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326 Comments
- zebang, on 07/03/2009, -2/+246its a table. not a graph
- soopisgoodfood, on 07/02/2009, -4/+169Judaism wins for celebrity spokesperson.
- alanocu, on 07/02/2009, -43/+160You know the guy who put up the video challenging the Koran? This may be shocking, but he’s gotten violent threats.
How can people be that immune to irony?
NORMAL PERSON: Islam is a crazy, violent religion.
CRAZY MUSLIM: How dare you say that, infidel! I will use my crazy violence against you!
If those Muslims were a bit more self-aware, they should respond accordingly:
NORMAL PERSON: Islam is a crazy, violent religion.
CRAZY MUSLIM: While that is true, I don’t like your tone of voice and will behead you for it.
See. Seems a lot less stupid and crazy there. - MacSuxWindozSux, on 07/03/2009, -5/+110WTF What is Scientology doing there? Hinduism and Buddhism are far, far, more popular than Scientology.
- falafelkiosken, on 07/03/2009, -0/+92but they are not as easy to make fun of, and Scientology is practically a joke itself
- spookyttws, on 07/03/2009, -2/+91I'm an Atheist, but was brought up Catholic and go to church every Sunday simply because it's the only time I get to see my entire family together (then we go to Lunch afterward). But even I'm offended by Mel Gibson's actions. He does not represent the Catholic church, nor do any priest who molested anyone. That said, it's sad to see some of my family who believe in someting so greatly have something horrible associated with them. My sister's a lesbian, my family believes that Gay Marriage and abortion need to be legal and we are all democrats, and believe any Priest who has done anything wrong should be punished. I don't believe in god, I just ask you don't lump my family in with those horrible people.
- ryandavid, on 07/02/2009, -6/+93I agree that believers should be able to laugh at their own religions.
- Aliwalla, on 07/03/2009, -1/+82What are the two verses from the Qu'ran that dont' count?
- SaladCactusKing, on 07/03/2009, -3/+62...No, it doesn't.
- shirosamurai, on 07/03/2009, -1/+59Sociology?
- lemur, on 07/03/2009, -21/+73While some of the items listed are vaguely true, it's not surprising that the posts about Islam are almost completely false.
For example, Christians do believe that Jesus was a human, God's son, and God, and that the 3rd part of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. The author must have grown up in a Christian country to know Christian doctrine so intimately (you'd never guess these things were true unless you were very familiar with Christianity). Also, in Judaism God does appear to several people, as per the Old Testament, which claims that several people saw God with their own eyes and conversed with God; sometimes God appeared in the form of objects such as a burning bush. Anyone familiar with Christianity probably already knows this as well, as the Torah is more or less contained in the Christian Bible. God does instruct the Hebrews to go around and genocide all other tribes, which creates the whole ethnic superiority issue mentioned in this graphic.
When things gets to Islam, it gets a little nuts. "God appeared to a different desert tribe and said he liked them better than everybody else." You may believe this if you grew up in a Christian country, assume that Islam is just like the religions you're already intimately familiar with (Christianity and Judaism), and all the information you got about Islam either came from Fox News or your Christian friends.
First of all, in Islam, God doesn't appear to anyone. God doesn't have a physical appearance, is not a material object, and therefore cannot be seen. The Qur'an clearly states that nobody communicates with God except through some type of veil or proxy. The Qur'an was said to have been delivered to Mohammad by the word of an angel, so the "word of God" was delivered from but not actually spoken by God.
So, if God didn't "appear" to a desert tribe, what did God do? Send a message to a desert tribe? No, that is not correct. The Qur'an is written in such a way that it addresses all of humanity. To my knowledge there is nothing in the Qur'an that speaks specifically to Arabs. Rather, God says in the Qur'an that all nations of people (all cultures, all tribes) exist so that people can get to know each other, share, and learn. The fact that there are different cultures and peoples is NOT for the purpose of rivalry or fighting. Islam teaches that all people are just as good as any other people, and that each individual is judged only based on his or her character. The Prophet invited all tribes uniformly to Islam, and didn't make war with any other nations except when a nation threatened or provoked his. This is distinctly different from Judaism's "go out and kill everybody," message.
Anyway, the rest of it similarly messed up / wildly inaccurate:
* Number 1 Prophet: Yes, the Prophet did have many wives, but not all of his wives were concurrent, and almost all of them he took late in his life either to care for widows and orphans or to maintain good diplomatic ties in the name of Islam. This demonstrates typical Western bias against polygamy, as if there is anything wrong with it. Polygamy is not the Prophet's defining feature, nor was it ever about sex because in his youth he married an old widow and was monogamous with her for almost his entire life; with his later wives he was long past his sexual prime. It says in this graphic that Moses was an orphan and talked to shrubbery. Guess what: Mohammad was also an orphan and was reported to talk to inanimate objects.
* ***** Story: According to Islam, the notion that two verses of the Qur'an "don't count" *is* *****. Islam never makes this claim; rather, Islam testifies that the Qur'an is complete and flawlessly delivered. Regardless of how we ultimately choose to interpret each verse, they are all there on purpose without error.
* Crazy Laws: The 4 witnesses rule was made for adultery, not rape. Consenting sex is very different from assault, which is what rape is. It's very easy to accuse someone of adultery even if they didn't actually do it. Witness based on testimony is not scientific or reliable evidence (people wouldn't lie, would they? Would they??); ultimately, it is hearsay. If you're going to convict someone based on mere claims and a lack of physical evidence, you'd better have plenty of witnesses. I'm surprised this doesn't get shown favorably on Digg, because so many people here are libertarian; in Islam it's not easy to get convicted of crimes (just as in the United States it has traditionally been very difficult to get convicted of crimes), and Islam principally is organized against authoritarian states that get involved in individuals' private lives. If you have four or more witnesses, it gets to the point where the state pretty much has to intervene.
* Biggest hypocrisy: I fail to see the hypocrisy because a) suicide IS forbidden, along with murder, and b) you don't get anything for "blowing yourself up in McDonalds" except for a ticket to hell. Claiming otherwise is nothing more than an outright lie about Islam that some people are happy to spread. The "72 virgins" meme gets repeated as fact by Westerners so often it's sickening, and yet there is no such thing in the Qur'an. An Islamic scholar had once noticed a rumor that the Prophet mentioned something about 72 virgins in heaven, but even at the time it was recorded it was known as just that: a rumor. There are no shortage of rumors about what the Prophet has said and done, and typical Western propaganda is to find the nastiest ones and go around trumpeting them like scripture. Just because Islamic scholars documented rumors about the Prophet, it doesn't make the rumors magically true or useful to anyone. Maybe Islamic scholars were too optimistic, but they relied on the intelligence of readers to not believe everything they read. Islamic tradition lacks suppression of information or government censorship that Western civilization was weened on (much classic literature available to Europeans during the Renaissance had to be translated from Arabic because the original Greek language copies were destroyed), which is probably why so many Westerners still carry the "it's in a book; it must be true" mentality, especially when reading about Islam.
* Justification for killing people: God's will? The Qur'an urges people to avoid conflict and fighting as much as possible, but permits it in cases of necessity such as self defense. The whole "killing is God's will" thing must have been something readers took from the Torah, when the Hebrews went around committing genocide in the name of religion. This is not characteristic of religion in general.
* Celebrity spokesperson: Obama? Oh, right... Fox News, the basis of all Islam-related knowledge on Digg. - Presbyterian, on 07/03/2009, -3/+48And if you don't support Sharia law you are not really a Muslim.
- lensman00, on 07/03/2009, -2/+47Oh ye mysterious priest like cabal that occasionally fixes Digg summaries before a story goes popular, grant us this, our commenterly supplication: Sociology??
- nymphetamine, on 07/03/2009, -1/+42Everyone knows that Sociology is a cult.
- toxicityj, on 07/03/2009, -1/+42There's not much crazy to Buddhism. As far as religions go, Buddhism has the lowest "lol" factor.
- ronindigg, on 07/03/2009, -18/+58If your sister's a lesbian and your family believes that Gay Marriage and abortion need to be legal then they are not really Catholic
- MrInfallible, on 07/03/2009, -6/+44Christianity, Judaism, Islam are relgions and Sociology is a social science, right?
- drd18, on 07/03/2009, -1/+36http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_verses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses_co ... - PHiZiK, on 07/03/2009, -4/+38I'm A Muslim and this is the first time i heard such a thing.
- andrewh7, on 07/03/2009, -14/+46You know the guy who legally provides abortions? He was blown away by one of your normal people.
- yocouchdigga, on 07/03/2009, -14/+42And the similarity that ties them all together: complete *****.
- yocouchdigga, on 07/03/2009, -5/+32at least they have just cause.
- mlrigsby, on 07/03/2009, -3/+30More like cliche.
- Suricou, on 07/03/2009, -1/+27To be more precise, four *male* witnesses. Women are not considered trustworthy enough to testify.
- askantik, on 07/03/2009, -6/+32yawn.
This stuff is getting old. It doesn't really offend me, but it does seem like some people jerk off to this kind of religion-bashing *****. - amirman, on 07/03/2009, -0/+24So my BA in Sociology is actually good for something? am I an elder now?
- lemur, on 07/03/2009, -1/+23Actually I agree that the post was too long. What can I do? :p
I intended it to be very short at first, but I think the heart of the matter is that while everybody who reads the article understands it to be some kind of joke, what makes them value the joke is this underlying agreement that somehow the joke represents the truth about the religion albeit in some exaggerated way. My point is that people should not assume that the jokes are exaggerated truths, because at their root are mere fabrications which contribute to the extreme cultural bias against Islam in this part of the world. For people who die because of these prejudices, it is no laughing matter. - Tyrghast, on 07/03/2009, -6/+28It's always good to start a Friday off with some old fashioned religion bashing.
- maffiou, on 07/03/2009, -1/+21@ronindigg: I come from a country where the main religion is catolicism... I'm an atheist, but I know enough catholics to tell you that like in a political party, the spectre of opinion is really so much wider than what comes out of the Vatican...
- Cartman86, on 07/03/2009, -2/+20lol one of our normal people? A Christian nut? Yeah he was nuts. Why would we consider him normal? Who in their right mind would call him normal? We are not talking about race here. I don't know what religion the original poster is, but really Christianity is just as bad. If he is specifically talking about Islam only and hiding behind christianity then thats wrong, but if he's like me than he's an atheist/agnostic and finds them all stupid.
- cyberdork, on 07/03/2009, -5/+22Protestants? You mean the meth-snoring-transvestite-banging kind of priests like Haggart, right?
- Linake, on 07/03/2009, -0/+17an.
- sggrissom, on 07/03/2009, -8/+24The rates for child molestation are similar among Protestant and Jewish clergy. The Catholics just get the brunt of the criticism because of them trying to hide it.
- GhostInAShell, on 07/02/2009, -45/+60Jesus = Zombie Carpenter.
Brilliant! - amirman, on 07/03/2009, -1/+16yes, OP is a retard.
- alpha88, on 07/03/2009, -1/+15Let me guess, you're going to use crazy violence.
- Suricou, on 07/03/2009, -0/+14Judaism is negligable in terms of followers, but it remains significent even so for reasons historical and political. The historical reason is that the two most popular religions, Christianity and Islam, are both offshoots of it and can't be fully understood without knowledge of their origins. The political reason is that judaism is the dominant religion in Israel, a key country in the complex politics of the middle east, and the religion is one of many influencial factors in the decisions made there.
- wtrwlkr, on 07/03/2009, -6/+20Sorry, but I gotta be nitpicky here. Catholicism /= All of Christianity. Most Protestant religions have no problems with allowing their clergy to marry. Also, there are plenty of celebrity spokespeople for Islam. Cat Stevens and Muhammed Ali come to mind almost immediately. Otherwise, good chart.
- Aliwalla, on 07/03/2009, -0/+13Also, about the pressing the play on the sabbath. Is it possible to get a job doing that? Because i can imagine there would be a need.
- appleofdischord, on 07/03/2009, -0/+13I work with a muslim guy. You know how I know he's muslim?
He fasts during Ramadan.
Don't make sweeping generalizations. - boxoctosis, on 07/03/2009, -0/+13Thanks for taking the time to share that info. I'm not familiar enough with Islam to have much of a perspective here, but it's good to see a viewpoint that is unusual in the West on this subject.
- andrewh7, on 07/03/2009, -4/+16Ronindigg: You're forgetting that Muslims are held to an entirely different standard. If Catholics deviate from the tenants of their own religion they are still Catholics. Catholics are human beings after all.
Now, Fox News will tell you that Islam is an inherently violent religion, and they selectively will cite passages from the Qur' an to prove it. It is presumed that all Muslims conform with these selectively chosen passages because they are not humans but rather time-traveling robots from the future. Part of their programming requires them to obey every statement in Qur' an.
Catholics, on the other hand, are free to pick and choose commandments. 'Thou shall not steal' does not apply to pirated music, movies, and games. Adultery is fine as long as you hold a press conference after you're caught and cite bible quotes to justify why people should forgive and forget what you did. 20 hail marys will cancel out a child molestation or an abortion doctor shooting. The Christians mentioned in history channel's exploration of the Spanish inquisition, Salem witch trials, recent US torture do not make Christians hypocrites because......Jesus Rocks! - carbonetc, on 07/03/2009, -0/+12100 is the average no matter how smart or stupid the populace is. It's a sliding scale.
- topgigmedia, on 07/03/2009, -2/+13Maybe if you're a Scientologist.
- jack104, on 07/03/2009, -0/+11Agreed....regardless of what you believe you have to be able to understand how absurd it may seem to those who don't share your beliefs.
- skipvt, on 07/03/2009, -16/+26*sigh* Really? You you expect anyone to read this? Here's what I saw;
While some of the items listed are vaguely true blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah ad infinitum. - AnotherBrian, on 07/03/2009, -0/+10VIOLENCE POWERS ACTIVATE!!
- Nereus90, on 07/03/2009, -0/+10Well as confused as I was I think I got the gist of it. Mohammad was trying to convince neighboring populations to convert to Islam and I guess he said that the goddesses of the Meccans were actually real goddesses (contradicting his monotheistic beliefs). The Meccans were happy he said this and decided to party/pray with him (I don't know). Later it was "revealed" to him that he ***** up royal and he recanted.
- Suricou, on 07/03/2009, -2/+12God also said ""But if ... evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones..." Deuteronomy 22:20-21
Oh, and don't forget 13:10: "Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
And one of the best, from Numbers:
"While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses."
The only thing keeping some believers from murder is ignorance of their own religion. Often willful ignorance, as they deliberatly ignore the verses they find troublesome. - jacobjohnson, on 07/03/2009, -4/+14LOL at idiots who think Islam is represented by the backwards neanderthals we always hear about on the news. I understand people are entitled to their opinion regarding Islam and religion in general, however I would invite you to understand the religion by reading up on it instead of basing your judgment on these ***** (grant it Islam seems to have more of its share of *****). I'm Muslim and I am not crazy or violent (I think), and, most importantly, we as Muslims should be able to take a joke more often without threatening to behead or blow up something or someone.
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