Freethought Nation

Read the signs at this protest by Egyptian secularists against the Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian government. Click to enlarge.

A world government finally acknowledging the treason and sedition of fundamentalist Islam/sharia law! Now, will other governments follow suit?

"Germany on Wednesday banned three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups which the Interior Ministry said wanted to overturn democracy and install a system based on sharia, or Islamic law."

Germany bans three Salafist groups as anti-democratic

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany on Wednesday banned three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups which the Interior Ministry said wanted to overturn democracy and install a system based on sharia, or Islamic law.

The ban, which took effect in the western states of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia in the early morning, is the latest step taken by German authorities who have increased surveillance of Salafists who espouse a radical version of Islam.

The ministry said it has banned the organizations "DawaFFM" and "Islamische Audios", as well as "An-Nussrah", which is part of the "Millatu Ibrahim" group that was outlawed in June.

Some 20 people were searched and assets belonging to the organizations were seized, said the ministry.

"Salafism, as represented in the associations that were banned today, is incompatible with our free democratic order," Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said in a statement.

"(The groups) aim to change our society in an aggressive, belligerent way so that democracy would be replaced by a Salafist system, and the rule of law replaced by Sharia law."

Germany is home to roughly 4,000 Salafists. They make up only a tiny proportion of the total Muslim population of about 4 million.

Friedrich said the step was part of efforts by Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right government to promote a tolerant and respectful relationship with the large number of peaceful Muslims in Germany.

Germany holds the purse strings of the European Union. If they wish to make it a condition for funding to outlaw all these seditious and treasonous Islamic/sharia cults, they can do so. And hopefully they will.

Treasonous and Seditious CAIR

Like the rest of the world, the U.S. has a BIG problem with the same sort of Islamic treason and sedition. Below is what the nation's most irritating Muslim organization, CAIR, has to say. This organization too needs to be banned and its members investigated for treason and sedition.

"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." --Omar M. Ahmad, founder of Council on American-Islamic Relations ("CAIR") July 4, 1998

"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future... But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education." -Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR

"Ultimately, we (Muslims) can never be full citizens of this country…because there is no way we can be fully committed to the institutions and ideologies of this country." --Ihsan Bagby, CAIR

"If we are practicing Muslims, we are above the law of the land." --Mustafa Carroll, CAIR-TX

"Report anti Islamic and anti Muslim content on the internet to appropriate authorities to take action to remove it and go after those who post it online and prosecute and take actions according to the Shariah ruling." --Faizan Syed, CAIR-St. Louis

These Islamic/sharia cultists are especially a danger to women, and anyone who disagrees with their banning should be shamed and disgraced with shrieks of "sexism," "misogyny" and "gynophobia." Two can play this game.

The Bible contains such stellar morality! Below is what the Lord says to Moses shortly after giving him the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Note that God does not outlaw slavery, just qualifies it. And how nice of God to ordain that a slave who willingly stays with his master out of "love" should have an awl bored through his ear! And a man selling his daughter into slavery - well, nothing wrong with some good old-fashioned commerce!

"Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.... But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.

"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt faithlessly with her." Exodus 21:1-8

There is much more about slavery in the Old Testament, very little of which includes any liberating or evolved sentiments.

The New Testament is little better, as Jesus likewise doesn't end slavery, and Paul exhorts slaves to obey their masters "in everything."

"Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ..." Ephesians 6:5

"Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed." 1 Timothy 6

"Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to the kind and gentle but to the overbearing. For one is approved if, mindful of God, he endures pain while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you take it patiently? But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God's approval." 1 Peter 2:18-20

During the 19th century in America, when the debate about slavery was fast and fierce, the Bible was used both to assail and uphold slavery, the latter with good reason, obviously.

Further Reading

Quotes from Jewish Scriptures
Quotes from the New Testament

How refreshing to read the article by Yasmin Alibhai Brown excerpted below! A Muslim telling the truth about Islamic intolerance, hatred and violence, and commenters also telling the truth about Islam, for a change - will wonders never cease?

Blowback?

Note that this "intolerance" - infidelophobia - began with the Islamic movement's inception, long before Iraq, the modern state of Israel or any other alleged "blowback" transgressions. In this regard, some 270 million nonbelievers have been slaughtered in the past 1,400 years in the name of Islam. What's the "blowback" transgression of the Indians, for example, whose country was invaded centuries ago by Islamic warriors who massacred an estimated 80 million Hindus and Buddhists?

"What's the 'blowback' transgression of the Indians, whose country was invaded centuries ago by Islamic warriors who massacred an estimated 80 million Hindus and Buddhists?"

Infidelophobia in the Quran

The reason for all this hatred and violence is Islamic doctrine and texts themselves, which continually call for the deaths of and other abuses against nonbelievers/infidels.

"About sixty-one percent of the contents of the Koran are found to speak ill of the unbelievers or call for their violent conquest; at best only 2.6 percent of the verses of the Koran are noted to show goodwill toward humanity. About seventy-five percent of Muhammad's biography (Sira) consists of jihad waged on unbelievers."

--Dr. Moorthy Muthuswamy

(See the long list of infidelophobic Quranic/Koranic verses below.)

Islam is not a race

Note also that Islam is not a race; hence, criticizing Islam is not racism, and critics are not "racists."

