[extropy-chat] Protect ourselves to prevent a return to the middle ages

[Mehran]

Yes, I am a proud Raelian for 15 years and I know RAEL personally for that
long... 

LOVE
Mehran
www.rael.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Mehran [mailto:mehranraeli at comcast.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 9:42 PM
To: 'extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org'
Subject: Re: Protect ourselves to prevent a return to the middle ages



Just to clarify, this text was written by RAEL

www.rael.org

- Mehran




February 8th, 2006
PROTECT OURSELVES TO PREVENT A RETURN TO THE MIDDLE AGES

The recent events which followed the publication of caricatures of Mohamed
in a Danish paper, with the burning of embassies in Arab countries, death
threats against the caricaturists and journalists etc indicate the extent of
the danger that the basic fundamental freedom in the west is in. However we
mustn't forget that this freedom was only acquired after many years of
struggle against the dominant religion of Christianity. Though today, anyone
can caricature Jesus, god or the pope in modern countries without any
danger, only a few hundred years ago anyone daring such a thing would have
risked being burnt alive at the stake.

The muslim world still lives in a medieval culture where any lack of
respect, even humorous, against religion is not tolerated.

That these countries don't respect human rights on their own territory and
freedom of expression in their own papers is condemnable, and even though we
should struggle to help improve this situation, that is their own internal
problem.

But what is totally unacceptable is when they dare to attack the freedom of
modern countries. They can do what they want in their own countries, but
please respect the freedom so carefully acquired over the centuries in
western countries, especially the right to atheism, the right to blaspheme
and the right to laugh at anything.

Western countries must protect these fundamental rights without compromise,
and all the more reason to do so when the enemies of freedom brandish death
threats and threaten violence. It is unacceptable to concede to any threats
of violence.

Some Islamic countries are even considering to request the UN to vote for
laws forbidding any texts of drawings lacking religious respect.

Some westerners even try to justify these requests by equating these
caricatures to incitement to racial or religious hatred, comparing them to
the anti-semite drawings that were published in German papers during the
rise of nazi-ism.

But the difference between the two stands out large and clear: the
anti-semite drawings really did incite hatred towards Jews through their
texts and propagated false information such as claiming that the Jews were
pillaging the German economy, or sacrificing children. They did not just
limit themselves to caricaturing a prophet or a god.

In the name of freedom of expression, so long as they don't explicitly
incite violence or racial and religious hate, which of course should be
forbidden, any other drawing and caricature which is purely humorous should
be allowed, whatever the subject and whoever their target. 

No subject should be taboo or prohibited, otherwise freedom of expression
ceases to exist and the demon of religious or political censorship rears its
ugly head. For sure any explicit incitement to hatred or violence against
any religion or ethnic group should be severely punished by law, but the
right to laugh, and to laugh at anything without exception should not be
touched.

But the problem that this affair raises is in fact much deeper and serious
than that. We are presently seeing what I had prophesised a couple of
decades ago in one of my texts where I was warning the western world to get
ready to defend its fundamental rights against the influence of other
countries still living in the middle ages. 

What we have is the confrontation of two civilisations: a modern and
liberated one clashing with another one trailing behind by a couple of
centuries due to lack of education and science, still stuck in
superstitions, under the grip of primitive beliefs and which has not yet
accomplished the fundamental step of separating church and state.

These two civilisations are now trying to impose their "values" on each
other. The confrontation of these two value systems is irresolvable,
especially when the less advanced one has such tenacious paradigms that they
are fanaticising to the extreme and which prevents them from seeing the
truth.

But the greatest danger is if the modern world makes concessions to the
primitive one. That will be a victory of obscurantism over science and
freedom.

It is the less advanced society which must progress and not the other way
round. On the contrary, the western world must continue to accelerate its
progressive reforms which allow it to completely destroy the last
puritanical and conventional traces inherited from the oppressive
judeo-christian traditions. Among other things would be the acceptance of
cloning, stem-cells and genetically modified organisms.

If muslims refuse to eat pork, that is their right, but they don't have the
right to impose this dietary regime on the rest of the world. That they
refuse to represent their prophet Mohamed is also their right, but neither
should they impose this rule on non muslims. 

And if the modern world accepted to limit its own freedom of expression to
placate the sensitivities of muslims, then they are entering the slippery
slope of a return back to the dark ages.

Not only should the western world refuse to be influenced by the primitive
world, but they must do all they can via the promotion of education and use
of modern medias such as satellite TV or the internet, to help the primitive
societies to liberate themselves from the yoke of their retrograde religion
and to realise a true separation of their church and state which western
nations enjoy today.

And the modern world should concede none of its liberties and protect itself
from the threats of violence perpetrated by the fanatics.

Though the Raelian philosophy promotes absolute non violence, it also
promotes the right to legitimate self-defence, if necessary by force, but a
reasonable force aimed at reducing their attackers to powerlessness rather
than killing them. 

And though we condemn all military attacks, such as the illegal invasions of
Afghanistan and Iraq by the US, that does not mean that we recommend total
inaction in the face of criminal cowardice which would allow medieval forces
to destroy the freedom of the modern world and murder its citizens. 

The western world should develop weapons to specifically protect itself from
fanatical attacks of those who don't tolerate our rights and freedom.

It is important to compare the basic differences of these two clashing
societies in order to understand the differences and bad faith that these
defenders of medieval cultures use to seduce us into taking a step
backwards. Here are a few examples out of many:

The right to apostatise:

In the western countries, in accordance with human rights, people are free
to apostatise from their religion, either to convert to another or just to
become atheist and renounce all belief in a god. But in most Islamic
countries, in total disregard to these human rights, such apostasy is
illegal and the law can condemn anyone to death if they apostatise from the
Islamic religion.

The right to blaspheme:

In western countries, people are free to blaspheme. In the Islamic countries
the law can heavily condemn someone for this.

The right of women:

In western countries, the law on gender equality enshrines equal rights for
women as for men on all levels. 

In Islamic countries, women are considered inferior, it is legal to beat
them, they must wear the veil, or even worse the Burka, they are denied
access to education and are not allowed to drive cars, whereas men are
exempt from such restrictions.

Men can practice polygamy (have several wives) whereas women cannot practice
polyandry (have several husbands).

Women are never considered major and depend always on the authority of
either their father, husband or brother.

Every year thousands of women are legally murdered with impunity by male
members of their own family in what is called "crimes of honour". 

Gay rights:

In western countries, homosexuals enjoy the same rights as heterosexuals and
can even legally marry.

In Islamic countries, to be homosexual means heavy prison sentences or even
a sentence of death.

Sexual mutilation:

In western countries all sexual mutilation is illegal, whereas in Islamic
countries, excision (cutting off the clitoris) is practiced on millions of
little girls every year, as well as circumcision on boys. 

The list is almost endless.

Each one of these situations is intolerable and constitutes a breach of
human rights. But what is all the more shocking is that muslims wish to
impose these unilaterally on our modern societies. 

For example they demand the right to build mosques in the west and to be
allowed unlimited proselytism aimed at converting as many people as possible
- while in the west citizens are allowed to convert to islam - and yet in
Islamic countries the construction of non Islamic churches is prohibited and
anyone seeking to proselytise in the name of any religion other than islam
will be condemned to a very heavy prison sentence. And anyone who tries to
apostatise from islam or converts to another religion can be condemned to
death. Double standards.

Another example: muslims demand the right to wear the Islamic veil in
western schools and can freely carry it anytime in public. But if a western
woman visits an Islamic country, she has to cover her hair with an Islamic
scarf and of course wearing a miniskirt would be under pain of death. Again,
double standards. Human rights are very clear on both of these subjects:

they guarantee religious freedom, the right to convert, the right to
proselytise. But this must be reciprocal: if muslims wish to enjoy freedom
and rights in western countries guaranteed by the most beautiful fruit
produced by the modern world: Human Rights, then they too must imperatively
respect them in their own countries.

As long as total reciprocity is not respected, muslims should not be allowed
to enjoy the rights and freedoms of western countries that they deny to
visitors in their own countries. That means that Islamic proselytism should
be forbidden in the west as long as the proselytism of other religions, or
of atheism is not legalised in Islamic countries. And the wearing of the
veil or burka should be forbidden in the west as long as women are not
allowed to walk about with their head naked and in mini-skirts in Islamic
countries. In that way, there will be no double standards.

The defence of values of modern countries, especially their rights so
preciously cumulated over the ages is essential particularly when they are
under attack by fanatics who's religious books teach hate, crime and
violence against those who are not faithful to their religion.

The Koran is very clear, it says in black and white:

"Kill the idolaters wherever you can find them, capture them, lay siege to
them, and ambush them. But if they convert, if they give money.., then leave
them in peace because Allah forgives and takes pity on them" Koran IX. 5.

Islam also officially encourages racism and discrimination:"Oh believers, do
not befriend any Jew or Christian, because they are their own allies. He who
befriends them will become like them and god will not be a guide for such a
pervert" Koran V. 51.

