Where is the age of Muslim Enlightenment?

Posted on by Opher

Christianity used to be a draconian religion with rabid fundamentalist values. It adored burning people alive, torturing them and doing the most heinous punishments. The price for not believing was protracted agony and death. Millions of people were hideously murdered in the name of Christianity. Everyone was forced to abide by religious values, wear ridiculous costume and worship.
Fortunately there was a rebellion and an age of enlightenment followed that separated State from Religion. We became a civilised culture with freedom and choice. Centuries of enslavement was swept away. The church lost its power.
Unfortunately this is not true in the Muslim world.
There is no separation of secular from religious in many Muslim states. People are forced to abide by religious dogma. The penalty for not doing so is barbaric – death by stoning or beheading.
In a modern world with universal human rights this is simply wrong. Imposition is wrong! It is time moderate Muslims rose up and created a moderate Islamic response to Islamic fundamentalism. This fascism cannot be tolerated. It needs opposing. That opposition should not be violent but verbal.
Words carry power
Where is the voice of moderate Islam?

Join the new Zeitgeist! – Let’s build a better world!Woody Guthrie

Arthur Brown – Incredible concert in Hessle! – Photos!

Posted on by Opher

What an incredible concert at Hessle Town Hall.
Arthur’s band is the best ever and Arthur was in top form. What a voice! And what an incredible act!
The music was amazing.
I had a few words with the man. He is better than he was back in the 60s.
We had a real psychedelic experience!
Here are the photos to prove it!!IMG_7671

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IMG_7593More photos on blog!!

Ebola in Eden – new Sci-Fi book now completed.

Posted on by Opher

I started writing this book in 1996. I have now completed it and am looking for a publisher! Anybody know a good publisher?

James Varda – Achingly beautiful new album! I hope James is well! It does not sound good.

Posted on by Opher

I’m playing the new album by James Varda – Chance and Time. It is beautiful but so incredibly poignant.

I hope James is taking an artistic stance but this sounds like his valedatory last offering.

Life may be just one thing after another but it is so full of wonder and awe. It means so much to me as well, James. That’s what hurts so much. It could be so wonderful. I live in England’s civilised Eden, complete with wild birds, blue and green, and I see the fanatics reducing it to brown dirt and red blood.

I want to pass the idyll on – not the disaster we are creating.

This album is so atmospheric and emotionally charged. It is surely Jame’s best album.

It’s not quite too late. That sun may still shine on us. I hope it shines on you James. You’re a source of light and warmth. We need your sensitivity to build a new zeitgeist!

What a talent. What a delight.
What a wonderful album that takes you on that life journey.

Public Services – We need quality!

Posted on by Opher

While some small minority is in a financial position to no longer require public services the majority of us would appreciate quality.
When I am on an operating table I would like to be in the hands of a superb surgeon.
I would like to be quickly diagnosed by an expert GP treated and cared for by a motivated nurse.
When I am threatened or have suffered a burglary I would like enthusiastic and skilled police to protect me and investigate with some hope of bringing the felons to justice.
I would like my grandchildren being taught in happy schools to really high standards by expert teachers.
I want fires put out by highly trained firemen, bins emptied, roads maintained and the council run effectively.

Why is it that some people think that these jobs are not vital? That these professions are not highly skilled? That these public servants are not worthy of our appreciation?

Why is it that the damage created by the politicians and bankers is being paid for by the public services?

Why is it that the public services are being subject to redundancy, pay freezes, puny 1% pay rises, worsened conditions of service and drastically reduced pensions?

Supposedly we are all in this together. So why tax cuts for the top end? Why inheritance hand-outs? Bonuses and pay rises in double figures for politicians and bankers?

Where is the justice? Fairness? Equality??

Clearly we are not all in this together!

If you create misery among our public servants it will be no surprise when it all goes pear-shaped!

Anthropocene Apocalypse – World population now heads for 11 billion!!

Posted on by Opher

The average size family in the Yemen is 7 children. This is a pattern mirrored in most of the third world and many parts of Africa.

It is unsustainable.

We are destroying our planet, using all the resources, ravaging the wilderness, chopping down the forest and eating anything that moves.

The world is being devastated.

Seemingly this is God’s will and destiny. That is what is so appalling about religion!!

We need some sanity. Help build a better zeitgeist!

Read all about it. What are the solutions?

Al-Shabab beheads quarry workers for not being Muslim. Where are the moderate voices?

Posted on by Opher

Al-Shabab and IS are both targeting non-muslims. The penalty for not being a Muslim is death.
If you cannot recite tracts from the Koran without a flaw you are shot or beheaded.

Seems a little bit extreme to me but I still haven’t heard all those moderate Muslims speaking out against this bigoted intolerance and extreme savagery.

What would the response be if British thugs decided to butcher all Muslims in Britain? Would that provoke a response?

It is time that reasonable, civilised Muslims speak out against all violence.

Help build a new positive zeitgeist!! Two wrongs never make a right!! Violence breeds violence!!

