I’m sure many of you have heard about this story already, but I definitely find it worthy of discussion.

In Sudan, British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons has been arrested for the most heinous of crimes. Gibbons has been accused of insulting the great Muslim Prophet Mohammed. This vile act could cost Gibbons up to 6 months in jail, 40 lashes with a bamboo stick, or a fine.

But what exactly did Gibbons do that has brought upon the full wrath of the Muslim community? Maybe she made caricatures like the ones we saw in the Danish newspaper. Or maybe she spoke negatively about Mohammed by calling him a false prophet. There are any number of actions that could be construed as an insult to the Prophet Mohammed. But much to my surprise, Gibbons appears to have found a new one!

She organized a class project for her students to learn about bears. Pretty harmless so far :) Gibbons then had a student bring in a teddy bear and allowed the class to name it. Now here’s mistake number one. Allowing children to vote can be construed as fostering democracy and thus imposing western culture on these Islamic children. Fortunately for Gibbons that went unnoticed.

The children eventually decided on Mohammed as a name for the teddy bear. Mohammed is a very common name in Muslim countries and millions of people are named as such. Other names that were tossed about were Addullah and Hassan. But 20 out of 23 kids liked Mohammed and thus the decision was final.

Gibbons made diaries for each child that had a picture of the teddy bear on the cover. The plan to have each kid take the bear home for a weekend and write about what they did. Seems rather harmless to me, but here comes mistake numero dos. Gibbons carelessly labeled each diary, “Hello, My Name Is Mohammed.”

Now obviously I find this whole story to be absolutely insane. Gibbons was clearly not insulting the great Prophet Mohammed by depicting him as an animal. The teddy bear’s name was Mohammed… a very common name is Islam. Even some of the students are named Mohammed. Should they too be seen as insulting the Great Prophet? Now if the diary was titled, “Hello, My Name Is the Prophet Mohammed” then yes I guess could see a potential issue. But that’s not what it says. Muslims just assumed that’s what it meant. The only reason for this to me at least is either blind ignorance, or just fundamentalists looking for any excuse to start trouble. Either way, having Gibbons arrested is inexcusable and speaks volumes on how archaic and ignorant some of these Muslim countries are with respects to law enforcement.

Just a little update on my end…

I am almost finished moving in to my new place… finally a homeowner once again :) Actually this 4-day weekend was a marathon of sorts riddled with all sorts of craziness. So let’s backtrack a little bit.

I kicked things off with Thanksgiving on Thursday at my sister’s place with the entire family. There’s nothing better than watching a little football and stuffing yourself with obscene amounts of turkey, stuffing, and all the fixins :) Hats off to my sister and mom for the good cooking!

Thus far the long weekend was off to a great start, albeit a little hectic. Next event was my nephew’s birthday party on Friday. Now this is where things took a turn for the worse. The party was held at a local Chuck E Cheeses. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Chuck E Cheese is basically a cesspool of kids, games, and crappy pizza. On a good note though they serve beer… always a good thing when there are tons of kids running around. Anyway, the evening went off without a hitch and my son and I had a great time. But that was not the last we heard of Chuck E Cheese. More to come on that note.

So Saturday morning I get up bright and early to help my mom move in to her new place. I had purchased her place on Wednesday… but that’s a whole other story in and of itself. But long story short… My mom sold me her condo and she bought a new one. Thanks for the discount mom :) So back to the story… We had rented a 24-foot U-Haul for the day and planned on moving the both of us in one shot. Of course if you’ve ever moved someone, you know that it never goes as planned. I wake up with a strange uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. You all know what I’m talking about… you get the sweats and some cramps. It’s just a matter of time before your ass explodes in a most unpleasant manner. Thinking the worst was I over I head over to my mom’s place to start loading the truck. Well that didn’t happen… I ended up unloading some more pizza instead. Now I’ve had food poisoning before (thanks Cousins subs) and I am fully aware that I have a case of Montezuma’s Revenge. Shortly thereafter, my two brother-in-laws show up and guess what? Yep they got it too. We aptly named our condition Chucky’s Revenge. I’ll have to add that to Wikipedia sometime. So in-between several trips to the toilet, we managed to move her with no problems. Unfortunately we ran out of time and the truck had to be returned before we could move my stuff :( But hey that’s what Sundays are for right :)

So where was I going with all this you ask? Good question :) Hopefully I’ll finish moving my stuff tonight after work. I should have Internet access tomorrow and then I’m good to go! For the most part I just wanted to write something because I miss it so much :) With respects to my wellbeing, I am feeling great! Even though I’ve been absent I managed to use some of that time wisely. I’ve been working on some new logos, layouts, and features. Also I’ve managed to come up with some funny merchandising ideas that I hope to make available soon. But most important is the fact that I truly realized how much I have enjoyed writing articles and talking with everyone.

Stay tuned!

-gasmonso

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m ok and I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. I’m not purposely ignoring you guys… I do think of you as my extended family in many ways. But this year has been quite difficult for me as I have made some very tough decisions and consequently gone through some major life-changes… most notably a divorce which was finalized on Halloween.

Obviously divorce is a rather complicated matter and mine is no different. I’d like to talk more in depth about the experience because it has been a fascinating one to say the least. But for now I’m just happy that its over and I can get on with my life… and part of my life is this site.

So without sharing more details at this moment I hope you all now understand why I’ve been gone for several months. While I eagerly look forward to posting on a regular basis… I’m just swamped right now with the holidays and moving in to a new condo this weekend :)

More to come… that I promise. If anyone has an article to contribute in the meantime please don’t hesitate to email me!

Regards,

gasmonso

Here’s a little something that Jagannath sent to me and I thought I’d share it with all of you :)

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

3. Do not murder

4. Do not commit adultery

5. Do not steal

6. Do not give false testimony

7. Honor your father and mother

Today, a Christian, specifically a follower of Christ, confronted me as he quite often used that particular expression. He had heard me talk of the commandments on earlier time and this time he took his time to disagree with me in a shrill voice and flaring nostrils.

He kept disagreeing with me until the he was interrupted by the security who promptly escorted him out due his disruptive behavior. Apparently other clients of the establishment had made several complaints of his screaming and yelling, it scared the children. Truth to be told, I was not all that calm myself either as the word firebrand is quite apt in his case.

But his point could be easily condensed to two things, there are Ten Commandments in the bible and only those following them are followers of Christ. Now, my counter points were drowned by his antics but I decided to write about the commandments.

Now to me a follower of Christ is one who follows the New Testament. The Old Testament is mainly concerned of Judaism and of those that god decided to kill for one reason or another. That is the main point in my view of Christianity. You cannot follow both testaments but you have to choose or be merely religious groupie. You either follow the teachings of the Christ to be a so-called true Christian. You might disagree with the distinction, but as always it is your right.

Then to the actual commandments, the Old Testament versions are well known but those in need of a refreshment course can break open the book on Exodus 20:3-17. But are those Christian commandments or the commandments Jesus acknowledged?

I use the gospel by Matthew for references as it is most often used and frankly, the other gospels are quite alike, in a more terse form. So what is the first commandment by Jesus?

“‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

-Matthew 22:36-40

So number one is total devotional love of God followed by love your fellow man. And those are to be the basis for all else. Jesus actually mentions the love your fellow man in more than one occasion so one can say he like that one more.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

-Matthew 5:43-45

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”

-Matthew 7:12

“Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

-Matthew 19:19

Now the last one is other part of my reasoning for the number of commandments for Christians. It seems that Jesus followed only half of the commandments given by god, but such is the way with life, sons tend to want to improve upon the works of their fathers. Jesus told a man to keep the commandments to which the man promptly replied with a query, which? And the answer can be read above.

Clearly Jesus believed that they’re to be only five commandments worthy of following from the old set of ten. And I tend to agree, as those are good rules for all to follow, not killing, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying and honoring parents are good rules. The one rule Jesus seemed to be quite insistent on, love your neighbor, is always a good one to follow. He was actually so insistent on that command that he even wanted Christians to love their enemies and pray for them.

So there is only seven commandments by Jesus and of those, two are by Jesus while the rest are by god but the laws of Jesus are, at least according to the man himself, the two most important laws of all. Noticeable difference being between the two sets of commandments that all the strict laws of god reverence are gone and replaced with voluntary desire to love god.

Maybe if those would be the commandments Christians would follow, I might not have so much trouble with them as I do love my seafood and rounded beard.

–Jagannath

Tonight CNN is premiering a new special entitled God’s Warriors. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour examines the intersection between religion and politics and the effects of Christianity, Islam and Judaism on politics, culture and public life.

Here is the official website.

Here is the schedule:

Jewish Warriors - Aug 21, 9PM ET
Muslim Warriors - Aug 22, 9PM ET
Christian Warriors - Aug 23, 9PM ET

And here’s the Christian Warrior trailer to get your mouth watering :)

I just finished upgrading the site because some kind people were trying to hack it once again :( Also, I installed code that will hopefully cut down on the spam… especially from mail.ru :) But as a result of my upgrades the comment preview feature is temporarily not functioning. I am looking in to the issue and will fix it ASAP.

On another note… I like to thank everyone for keeping the site alive with all your comments. I haven’t posted much in the last several months due to personal issues, but I am turning over a new leaf… well actually I’ve begun a new life of sorts and for the first time in a looooooong time I am upbeat and looking forward to enjoying my life to it’s fullest. And no I didn’t turn to religion… so no smart ass comments ;)

In the meantime please feel free to leave comments on what you’d like to see here in the next coming day/weeks/years. I think I’ve been doing a good job up until recently, but I am always looking for your suggestions.

Take care and hang in there… I’ll get my ass in gear here very shortly!

Sincerely,

The New & Improved gasmonso

Yesterday, the Associated Press carried this story that was destined to make it onto ReligiousFreaks. The Phoenix police were called to the scene of an exorcism in progress Saturday. When police arrived, they found a middle aged man, one Ronald Marquez, and his 19 year old daughter performing an exorcism on his granddaughter, three years of age. All three were covered in blood, the little girl was being choked by her grandfather while the mother was chanting “something that was religious in nature”. The ensuing struggle ultimately resulted in Ronald’s death. This isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. Clearly, bullshit cures should be left to the professionals.

Ronald was under the impression that his granddaughter was possessed by demons. This is the sort of problems that occur when people are encouraged to view all life experiences through a religious filter. It causes people to attribute supernatural causes to perfectly natural problems. Texas isn’t flooding because of new weather patters due to climate change, God is pissed at America. My 3-year-old granddaughter isn’t acting up because she has a lot of energy or is ill, she’s possessed by evil demons. Even in the best cases, it causes futile searches for supernatural solutions when a natural one may be easily available. In the worst cases, people die.

So what was wrong with Ronald? Did religion cause him to violently abuse his grandkid or was he already a violent person who happened to be religious?

–sidfaiwu

It appears that the Pope has succumbed to the scientific community and their overwhelming army of evidence supporting evolution. Pope Benedict in a rare and candid moment had the following to say with respects to the fruitless battle that has divided millions around the world:

“This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”

Even though it is obvious to most rational people, I will give Pope Benedict some props for coming out of the closet so to speak. But the Pope did leave the door open for God by stating that even though evolution is a reality, it still doesn’t explain how everything came in to existence.

Now I’ll be the first to agree with him on this because he’s correct. We don’t know where all the matter in the universe came from, but at the same time the scientific community doesn’t claim to know the answer. The religious community on the other hand does. They claim it was God that created everything and evolution was just a tool that God used. So the debate will rage on in a different battle at a later date.

For now though, the Pope has shifted the focus of his beleaguered army to yet another front. The Pope’s has declared war on man’s treatment of our beloved planet Earth. The purpose of this is obvious. The Catholic Church needs attention, a cause of sorts to justify it’s existence and retain power. In the past they have focused on issues like abortion, birth control, and evolution. Having lost all of these battles, the Vatican is desperate for a victory much in the same way that politicians embrace issues to get elected.

For the first time though I think the Vatican may actually have chosen a useful issue. The environment is vital to our existence whether you’re religious or not. Of course we don’t need religion to save our environment, but if the Pope can organize it’s countless millions of followers to do something good for a change then I support him.

What do you think?

Rev. Glenn Fulton and his wife were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary in Florida during the 4th of July weekend. Little did they know that their trip would rock the very foundation of Christianity and send shockwaves throughout the entire world.

One early morning the couple was at the beach admiring the heavenly sunrise and asking God for guidance… we’ve all been there before right? After several minutes and receiving no words of wisdom from God, the couple left feeling rejected… their faith dented. But as well know, God works in mysterious ways.

Days later the couple returned home and had their photos developed. What they saw shocked them. The photos revealed the origins of man and they were not as expected! Rev Fulton and his wife were stricken with fear that these photos might get out and blow the lid off of the great Christian conspiracy. They burned the photos trying to cover up the incident, but it was too late. A Darwinian operative at the photo place recognized the images immediately and made several copies. He then distributed them to the proper channels (religiousfreaks.com) for analysis. After an exhaustive investigation (2 minutes on Google), I uncovered the mystery behind the photo.

It is with great pleasure that I present my findings to the public. I enhanced the original image to highlight the region in question. I then cropped and magnified it to reveal what so many of us have known inside, but couldn’t prove. We were indeed created in the same image and likeness of God, but there is a twist. God is neither a man nor a woman. God is an ape just like our early ancestors. Even stranger is the likeness that God has with Cornelius from Planet of the Apes.

See for yourselves and bear witness to your roots. Original coverup story here.

God is at it again, folks! Last week, He flooded many places in the US. Those close to God (evangelicals) say that The Almighty sent the natural disaster as punishment for our immoral society. According to the Right Reverend Graham Dow, a Bishop of the Church of England and leading evangelical, “This is a strong and definite judgment because the world has been arrogant in going its own way”.

Critics are quick to point out that the floods occurred in America and, this may come as a surprise to some, America is not the world, though Dow seems to think so.

But the Right Reverend Dow is undeterred by his detractors. He blames the God-sent disaster on three things: God’s pissed that we are ruining the environment, God’s upset with our wide-spread greed, and of course, God hates gays.

Uhg.

There are so many problems with the belief that God uses natural disasters to judge society, it’s tough to know where to begin. First, natural disasters kill and injure indiscriminately. Everyone was affected whether or not they were believers or non-believers, moral or immoral, straight or gay. An all-powerful and righteous God would be more targeted in his wrath.

Secondly, any natural disaster can be interpreted as judgment from God. Just yesterday, lighting struck a Baptist Church in Baltimore. The resulting fire utterly demolished the building. Apparently God hates baptists as much as he hates gays (thank God I converted!).

Thirdly, if God punishes behavior He disapproves of, it is reasonable to suppose that He rewards behavior He approves of. In the Western World, our life-expectancy and quality of life have undergone enormous improvements over the last few centuries. This must be a reward from God! What else happened in those last few centuries? Let’s see, Western society has become much less religious and more rational. That’s it! God is rewarding us for using rationality. What other explanation can there be for our prosperity and comfort?

–Sidfaiwu