Islamic sexism and the encouragement to their family violence also stems
from their "sacred writings":

"Men are superior to women thanks to the qualities that god gave to men to
raise them above women. Reprimand those women who you fear might not obey
you, banish them to separate beds and beat them" Koran IV. 34.

Even the life of the prophet Mohamed is considered exemplary and sacred even
though he was a pillager of caravans, or that he married Aicha when she was
still a little girl of only 9 years old as the writings relate. In modern
countries, to sleep with a 9 year old is called paedophilia. And don't
excuse it by claiming that it was common at the time. An act of pedophilia
always has and always will be a criminal act. Muslims cannot consider
Mohamed as a model of perfection and infallibility otherwise they approve of
pedophilia. 

If the sacred books of Islam openly preach the murder of infidels, that is
to say anyone who is not a muslim or is atheist, then we, who live in the
west are all legitimate targets for them. The only way out of this massacre
is to convert to islam and that is what they officially announce. In fact
the Koran clearly states that muslims should convert the whole planet to
islam and kill all those who refuse this conversion. It is high time for the
free world to become aware of this reality taught by 1.3 billion muslims,
that is to say about a quarter of the world population.

Some people claim that only fanatics interpret the Koran in this way and
that the majority of muslims interpret it in a more tolerant way and don't
apply such outdated rules. That is possible, but nevertheless, it is the
fanatics who at any opportunity drag the rest of the muslim world, even the
more tolerant, back to the "righteous path" by obliging them to apply in
full what is called the "word of god".

And every day, millions of young muslims around the world go to Koran school
which continue to teach these incitations to hatred and crime. For sure they
are not taught to interpret with tolerance or look at the larger picture.

Since it is the word of god transmitted by the prophet, such a word by
definition cannot be interpreted in a lighter way, it has to be applied in
its integrality. What is written is written. 

The only solution to the problem is to prohibit any religion which teaches
violence and racial, religious or ethnic hate. We would never accept any
political party which promotes such a policy, it would be immediately
forbidden. So why accept it from a religion which conditions the behaviour
of the young generation far more than a political party does?

Therefore we should forbid islam as long as it continues to teach such
illegal horrors around the world. The only way that islam could escape such
a prohibition would be if its directors accept to censure its religious
texts and remove the passages which incite to crime. In that way, muslims
will prove their good faith and be able to join the international community
where only those religions which incite tolerance will be able to live in
harmony and mutual respect.

The UN must immediately initiate an international committee to censure
religious writings (all religious writings) to ensure they conform to human
rights and to once and for all remove all the passages which infringe upon
them.

As long as that is not done, islam should be declared illegal in western
countries and Islamic schools, and places of such cult where these
abominations are taught every day should be forbidden as the breeding
grounds of the terrorists and criminals of tomorrow 

The modern and free world must protect its freedom, if necessary by force,
but once again with the least violent force to ensure the legitimate defence
of its values.

The scientific advance enjoyed by the west allows it to protect itself
militarily and in a most non violent way from the fanatics who wish to bring
it back to the middle ages. This advance should be maintained so that even
if the Islamic fundamentalists largely outnumber the western population,
they remain incapable of presenting a threat to the modern world.

A long time ago, islam already invaded spain and a part of france before
being pushed back militarily, which shows that the west is not the only one
guilty of invading sovereign states such as Afghanistan or Iraq. If Islamic
fundamentalists had the means technologically and militarily, there is no
shadow of a doubt that they would invade the western world today and try and
exterminate all those who don't convert to Islam.

And this they would do using a list of false pretences: because the western
world had previously colonised the muslim world which left them with a
desire for vengeance, because they think that the western world pillaged
their oil riches, because they resent the western world for having stolen
their Palestinian territories to create the state of Israel, because they
are occupying Afghanistan and Iraq, etc, but all these are just false

excuses: the truth is that their religion teaches them to convert the whole
planet and exterminate all those who refuse to convert, the infidels and the
atheists as their invasion of some parts of Europe a few centuries ago has
already proved.

This philosophy of world dominance to create a "kingdom of god" on earth is
what is the most dangerous. And the western world cannot accept that every
day millions of young children are conditioned to accept this vision of the
future.

The violent manifestations following the caricatures of a prophet constitute
just one little detail which reveals another danger. That of our own modern
values and freedom being destroyed by a domination-seeking and intolerant
people, and ourselves being dragged back to the middle ages.

For these reason, modern societies should protect their values and
fundamental rights, without making the slightest concession, if necessary by
the use of force, arming themselves by developing new technologies so as to
preserve sufficient advance to remain invincible, in the face of all the
primitive and obscurantist forces of the planet.

RAEL 
www.rael.org