Islamophobia

Posted on by Opher

I was accused of being Islamophobic. I wanted to make it quite clear that I am not. I am an extremely tolerant antitheist. I do not care what belief system any person adheres to. I believe that all beliefs are equally daft but that everybody is entitled to their own views. I would stand up to support the right of anybody having whatever faith they want. I would love to see the demised of all organised religions. I think they are responsible for a lot of the world’s wrongs but I would want to bring this about through discussion, logic and sanity and not through violence.
I happen to believe that Islam is the biggest offender against human rights in the present day. It is intolerant, violent, dogmatic, bigoted and extremely primitive in its ideology.
But I am not Islamophobic.
However, I am completely opposed to:

a. Indoctrination (particularly of young children)
b. Enforcement of rituals, dress-codes and practices associated with religion
c. Female circumcision
d. Misogyny and misogynistic practice (such as disenfranchising women, preventing women being educated, making women wear veils, burqas and shapeless clothing, making women walk paces behind men, preventing women driving cars, keeping women locked indoors, stoning women to death for having been raped etc.)
e. Barbaric stoning to death
f. Barbaric beheadings
g. Flying airplanes full of innocent people into buildings full of innocent people
h. Punishments and death sentences for apostasy

I believe in tolerance, equality and freedom. I believe it is essential that all civilised people should speak out against abuse to human rights.
I wish moderate Muslims would speak out against the atrocities being carried out in their name. The fact that they are largely silent says it all!
I believe people should have the right to chose a faith or no faith and the right to change their minds.
I believe that the murderers who are orchestrating out suicide bombings, stonings, beheadings, torture and gang-rapes under the guise of religious doctrine are guilty of crimes against all humanity and should be locked away for life.
No sane god would sanction such cruel, savage behaviour. They are fanatic fundamentalists who are deluding themselves and others.

Sharing this planet with the fanatics of any religious persuasion is a frustrating, infuriating, bewildering and demoralising experience. They are all the low point of human civilisation. It is incredible to me that these savages really believe they are carrying out the wishes of any god or religious doctrine.

Surely it is time for all reasonable people to speak out!!

Read what I think of religion in my three books:

The purpose of life!!

Posted on by Opher

Human beings have evolved with intelligence. We are successful because our brains are hard-wired to seek out patterns and look for reasons. This is why we see faces in clouds, rocks and tree trunks. We are hard-wired to find shapes we can recognise. We are very good at it.
We have not evolved for very long.
Our intelligent seeking of patterns and reasons was brilliant when it came to hunter-gathering. We reasoned out the way animals behaved, seasons and where to find food, escape predators and organise our lives.
Unfortunately our intelligence is limited and what works for nice tangible subjects such as leopards and antelope, the planting of wheat and how to construct a shack, does not work so well on the big stuff – like what is that big yellow ball in the sky? What is life? What happens after I die?
But we are inquisitive and inventive. We made up reasons. Some of them were plain daft. Some we still believe.

I am an atheist. I do not believe there is any god, afterlife or mysterious purpose. That is all a product of our need to find patterns and reasons. Much of our religious and spiritual believe is nothing more than Skinnerian psychology. We repeat the patterns we have been indoctrinated with and the reward is security.

Hence – there is no purpose to life! – Sorry!

But then that is not quite true. What it means is that there is no purpose coming from outside ourselves. The purpose of life is the one we create for ourselves. It can be very fulfilling.

I would suggest the following are good purposes to adopt:

a. To save the planet from destruction by human beings – to deal with overpopulation, pollution, destruction of rainforest, cruelty, eradication of habitat and wild-life.
b. Creativity – writing, art, poetry, music, dance, film or design

The purpose of life is to live a fulfilling life, creating beauty, espousing passion, achieving personal goals and making the world a better place in the process.

Every single person needs a purpose and the pursuit of pleasure is never going to be sufficient in itself. Life does have purpose. We provide that purpose.

Sex!!! Part 8 – Sex in the modern world!

Posted on by Opher

There is nothing wrong with sex! Sex is good. Sex is fun. Sex is natural.

Sex is also complicated and requires a great deal of responsibility.

It is important to use good contraception in order to avoid unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

It is also important to realise the social implications. If you are in a relationship then having casual sex with someone else will create problems of trust.

In the past there were religious taboos. These were there from a number of reasons
a. They restrained female sexuality because females were capable of so much more than males (the ultimate in this misogyny can be seen with the mutilation of female genitalia in female circumcision)
b. They protected families and the upbringing of babies
c. The reduced sexually transmitted disease.
d. They reinforced religious values.

The end result of all this was misery.

We now have contraception and disease control so that we can indulge in the pleasant pleasures of sex without fear. Sex has come out of the closet where it was locked up with guilt, inhibition and misogyny. It can be enjoyed responsibly without creating a population explosion.

Let’s put an end to the misery of bastards, abortions, forced adoption, repression, guilt and ostracisation created by religious fanatics.

There’s a new age of responsible sex. We can have great relationships, satisfying sex and nurturing families where children prosper. It requires commitment, responsibility and care and respect for your partner.

The sad thing that has come out of all this religious repression and guilt is this association of sex with something dirty and painful. Sado-masochism has no place in sex. Sex is neither dirty of painful.

We can have uninhibited, responsible, fun sex that builts positive relationships.

Check out my book on the damage of overpopulation:

or my novel on religion: