many of the major religious and spiritual issues that humankind encounters, from a freethinker perspective. That means I don't either mindlessly believe or simply dismiss these concepts. Rather, I explore them and attempt to reconcile them with reality. To read about The Gospel, go here:

http://StellarHousePublishing.com/gospel.html

Following are some of the great reviews The Gospel has been getting:

"I received your book yesterday, and fell asleep in it last night...in a good way 'cause I couldn't put it down! Devoured most of it!

"THE MOST liberating book I've read...ever! My eyes are open wide now!

"Thank You for your Gospel, aka: GOOD NEWS, no...GREAT NEWS!

"You are very intelligent, bold yet subtle, and I love your sense of humor!

"Also, it's obvious—your love for true humanity, and passion, and truth, and well, pretty much all things that pertain to taking one's mind permanently out of the box that we ourselves, with society's help, have huddled in and under for far too long!

"Ok...back to gobble up the rest! :) good day to you."

Joni, United Kingdom

------------------

5.0 out of 5 stars
By Wayne Mayfield (Chicago)

"Having read two of her other works, Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ, and The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, I expected another scholarly in depth book. Turns out it is exactly that, but with a bit of a new twist.

"Acharya takes off the gloves in this book.... In the aforementioned books her approach is a bit more clinical, relying on facts and extremely well done research. She surely hasn't abandoned that set of skills in this book.

"However, I think she is a bit more casual in her writing.... She also offers her view on life and living, hence the title the Gospel According to Acharya S.

"Overall, I'd say this book is going to be a best seller for her. It's loaded with pictures, (perhaps to keep the attention of the less intelligent among us) and loaded with a lot of the relatively obscure words related to the subject matter. Notwithstanding the verbage, this book is an easy read and a real hard hitting, take no prisoners approach to exposing religion for what it truly is. Bravo. 5 Stars."

---------------------

These are just a couple of the reviews The Gospel has received. If you would like to know more, please go here:

http://StellarHousePublishing.com/gospel.html

Don't forget that "The Gospel" is now available globally through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, both of which are linked at my page.

Enjoy!

Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

P.S. For those who already own a copy of The Gospel, please see this "Notice of Errata":

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/gospelerrata.html

Is atheism the answer?

I have posted another Examiner article, this time exploring the issue of whether or not atheism is the solution to the world's psychological and spiritual ills.

There has been a great deal of debate in the media lately concerning the "New Atheism" as led by "atheist gods" such as Richard Dawkins, P.Z. Myers, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. This notoriety has been enhanced by Dawkins & Co.'s infamous "bus ads," as well as the "Imagine No Religion" billboards by the Freedom from Religion Foundation headed by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. Then there is the little chat between famous atheists Bill Maher and Brad Pitt that is kicking up controversy, along with a number of other "stars" expressing their unbelief. We also read reports that atheism is on the rise in the United States, reaching percentages never recorded before. Truly, atheism is out of the closet.

For the rest, please go to:

Is atheism the answer?

Please read the article, comment there and pass it around! Digging, Facebooking, Twittering all helps to spread the word.

Beating up Women for Allah

A New York Time op-ed piece by Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahaway demonstrates just how great Islam is for women. Pointing out that 164 women in Muslim countries were sentenced in the past month to the cruel punishment of flogging, for the most inane and unfair "offenses," Eltahaway sensibly asks, where is the outrage?

The fact is that Islam gets a pass because it is a "religion," it has so many adherents, and its "radicals" and "extremists" (i.e., devout Muslims) have been blowing up, beheading, slaughtering and terrorizing much of the world. People are frankly terrified to speak out against this atrocity because the "religion of peace" has never been anything of the kind. As Eltahaway says concerning the women of Sudan, for example:

They have served as the whipping girls for the Sudanese regime’s cheap game of flogging women to show off its “Islamic principles.”

The International Criminal Court has indicted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. His janjaweed allies in Darfur have been accused of rape. Trousers are “indecent” but rape is just another reminder of how useful women’s bodies are in conveying the message.

There it is in a nutshell: Brutal and vicious rape, beheading, stoning, acid attacks, "honor killings" - none of these horrors and indecencies sully the name of Islam, but a woman wearing trousers does.

Abusing Women and Islam
Women's Rights in Islam

Yale Cowtows to Islamic Terrorism

Yale University has decided that the "religion of peace" is too violent for it to publish the actual images in its new book about the Danish Muslim cartoon fracas that gripped the world on two different occasions. Bowing to experts on Islamic terrorism, Yale has asserted that to publish the cartoons would "incite violence," showing just how rational and reasonable is the Muslim world in the end.

As is obvious from all the appeasing, terrorism pays off. If you blow up a bunch of things, slaughtering tons of people, and there's enough of you, you will get your way. Violence pays, if the horde is big enough. Now, rather than fighting back by sensibly pointing out how barbaric and savage is this "sensibility" being coddled, entire nations are falling to their knees in capitulation, which is exactly the point of terrorism.

Like so many others, including almost entire European governments, Yale's actions have proved once again that the "religion of peace" is no such thing and that terrorism pays.

Publisher bans images of Muhammad in new book

Yale University Press has decided against reprinting the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in a book examining the controversy, after being advised by Islam and counterterrorism experts that doing so could incite violence.

As well as leaving out the 12 cartoons which provoked riots across the Islamic world in 2006, Yale also bowed to recommendations not to include any other illustrations of Muhammad, including a 19th century sketch by Gustave Doré of Muhammad in Hell from Dante's Inferno, in the book, The Cartoons That Shook the World.

Author Jytte Klausen said the book had been ready to go to print when the illustrations were pulled, after Yale received some "quite alarmist" statements from experts to whom it had sent the title. A professor of politics at a Massachusetts university, Klausen argued for inclusion of the cartoons in the book, which is due out in November in the US and January in the UK. "People think they know the cartoons and actually, by printing the cartoons, I'm arguing that some of them are Islamophobic, and in the tradition of anti-Semitism. If we can't look at them, how can we discuss this?" she said today.

Danish Cartoon Archive
The Prophet of Doom

Iranian women imprisoned for converting to Christianity

Another new Examiner article -

Iranian women imprisoned for converting to Christianity

As usual, please read, comment there and pass around!

Social bookmarking like Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Facebook and so on is a great idea as well.

Thanks. :)

Ohio teen: 'My Muslim father wants to kill me!'

Two new posts at Examiner.com -

West's conflict with Islam coming to a head?

Recent incidents in France, Germany, the U.S. and Great Britain serve to highlight an ongoing problem with the rampantly open-ended immigration of the...

Runaway Ohio teen: 'My Muslim father wants to kill me!'

The clash between cultures is becoming ever more obvious in headlines in the U.S. and other Western countries, such as this one about a young girl...

Please read, comment there and pass around!

'My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?' Part 2

I have posted the conclusion to my Examiner article:

"My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?" Part 2

I have included suggestions I've encountered a number of times over the years during which so many people have asked me the same or similar question. I have also provided approaches I have used in other arenas, such as "going native."

Please go read my article and pass it around to anyone you feel would benefit! Also, be sure to comment - it's easy to comment there, no account needed.

Enjoy!

What is a mythicist?

I have created two new articles:

What is a Mythicist?

The History of Mythicism

These articles deal with the third option in the believing versus non-believing debate as concerns various religious traditions, specifically Christianity and bibliolatry in this case.

'My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?'

I have just posted a new article at Examiner.com - please read and comment!

'My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?'

Over the nearly 15 years I've been online, I've received many emails asking me for advice as concerns religious fanaticism by family members and friends that is detrimental to healthy relationships. As this fanaticism often produces hurtful and disheartening exchanges, these inquirers have asked how they could get their friends and family members either to let go of it or to stop proselytizing and pushing it on others....

Madonna as Religious Guru?

I've posted a new Examiner article about "Madonna as Religious Guru?" I think it's important that she use her considerable clout for purposes of enlightening, rather than coddling! Please go read and comment!

Madonna as Religious Guru?

"The Gospel According to Acharya S" Available Internationally!

My new book The Gospel According to Acharya S is now available internationally through Amazon! Go to my page here, and you will see the Amazon links under "Canadian and International Orders":

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/gospel.html

I've also added some more excerpts, such as the following from the "Prologue":

If you are atheistically prone and do not enjoy discussions or definitions of God or spirituality, you may still wish to read my colorful essays and rants--consider them not as doctrine but as "mystical poetry" addressing some of the most important and profound concepts to face humanity. It is my experience that most people enjoy these mystical or spiritual subjects and that the notion of God will not disappear from the human psyche, so let us at least drag it out of the Stone Age and redefine it.

I should add that there is also much fascinating factual material as I present in my other books but which is unique to "The Gospel," including a short but succinct discussion of the founders of Communism and Nazism, and their relationship to religion. Fully cited from respectable sources, of course! In fact, for a book of this size, the bibliography is significant, with over 160 sources.

The Gospel also has over 130 inline illustrations, which means they are right next to the relevant text.

Don't forget -

This "Purple Bible" is the antidote to the world's insanity-producing "holy scriptures!"

Enjoy!