Facing Islam

I have read something about a comment on atheism and Islam. Someone was asking if why some atheists seem to be silent on Islamic issues. What? I don't think so... everyday I see a lot of anti-Islamic quotes and photos in my Facebook wall from different atheists/humanist organization that I have liked so far. But OK, let us concentrate here in the Philippines.

According to the post, attacking Islam is a test of a real atheist. What? It will be quite unfair to judge someone's atheism just because he doesn't engage with Islam. Remember that an atheist is not duty bound to debate or argue about religion. Some atheists prefer a normal, quiet life, yet still they are atheist because they don't believe in the existence of god or gods. 

OK, so let's make the list shorter. Now, why those Filipino atheists who are active in debates seems to ignore Islam?

Here in Manila, if you want to engage a debate with some Muslim, then go to Rizal Park every Sunday evening. Join me in stirring up the hornet's nest of the Balik-Islam and confront their religious belief, their Holy Book and their god. For some atheist, what I'm doing is considered suicide. Nah! Muslims can be civil in a discussion. Try it sometimes.

But be careful, there are fanatics out there.

Now, going back... why do some Filipino atheists seem to ignore Islam? There are a few reasons.

1. Some find debating a Muslim a futile cause. Have a life! You just can't win on a person who already closed his head and have thrown away the keys.

2. You didn't become an atheist just to get hurt. Sorry, but bad publicity and stereotyping have made its toll. Some atheists have already imagined a Muslim as a fanatic bomb-hiding, knife back-stabbing bunch of fanatic loonies. You don't want to debate with such characters, do you? 

Frankly, I won't advise debating them alone. Yes, there are those Muslims that are well educated and will talk to you in an educated manner, but there are those who are not and might hurt you physically ( I have my share of experience). 

3. The majority of atheists living in Luzon has no idea about Islam. You don't see Muslim often here in Manila (unless you're going to buy some pirated DVD in Quiapo or some Chinese bootlegs in Greenhills). They seem to be quite ignorant on the issues surrounding Islam; like the Qur'an, Allah and Muhammad. They are more familiar with Christians.

4. Tribal Issues: Filipinos are quite tribal. Folks here in Manila seem to ignore issues far away in Mindanao. Therefore, they don't talk about it. That is also true here in Philippine atheism. That is why some don't care about the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

Facebook Apologists.

There seems to be a shortage of good Christian apologists in any Facebook group. I think you have to be a member of that forum... er... Realm of Thought, something like that to encounter those theists that can really defend their stand. What we have here are the entertainers. Something like a crossbreed between a clown and a mime. 

Now, remember that most Born-Again Christians are... well, I'm not saying all since we have good apologists from the Christian Fundamentalists side like William Lane Craig, McDowell and Geisler and we also have authors like D'Sousa and Strobel. But unfortunately,  most of our Born-Again Christian friends here in groups seem to be too lazy even reading good Christian apologetic books. Some just  loves to copy-pasta YouTube links and Bible verses without even reading the links or thinking what a polemic might say in his article/YouTube video. The worst are those who are madly in love with their church founder. 

But, as they say, we can at least just try to learn something with their boring copy-pasta posts and their annoying drivels. There can be gold inside garbage sometimes. 

It's not about flies and vinegar.

I have pissed off a lot of people. Yeah, I know...
These guys think that I am asking atheists to respect the believers why I ask for less mockery in favor of a more critical approach when arguing against religion and god belief. Maybe they think I'm being too soft, or more accommodating with believers.

No, this is not about accommodation and respect. 

One thing I've noticed when a debate becomes more into puns and less intellectual is that it just goes nowhere. The issue will soon be muddled and off track. Both parties become irritated and divert the topic to mere mud throwing and mindless tantrums. Sooner or later the whole topic becomes nothing by a troll's paradise... just another garbage posted on Facebook.

Sorry, but some people are asking for something more than jumbled letters and senseless words. They are asking for an intellectual discourse.

You see, as an atheist, I have this thirst for knowledge... new knowledge... something that I was deprived of when I was still a Christian and I am expecting to find new ideas from debates and arguments that I read in social forums. That's how it goes. As a freethinker, I crave for new philosophies, new horizon, new things to explore... so other than books or a YouTube video, I also look for it in arguments between two colliding forces: Reason vs. Faith.

But what happen if instead of knowledge, what you read are baseless accusations against each other? Words design not to seek any synthesis of ideas, but just to laugh at or ridicule an opponent? What is there to learn?

What instead of clashing philosophies, you'll just see angry, emotional rants and ways to get even with the enemies? What does this do to achieve enlightenment?

You Don’t Demand Respect.

Respect. The word is so used up, its real meaning is diminishing. Theists and unfortunately, some atheists have expressed concern about being disrespectful to religion every time it's been criticized. The theists demand that we should respect their religious belief  while some atheists say that we must respect other people’s religious belief.

So before we start, let us go to the basics. What is respect?

They say that respect is a due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others. Simply put, it is a positive feeling of submission and… wait a minute... submission? Yes, submission to a specific action, a conduct that you regard in highest esteem.  You praise it, honor it. That is respect.

Now that you know what is respect, we ask, “When we criticize god belief and religion, are we being disrespectful?” Most theists and some atheists might answer yes.

To question the authority of the divine is considered as disrespectful. Most religions have expressed their deep hatred with doubt and rational inquiry to the point that no one has the right to question the truth and revelations of faith. Now, for some reason, this kind of thinking became so established in our mind that we often think that when we carp religious belief we are automatically disrespectful. Unfortunately, even some atheists have this kind of mind-set.

Is it also possible that religion is hiding behind this so-called “respect?”

As long as the theists shout “respect” atheists are prevented to scrutinize their religious belief, you are prevented to criticize their claims, their holy books, their ethics and their pseudoscience. It also prevents an atheist to speak out and point errors in religious belief.  Worst, it prevents people to act when religion is trying to break the wall of separation of church and state or if the church is trying to influence education, especially science.

And how about these atheists that are shouting for religious respect? Obviously, they don’t know the difference between tolerating and respect. To tolerate religion is to give them the blind eye. They already see the issues, they already see the erroneous claims, but by claiming “peace” what they really do is to turn their heads and ignore just for the sake that they won’t have any enemies.

Respect is not demanded, it is earned. To call for respect to religion, religion must first open itself to scrutiny, then can they earn the “R” word.

Appeal to Authority

I've noticed that in the debate regarding atheists vs. theists, some people seems to be more into anti-atheism quotes that they found on the Internet. You know, the usual "quote-unquote" that a so-called famous person said against atheism, but sad to say it really doesn't address the problem, right? Well OK, a certain scientist, politician, author had said this and said that, but does that really defeated atheism? Has it addressed the issues atheists lay on the table?

Would it be nice to see these guys make an effort to directly address atheism. That would be more informative and entertaining that seeing quotes that doesn't really make any dent in the ship.