'Islamophobia' is a bogus slur

Moreover, the word "Islamophobia" is a term glommed onto by Muslim jihadis and deliberately used in order to "beat down Islam's critics," according to a number of Muslim spokesmen themselves. We who object to Islam's cruel, brutal, bloody and hateful doctrines are not irrational bigots and "Islamophobes," and we resent the accusation and character assassination. All talk of banning "Islamophobia" and criticism of Islam represents an assault on and potential genocide of all nonbelievers. We will not submit. لن استسلم

"'Islamophobia' is a term glommed onto by Muslim jihadis and deliberately used in order to 'beat down Islam's critics.'"

How did modern Islam become so intolerant?

by Yasmin Alibhai Brown

In Allah’s name, what is wrong with us Muslims? And why do we find it so hard to ask that question of ourselves? What will it take to break the heavily curtained window of denial?...

...no injustice can excuse or explain the rise of brutal Islamicists. Palestine is their cynical, moral pretence. Racism? Black Afro-Caribbean men who suffer the worst discrimination in this country don’t set up terrorist cells. Muslim foreign policy rage is questionable too. Over many decades, Western meddling in, say, Zimbabwe or Kenya has led to some of the intractable, current problems in those nations. Again, Kenyans and Zimbabwean migrants to the UK aren’t cooking carnage in pots in their kitchens.

Religion is another fig leaf used by millions of Prophet Mohamed’s followers. Islam, they rightly contend, does not sanction the killing of civilians by hobbyists or leaders. However, by focusing on what the good texts say, Muslims avoid the reality of what Muslims do. I doubt even the most virtuous imam can point this out without being subjected to threats.

And while ever alert on Islamaphobia, organisations like the Muslim Council of Britain assiduously avoid looking at the willed ignorance and barbarism within Muslim communities around the world in states controlled by Muslims.

Take this last week, when Bangladesh erupted with anger and competing protests led to five deaths. Secularists demand punishment for the Bangladeshi men who committed atrocities in the 1971 war for independence from Pakistan. Some of the perpetrators were militant Muslim militia and are defended by an alliance of powerful Islamicist parties.

In Egypt, human rights groups claim children are being detained and tortured. The government has spent £1.7m on tear gas. In Tunisia, after the assassination of the popular secular leader Chokri Belaid, Ennahda, the hardline Islamic party, takes charge. Fifty-three more died in an explosion in Syria where over 70,000 have been killed in two years.

Islamic rebels in Mali, Nigeria and elsewhere carry on their nefarious, destabilising activities. Eighty-nine Shias were killed in Pakistan, whose first leader, Muhammad Jinnah, was a Shia, as am I. They want to obliterate us there, in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Bahrain, and Iraq too, where bombs go off routinely to kill these worshippers. Other minority Muslim groups are also targeted and often murdered.

Internal and external intolerance is now Islam’s brand. Those great past Muslim civilisations famous for diversity, humanity, science, extraordinary achievements have died. Education, the arts, photographs, television, sports, even work are denounced by crazed imams online and in mosques worldwide, including the UK. In Brittain’s book, some women took on these values, and in effect, imprisoned themselves.

Polymath Ziauddin Sardar has met “countless Muslim scholars, thinkers, writers and activists” who are impatient for change and reform. That can’t happen while there is an aversion to criticism and self-criticism.

Thoughtful and honest Muslims stay silent because they fear ostracisation or inciting more racism against Muslims – both real perils. But silence now is cowardly, and collusion with the corrupters of our faith. True believers have a duty to speak out against that corruption.

Regardless of the constant victim-playing, it is good to see this dialogue out in the open.

What does the Quran/Koran say about nonbelievers?

"This Book is not to be doubted.... As for the unbelievers, it is the same whether or not you forewarn them; they will not have faith. God has set a seal upon their hearts and ears; their sight is dimmed and grievous punishment awaits them." Quran 2:1/2:6-2:10

"God's curse be upon the infidels! Evil is that for which they have bartered away their souls. To deny God's own revelation, grudging that He should reveal His bounty to whom He chooses from among His servants! They have incurred God's most inexorable wrath. An ignominious punishment awaits the unbelievers." Quran 2:89-2:90

"Lord...Give us victory over the unbelievers." Quran 2:286

"Lord...give us victory over the unbelievers." Quran 3:147

"I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers." Quran 8:12

"Let not the unbelievers think they will ever get away. They have not the power so to do. Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your command, so that you may strike terror into the enemy of Allah and your enemy..." Quran 8:59-60

"When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them." Quran 9:5

"Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate." Quran 9:73

"Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them. Know that God is with the righteous." Quran 9:123

"Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another..." Quran 5:51

"He that chooses a religion over Islam, it will not be accepted from him and in the world to come he will be one of the lost." Quran 3:85

"Let not believers make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful - he that does this has nothing to hope for from Good - except in self-defense. God admonishes you to fear Him: for to God shall all return." Quran 3:28

"Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies. They shall be lashed with rods of iron.

"Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, back they shall be dragged, and will be told: 'Taste the torment of the Conflagration!'" Quran 22:19-20

"Muhammad is God's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another." Quran 48:29

"Those that deny Our revelations We will burn in fire. No sooner will their skins be consumed than We shall give them other skins, so that they may truly taste the scourge. God is mighty and wise." Quran 4:56

"Believers, know that the idolaters [non-Muslims] are unclean. Let them not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year is ended." Quran 9:28

"The unbelievers among the People of the Book [Bible] and the pagans shall burn for ever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures." Quran 98:6

Today and tomorrow, February 23 and 24, 2013, my new radio interview with Miguel Conner at Aeon Byte will be available gratis. The easiest way to access it is to go to this page:

http://www.aeonbytegnosticradio.com/

In the box with the orange line that says "AEON BYTE" and "Options," click on the top link marked "Buddhism's Relation to Christianity." You will need QuickTime to listen.

Here's Miguel's write-up for the show:

In recent times, the similarities between Buddhism and Christianity has been available to a more progressive society. Unfortunately, an ocean of sensationalism and faulty scholarship overlooks how these two traditions truly relate to one another (and why). We delve into the latest, most sober scholarship in comparative religion to fully grasp how Buddhism and Christianity connect in their origins and theology. And find out how their mythic resonance was corrupted by those seeking power.

Topics Discussed:

--Advice for lay people in deciphering valid from invalid scholarship in the historical field.
--Evidence pointing that western traditions actually influenced eastern ones, specifically Egyptian Mysteries and Syrian Gnosis.
--Archaeological evidence revealing that Asia and Europe have been interacting long before the rise of Christianity (and even Buddhism!).
--The latest scholarship detailing the similarities between Christianity and Buddhism, including how Paul and some Church Fathers knew of Buddhist and Hindu traditions.
--Unveiling the mysteries of the Essenes and Therapeutae.

And much more!

http://www.aeonbytegnosticradio.com/

If you have not seen the book and ebook we will be discussing, here's the link:

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/buddhismchristianity.html

I hope you enjoy the program! Note that after this weekend, 2/23 and 2/24, the program will be available from Miguel for a small fee. Past shows are available here:

http://www.thegodabovegod.com/shop/index.php?cat=5

Enjoy!

As part of the research for my forthcoming book Did Moses Exist? The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver, I have done a multipart review of Lennart Möller's popular book The Exodus Case, which seeks to prove the Exodus to be a historical event, supernatural miracles and all, as depicted in the Bible.

Here are the three parts of the review, which I created on the forum thread for my book Did Moses Exist?

Did the Biblical Plagues Really Happen?

Did the Exodus Really Happen? Review of The Exodus Case Continued

The Exodus Case Review Conclusion

Here is the entire review in a single PDF:

Did the Exodus Really Happen? The Exodus Case Reviewed by D.M. Murdock

Feel free to distribute widely the above document, print out copies, send electronically via email and post on websites. When posting, excerpting or quoting, please include proper attribution to D.M. Murdock and a link back.

As we can see from reviews of this book on Amazon, the author has managed to convince many people with his arguments. However, as you will read in my review, he has not proved that the Exodus really happened, especially not as depicted biblically, much less demonstrated where it occurred. The conclusion remains that the episode belongs in the realm of myth, much like the national epics of other countries and ethnicities, such as the Homeric and the Indian.

"Congratulations, Acharya.  I have never seen the Exodus myth so thoroughly and unequivocally disproved."

Barbara Walker, Man Made God

Table of Contents

Thutmosis II?
Two Million Hebrew Slaves?
The Plagues
Why No Egyptian Records?
The Ipuwer Papyrus
The Philistines
Josephus
The Journey to Midian
Parting the Waters of the Gulf of Aqaba?
Pillars at the Crossing?
Chariot Wheels and Skeletons on the Seabed?
Location of Mt. Sinai
Simple and Childish Place-Names Indicate Mythical Nature
The 12 Wells
Manna from Heaven
Striking the Rock for Water
An Altar?
Moses in Midian
The Golden Calf Altar?
Who Wrote the Pentateuch?
Conclusion

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For centuries since the alleged advent of Jesus Christ, many people have believed that they are the "second coming" of the Jewish messiah, creating followings of devotees who likewise become convinced of these individuals' claim to divinity. When this "messiah complex" is manifested during a journey to the biblical "Holy Land," it may be identified as a psychosis called "Jerusalem syndrome."

Unfortunately, mental institutions have seen their share of individuals claiming to be Jesus Christ, but many such persons do not end up in the psych ward. In the latter instances, these individuals are too often the source of considerable distress and danger, not only to themselves but also to their families, friends and followers. In this regard, two recent cases of men claiming to be Jesus Christ have ended in tragedy.

Defenders of Christ

The first of these tragic cases involves a cult called "Defenders of Christ" located in Mexico, where several sex slaves were abused before the group was raided and 14 people arrested:

Mexican officials storm a home in Nuevo Laredo, which is just across the border from Laredo, Texas, and find 10 victims, mostly women, living in squalor. Police say they were beaten, forced into prostitution and made to have sex with leader Ignacio Gonzalez de Arriba.

After filing a formal complaint against the polygamous sex cult last year, agents with Mexico’s National Immigration Institute helped spearhead the raid along with federal police and prosecutors.

Inside the home, which is located just across the border from Laredo, Texas, police say they found 10 Mexicans living in squalor. The victims, mostly women, police said, were beaten, forced into prostitution and made to have sex with the group’s charismatic leader, Spaniard Ignacio Gonzalez de Arriba, as a form of tithing.

On the Defenders of Christ website, Gonzalez de Arriba, is billed as the reincarnation of Jesus.

"He was able to convince them that they had to behave in certain ways to satisfy his economic and sexual needs," Myrna Garcia, an activist with the Support Network for Cult Victims, told CNN.

The Spanish cult leader Gonzalez de Arriba thus claimed to be Jesus Christ, and his followers willingly provided him with money and sex slaves.

The cult's website, shown in the image above, makes extensive comparisons between its leader and purported images of Jesus, as part of the "evidence" allegedly proving him to be Christ.

Tacoma Jesus

In another recent case, a man in Seattle, Washington, believed that he was Jesus Christ, to the detriment of both himself and his victim, as he ended up ramming his car into a city worker:

A 54-year-old Tacoma man has been arrested for allegedly driving his car into a Pacific Gas & Electric worker in Fresno, trapping the man between two vehicles. According to a witness, Jett Simmons claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ before making racially charged threats and ramming his car into the PG&E worker.

The witness--a hitchhiker "from Dogtown" by way of West Virginia named Kai (that it--just Kai)--says that after Simmons rammed the man, he got out of the car and tried to smother a bystander with a bear hug. That's when Kai sprung into action and hit the 6'4", 290-pound Simmons on the head with a hatchet.

As can be seen, the belief that one is Jesus Christ not only is delusional but also can be dangerous, both to oneself and to the general public.

Many people have claimed to be Jesus

The list of people over the centuries who have claimed to be Jesus Christ or have been perceived as such by their followers is long indeed, and includes the following:

John Nichols Thom (1799–1838)
Arnold Potter (1804–1872)
Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892)
William W. Davies (1833–1906)
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India (1835–1908)
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
George Ernest Roux (1903–1981)
Ernest Norman (1904–1971)
William M Branham (1908-1965)
Krishna Venta (1911—1958)
Ahn Sahng-Hong (1918–1985)
Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012)
Jim Jones (1931–1978)
Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997)
Charles Manson (b. 1934)
Yahweh ben Yahweh (1935–2007)
Laszlo Toth (b. 1940)
Wayne Bent (b. 1941)
Ariffin Mohammed (b. 1943)
Mitsuo Matayoshi (b. 1944)
Hogen Fukunaga (b. 1945)
José Luis de Jesús Miranda (b. 1946)
Lia Eden (b. 1947)
Inri Cristo (b. 1948)
Thomas Harrison Provenzano (1949–2000)
Shoko Asahara (b. 1955)
David Koresh (1959–1993)
Marina Tsvigun/Maria Devi Christos (b. 1960)
Sergey Torop (b. 1961)
Alan John Miller (b. 1962)
David Shayler (b. 1965)
Maurice Clemmons (1972-2009)
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez (b. 1990)

Famed Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I (1892–1975) did not make this claim for himself, but his followers were convinced he was Jesus.

There are, of course, many, many more such individuals known not to the public at large but among small followings all over the world.

Multiple divinities, prophets and famous people

In some instances, the claimants to divinity also assert that they are the "reincarnation" of other famous and esteemed figures:

Ernest Norman (1904–1971), an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Unarius Academy of Science in 1954, was allegedly Jesus in a past life and his earthly incarnation was as an archangel named Raphiel. He claimed to be the reincarnation of other notable figures including Confucius, Mona Lisa, Benjamin Franklin, Socrates, Queen Elizabeth I, and Tsar Peter I the Great.

Ariffin Mohammed (b. 1943) is "believed by his followers to be the incarnation of Jesus, as well as Shiva, and Buddha, and Muhammad."

Like father, like son?

At times, this delusion affects multiple generations: For example, William W. Davies (1833–1906) "taught his followers that he was the archangel Michael, who had previously lived as the biblical Adam, Abraham, and David." His first child was subsequently declared to be "Jesus Christ," while his second son assumed the role of "God the Father."

Female Christs

Individuals suffering from messiah complex have run the gamut of nationalities, ethnicities and races. They tend to be male, as would seem appropriate since Christ was alleged to have been a man. However, on occasion women such as Marina Tsvigun or "Maria Devi Christos" (b. 1960) also have made this claim to be the "son of God," so to speak. Another female would-be Christ is Lia Eden (b. 1947):

...born as Lia Aminuddin in Makassar, Indonesia. In 1998, she claimed that she met the angel Gabriel several times, convincing her that she was Imam Mahdi or Messiah who brought the prophecy of the world security and justice before the doomsday. In another occasion, she also claimed that she was the reincarnation of Mother Mary and her son, Ahmad Mukti as the reincarnation of Jesus.

Eden was convicted of "blasphemy" in the Muslim country of Indonesia and spent years in prison.

One current "Jesus," Alan John Miller (b. 1962), has a female partner named Rozena, who "identifies herself as the returned and chic Mary Magdalene."

Deadly Delusions of Grandeur

A number of these messianic cults have ended very badly, such as that of Adolf Hitler, whose millions of German followers believed he was a figure like Jesus Christ, if not Christ himself. Also notorious was Charles Manson, who convinced his followers he was the "son of man," Jesus Christ, and that they should murder brutally several innocent people. Other examples of violent outcomes include Jim Jones - who "claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Akhenaten, Buddha, Vladimir Lenin and Father Divine" - and Marshall Applewhite of "Heaven's Gate" notoriety, both of whose followers allegedly committed mass suicide. At Waco, Texas, David Koresh of Branch Davidian infamy holed up in a "compound," which was burned to the ground, killing dozens of men, women and children trapped inside.

In 1984, Aum Shinrikyo cult leader Shoko Asahara (b. 1955) convinced his followers to release sarin gas in a Tokyo subway and was subsequently sentenced to death. Less well known is Maurice Clemmons (1972-2009), who murdered four police officers in Washington State in 2009, while claiming himself to be Jesus.

Christ claimant Thomas Harrison Provenzano (1949–2000) was an American convicted of murder who was "possibly mentally ill," an observation that would appear to be obvious. Messiah wannabe Hulon Mitchell, Jr. (1935–2007), aka "Yahweh ben Yahweh," was convicted in 1992 of conspiracy to commit murder, receiving an 18-year sentence. And then there was Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez (b. 1990), who used an assault rifle to attack the White House, claiming he was Jesus Christ sent to kill American president Barack Obama, the purported anti-Christ.

In 1958, Krishna Venta (pictured above) was "suicide bombed by two disgruntled former followers who accused Venta of mishandling cult funds and having been intimate with their wives." As we can see, money and sex appear to be the motivators for a significant number of these would-be messiahs, as is power, of course, which would be total, as, according to Christianity, Jesus is the omnipotent or all-powerful God.

"As we can see, money and sex appear to be the motivators for a significant number of these would-be messiahs."

As another prominent example of how messianic delusion is dangerous to the public, the Hungarian-Austrian would-be savior Laszlo Toth, still alive, is notorious for having damaged Michelangelo's famous sculpture the Pietà with a hammer. And, as an example of danger to themselves, messiah claimant from the Latter Day Saints or Mormonism Arnold Potter (1804–1872) believed he could "ascend to heaven," killing himself as he jumped off a cliff.

Other 'Divine Prophet' Pretenders

Other cult leaders believing themselves divine in one way or another have been found guilty of the sexual assault, rape and/or trafficking of minors, such as Wayne Bent (b. 1941) and FLDS leader Warren Jeffs (b. 1955) - who convinced his followers that he was the only true, living prophet of God - along with Bernie Lazar Hoffman (b. 1934), aka "Tony Alamo," who believed that he and his wife were the "two witnesses" in the biblical book of Revelation.

Then there are those countless others suffering mental illness who have claimed "God" told them to harm others, including their own children, with the example of the biblical god Yahweh requiring Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, much as the New Testament God the Father was said to have done with his beloved son.

The list of those experiencing religious delusions is lengthy and filled with tragedy and peril. Not a few of these claimants to messiahship are still alive, undoubtedly to be joined by many more in the future, so long as the world-savior story continues to enthrall the human mind. Thus, there are numerous "Jesus Christs" running about the world, none of whom probably agrees that any of the others are sane and truthful.

"There are numerous 'Jesus Christs' running about the world, none of whom probably agrees that any of the others are sane and truthful."

Jerusalem Syndrome

When this messianic complex has occurred in the biblical city of Jerusalem, it is part of a wider "Jerusalem syndrome," a form of "psychosis" that causes visitors to the "Holy Land" to believe they are somehow involved in biblical events, including as the "second coming" of Jesus. A paper on "Jerusalem syndrome" in the British Journal of Psychiatry (2000:176:86-90) seeks to describe the condition as "a unique acute psychotic state." The Society of Biblical Literature defines the syndrome as a "clinical psychiatric diagnosis first identified in the 1930s by Dr. Heinz Herman, one of the founders of modern psychiatric research in Israel."

"In consideration of all these facts, it would seem best not to encourage and validate such individuals in their delusions and psychoses."

During holidays and other times of the year, along with milestones like the turn of the millennium in 2000, Israel's hospitals and mental institutions experience a surge of such persons suffering a psychotic breakdown. In consideration of all these facts, it would seem best not to encourage and validate such individuals in their delusions and psychoses.

The Jerusalem syndrome is a group of mental phenomena involving the presence of either religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions or other psychosis-like experiences that are triggered by a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion or denomination but has affected Jews, Christians and Muslims of many different backgrounds.

The best known, although not the most prevalent, manifestation of the Jerusalem syndrome is the phenomenon whereby a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. The psychosis is characterised by an intense religious theme and typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the area. The religious focus of the Jerusalem syndrome distinguishes it from other phenomena, such as the Stendhal syndrome, which is reported in Florence, Italy, or the Paris syndrome, which has been reported predominantly in Japanese individuals.

In a 2000 article in the British Journal of Psychiatry, Bar-El et al. claim to have identified and described a specific syndrome which emerges in tourists with no previous psychiatric history. However, this claim has been disputed by M. Kalian and E. Witztum. Kalian and Witzum stressed that nearly all of the tourists who demonstrated the described behaviours were mentally ill prior to their arrival in Jerusalem. They further noted that, of the small proportion of tourists alleged to have exhibited spontaneous psychosis after arrival in Jerusalem, Bar-El et al. had presented no evidence that the tourists had been well prior to their arrival in the city. Jerusalem Syndrome is not listed or referenced in the DSM IV.

Jerusalem syndrome has previously been regarded as a form of hysteria, referred to as "Jerusalem squabble poison," or fièvre Jerusalemmiene. It was first clinically described in the 1930s by Jerusalem psychiatrist Heinz Herman, one of the founders of modern psychiatric research in Israel....

This syndrome has proved dangerous on more than one occasion, including a notorious case in which an Austrian visitor to Jerusalem, Denis Michael Rohan, "overwhelmed with a feeling of divine mission, set fire to the al-Aqsa Mosque." His crime was followed by "citywide rioting," events immortalized in a film entitled "The Jerusalem Syndrome."

"This syndrome has proved dangerous on more than one occasion."

While this syndrome is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ("DSM IV"), it is clearly considered by health professionals to be a mental disorder, specifically a psychosis:

The classic Jerusalem syndrome, where a visit to Jerusalem seems to trigger an intense religious psychosis that resolves quickly or on departure, has been a subject of debate in the medical literature. Most of the discussion has centered on whether this definition of the Jerusalem syndrome is a distinct form of psychosis, or simply a re-expression of a previously existing psychotic illness that was not picked up by the medical authorities in Israel....

During a period of 13 years (1980–1993) for which admissions to the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Centre in Jerusalem were analysed, it was reported that 1,200 tourists with severe, Jerusalem-themed mental problems were referred to this clinic. Of these, 470 were admitted to hospital. On average, 100 such tourists have been seen annually, 40 of them requiring admission to hospital.

"On average, 100 such tourists have been seen annually, 40 of them requiring admission to hospital."

Jerusalem syndrome "overwhelmingly" affects Christians, often causing them to believe they are the messiah. Doctors in Jerusalem at times will refer to such saviors as "chosen ones." Hence, the same diagnosis of mental illness can be asserted of the messiah complex, which is comparable to a form of delusion, megalomania and narcissism.

Witnessing such individuals gives the impression of a severe form of narcissism, in fact, as they fixate and obsess on "I," "me," "my" and "mine," desperately attempting to draw attention to themselves. This mental illness has caused much suffering, and it is always sad when children are involved in these cases.

Jesus as a mythical figure

This misapprehension is all the more tragic in consideration of the fact that there exists no credible, scientific evidence that the "Jesus Christ" of the biblical gospel story was ever a historical personage in the first place. In reality, the evidence points to him being a fictional composite of characters, real and mythical. A composite of multiple "people," of course, is no one. In this regard, it seems a crime against humanity to perpetuate this fallacy, to the detriment of millions of people, including those victimized by claimants to divinity, as well as sufferers of this psychosis themselves.

It would seem logical to suggest that, without the conditioning provided by certain religions, these mental disorders would not be so prominent in the world today. In this regard, scholarship factually and scientifically demonstrating religion to be largely allegorical, mythical and fictional could provide a solution to this problem and relief for future suffering.

A video presenting the alternative to the messiah complex:

Further Reading

Raid on Defenders of Christ sexual slavery cult in Mexico nabs 14 suspects
Homeless Hitchhiker Saves Woman From Jesus
List of people claimed to be Jesus
Jerusalem syndrome
The Jerusalem Syndrome: Why Some Religious Tourists Believe They Are the Messiah
The Jerusalem Syndrome in Biblical Archaeology
Jesus Christ as mythical amalgam

Every day around the world, we read about examples of blatant infidelophobia, in which non-Muslims are harassed, beaten, imprisoned, tortured, raped and murdered purely because they are not followers of Islamic fundamentalism. Also abused and killed regularly are Muslims who are deemed not fanatical enough, such as the Ahmadiyyas, or who follow a different sect, as in the slaughter of Shias by Sunnis. These various Muslim groups thus are considered "apostates" and "infidels" by the radicals and extremists, to be subjected to extreme hatred and violence.

Yet, all we hear about in the mainstream media and dominating the social networks is "Islamophobia," a hateful and dehumanizing epithet casually hurled that generally represents not any serious harassment or abuse but perceived slights and "insults" by those criticizing Islam, as well as its texts, founder and behavior of not a few of its adherents, including the infidelophobic violence discussed above.

In reality, in society at large there is little evidence of "Islamophobic" hate crimes or real crimes, such as rape and murder. Meanwhile, non-believers are being "genocided" in many places globally, such as in Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and so on. Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists are being targeted, persecuted, imprisoned and executed in a number of Muslim countries, and the mainstream media remains relatively silent about these atrocities.

In this regard, I feel it is important to bring attention to this abusive situation, one way of which would be for people to circulate news items about blatant "infidelophobia," posting them to Twitter especially, using the hash tag #infidelophobia.

Remember that this effort reflects a human rights issue: Entire groups and ethnicities are fighting for their lives, their history and their traditions. We need a groundswell of attention to this matter, including people posting at #infidelophobia. Thanks.

Apparently, Twitter is also #infidelophobia - see my recent tweets:

@Support Is someone there deleting tweets to the hash tag #infidelophobia? Why is it okay to have #islamophobia #homophobia then?

Is Twitter is #infidelophobic? They've evidently deleted all my posts to #infidelophobia. I'm betting that wasn't the first time.

A gazillion whining comments of faux victimhood are posted to #islamophobia. Meanwhile, non-Muslims are being beaten, raped and slaughtered

Apparently, never-ending violence and abuse of nonbelievers is okay, but complaining about it is not okay. #infidelophobia

Oh, and they also deleted my posts to #gynophobia, with quotes from the Koran. I wonder what else of mine (and others) has been deleted?

(First published on Friday, September 17, 2010.)

Quotes from the Koran about Nonbelievers

"This Book is not to be doubted.... As for the unbelievers, it is the same whether or not you forewarn them; they will not have faith. God has set a seal upon their hearts and ears; their sight is dimmed and grievous punishment awaits them." Quran 2:1/2:6-2:10

"God's curse be upon the infidels! Evil is that for which they have bartered away their souls. To deny God's own revelation, grudging that He should reveal His bounty to whom He chooses from among His servants! They have incurred God's most inexorable wrath. An ignominious punishment awaits the unbelievers." Quran 2:89-2:90

"Lord...Give us victory over the unbelievers." Quran 2:286

"Lord...give us victory over the unbelievers." Quran 3:147

"I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers." Quran 8:12

"Let not the unbelievers think they will ever get away. They have not the power so to do. Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your command, so that you may strike terror into the enemy of Allah and your enemy..." Quran 8:59-60

"When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them." Quran 9:5

"Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate." Quran 9:73

"Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them. Know that God is with the righteous." Quran 9:123

"Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another..." Quran 5:51

"He that chooses a religion over Islam, it will not be accepted from him and in the world to come he will be one of the lost." Quran 3:85

"Let not believers make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful - he that does this has nothing to hope for from Good - except in self-defense. God admonishes you to fear Him: for to God shall all return." Quran 3:28

"Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies. They shall be lashed with rods of iron.

"Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, back they shall be dragged, and will be told: 'Taste the torment of the Conflagration!'" Quran 22:19-20

"Muhammad is God's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another." Quran 48:29

"Those that deny Our revelations We will burn in fire. No sooner will their skins be consumed than We shall give them other skins, so that they may truly taste the scourge. God is mighty and wise." Quran 4:56

"Believers, know that the idolaters [non-Muslims] are unclean. Let them not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year is ended." Quran 9:28

"The unbelievers among the People of the Book [Bible] and the pagans shall burn for ever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures." Quran 98:6

Further Reading

Infidelophobia Examples
Muslim writer in HuffPo admits 'Islamophobia' doesn't exist
Muslim ex-imam: 'Islamophobia is a loathsome term for beating down Islam's critics'
Muslim writer: Muslims must take responsibility for 'Islamophobia'
Hate-Crime Stats Deflate 'Islamophobia' Myth

British Muslim leader: Non-Muslims are not Innocent

UK woman describes acid attack

My name is Amil Imani, and I am a former Muslim from Iran. I am often asked why I left Islam and how did it happen. Looking back, I see no particular time or event that suddenly severed my link with Islam. There was nothing nearly as dramatic as what reportedly happened to Paul on the road to Damascus, transforming him from a rabid Christian persecutor to a devoted follower of Jesus.

My alienation from Islam had its seed in the way I was raised. My parents encouraged me to ask questions and to question everything, rather than telling me to shut up, as children are often told.

Never fully embraced Islam

Being born in a Muslim family in Iran, I was literally enveloped by Islam and everything Islamic. Many questions unavoidably kept popping in my mind, and I tried to find answers to them. More often than not, the answers I found tended to repel rather than attract me to Islam. I never fully embraced Islam. I didn't leave Islam. Islam simply failed to take me.

From very early on, I believed in a modified version of Occam's razor, also known as the lex parsimoniae or "law of parsimony." To me, an explanation with the fewest assumptions is either the correct one or the preferable one. The best answers, more often than not, are the simple ones. Islam, by contrast, seemed to supply numerous answers to the same questions in complex and confusing forms. A great many of the answers, it seemed to me, were improvisations of the clergy who took the freedom of saying what suited them. The Quran itself, being bewildering, helped the clergy in their muddled pronouncements.

My search for answers has taken me on a journey of discovery in the competing, crowded, and confusing marketplace of ideas. I noticed a universal human need to believe in some power or forces beyond ourselves and beyond the finite and the corporeal. If there were no God, we humans would make one up, it is said. I found out that, in this debate about this seemingly innate need to believe in a supernatural being, three major viewpoints have emerged: Monotheism, positing a single god who created the universe, set it in motion, and, according to deism, let it play out without interfering in it; polytheism, with many gods, sometimes requiring a "super-god" above the rest, "sorting them all out," so to speak; and atheism, characterized by dismissing any and all gods. (Other views included pantheism, humanism, freethought and mythicism.)

Of the three major camps, polytheism seemed to me the most attractive and yet troubling at the same time. And Islam's theism—"Allahism"—steeped in superstition, replete with nonsensical explanations and discriminatory sharia law, repulsed me. I discovered eventually that all the religious instruction I needed to guide my life was contained in the ancient Zoroastrian triad of good thoughts, good speech and good deeds, and I accepted the Universal Charter of Human Rights as their logical extension.

Going to the source: The Quran

Muslims contend that their faith is squarely based on the Quran and all other Islamic dogma should conform to the teaching of the Quran. They also claim that the Quran is a literal word of Allah and consider Allah the one and only creator of the entire universe. According to the Quran itself, Allah created the universe by one word of his mouth, in Arabic kon va yakoon—"be and became." These claims made my task somewhat simpler. My search was narrowed, and I focused myself fully on the Quran, aiming to understand it to the best of my ability, striving to find out what exactly Allah's words were.

Although I am not Arab, I know enough Arabic to go directly to the book of Allah and study it word by word. As I spent endless days studying the Quran, instead of becoming enlightened, I found myself more and more confused and bewildered. At that time, I ended up with the conviction that the Quran may indeed be the handiwork of Allah, as Muslims believe. But, in reality it is nothing more than a smallish book consisting of a collection of confusing verbiage, contradictory phrases and even outright errors of facts that purportedly the illiterate Mohammed authored over the course of some 20 years in a piecemeal fashion. I am certain that presenting the Quran for evaluation to a body of 100 of the greatest and most impartial scholars, fully versed in Arabic, will result in a verdict similar to my own conclusion.

As Quranic scholar Gerd-R. Puin says:

The Koran claims for itself that it is "mubeen," or clear. But if you look at it, you will notice that every fifth sentence or so simply doesn't make sense. Many Muslims and Orientalists will tell you otherwise, of course, but the fact is that a fifth of the Koranic text is just incomprehensible.

Moreover, the Quran is full of what could be called "hate speech" against non-Muslims. As summarized by Dr. Moorthy Muthuswamy:

About sixty-one percent of the contents of the Koran are found to speak ill of the unbelievers or call for their violent conquest; at best only 2.6 percent of the verses of the Koran are noted to show goodwill toward humanity. About seventy-five percent of Muhammad's biography (Sira) consists of jihad waged on unbelievers."

As an ethical and loving person, I just could not hate those billions of non-believing human beings, as required by holy writ.

"About sixty-one percent of the contents of the Koran are found to speak ill of the unbelievers or call for their violent conquest."

Time for change

The 21st century presents great challenges and opportunities that demand new ways of thinking and behaving. The doctrine of Islam may have been appropriate for the desert dwellers of some 1,400 years ago, the people Muslims themselves stigmatize as "The Ignorant." However, Islam today is dysfunctional, to say the least. As a matter of fact, Islam went astray from the very beginning and inflicted a great deal of suffering on both its followers and those who resisted its advance.

Life is precious. It is to be protected, nurtured and celebrated. Mankind is moving, perhaps at a glacier pace, toward reconciliation and ever-expanding inclusiveness, without any group or ideology imposing itself on others. Any attempt against this trend of "unity in diversity" is doomed to failure, as exemplified by the demise of fascism and communism.

The Islamic "charter," the Quran, in many parts preaches discrimination, death and imposition of its dogma on everyone. The political system of Islam, just like fascism and communism, is likewise a dysfunctional ideology that needs to be abandoned. Humanity has matured considerably since the time of Muhammad. In order to continue its forward march, mankind must follow a roadmap appropriate for its age and state of development. It is foolish to insist that a book composed nearly a millennium and a half ago must serve as the one and only guide for humanity today.

"It is foolish to insist that a book composed nearly a millennium and a half ago must serve as the one and only guide for humanity today."

Islam as slavery

Islam is a slaveholder religion. It feels that it owns you; it condemns you as an apostate to be beheaded if you dare to leave its chains. Islam demands submission, which is the meaning of its name, and Muslims happily call themselves "slaves of Allah." In this regard, Islam also has a long history of actual slavery, justified by its texts. Non-Muslims, by contrast, respect the individual as a free human being and support one's inalienable right to believe whatever one wants to believe—even if it is a non-belief. If one still wishes to wrap oneself in this suffocating security blanket—Islam—then, I ask, please keep it to yourself and refrain from forcing it on others.

Iranian ex-Muslim activist Amil Imani has his own website at AmilImani.com, as well as FreeAmericanPress.com. Amil writes hard-hitting exposes of Islamic doctrines and history, especially as concerns his beloved native land of Persia. The author of Obama Meets Ahmadinejad and Operation Persian Gulf, Imani is also a dedicated American patriot and Constitutionalist, having lived in the United States since 1979, the same year his country was taken over by Islamic fundamentalists. Amil works with many other Iranian activists and longs for the day when his homeland can be free.

Iranian Women Protesting Against A Budding Islamic Oppression (1980)

Here's a brand-new, hot-off-the-presses publication of mine! It's a review and study guide of a book by Dr. Michael Lockwood entitled Buddhism's Relation to Christianity. You can support my work by obtaining a copy of this 23-page PDF, which reveals the Buddhist roots of Christian doctrines and traditions, including purported biographical details of Jesus Christ.

As Dr. Lockwood says:

"…Scholars, for over two hundred years, have been pointing out the influence of Buddhism on the origins of Christianity, but Christian theologians have, in the main, been indifferent to a serious study of this relationship. Such a study would require that they acquire a deep historical knowledge of Buddhism and a mastery of the languages of Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese among others.

"…Jesus and his disciples are allegorical, non-historical characters mixed together with historical characters (such as Pilate and some Temple priests)… Even the story of the 'Outcaste Woman at the Well' is a fictitious meta-narrative, though involving the, perhaps, historical persons of the Buddha and his 'beloved' disciple Ananda—if indeed they are historical!...

"…Jesus was an allegorical figure modeled on the founder of Buddhism and his fifth century BCE style of preaching: that of the homeless wandering monk….

"If the four canonical Gospels are studied from this perspective, evidence may emerge that the evangelists were, indeed, Indian—or persons trained in India or by Indians."

If you have enjoyed my work, you will love this "short but sweet" ebook, which I believe contains an exciting "smoking gun" piece of the Christian-origins puzzle.

For more information, see:

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/buddhismchristianity.html

UPDATE: For those who previously obtained a copy of my review/study guide, be advised that I have added the following text to it and uploaded a new edition of the PDF.

Page 15:

In this regard, there does indeed exist evidence that Jews were influenced by Indian religion. In Against Apion (1.22/1.179), Jewish historian Josephus (37-c. 100 AD/CE) recounts the words of Clearchus of Soli (fl. 320 BCE), who told the story of his master Aristotle's conversation with a Jewish man from "Celesyria" or Syria. Aristotle (384-322 BCE) supposedly stated that the man told him these Syrian Jews "are derived from the Indian philosophers; they are named by the Indians Calami, and by the Syrians Judaei, and took their name from the country they inhabit, which is called Judea..."

Hence, at least three and a half centuries before the common era there were purportedly Indian “Jews” in Syria, whose institutions and communities may have welcomed readily the missionaries from Ashoka a few decades later.

Page 16:

•    Testimony in Josephus that the Jews were descendants of Indian philosophers.

I also include the original Greek of Josephus for this important contention.