sin (noun) – an offense against religious or moral law b: an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible Generally speaking, sin is a relative term that really has no meaning. If there is a god, I’m willing to bet he feels the same. A set list of dos and don’ts with [...]
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“The faith in God around our globe Is just bad magic, just a joke Rabbis, priests and muftis, too Are “naked apes” like me and you Only, they see floating ghosts And wear quite funny caps and clothes” The excerpt above is from a German children’s book called Wo bitte geht’s zu Gott?, fragte das [...]
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*Potential spoilers contained herein. “Your uncle told me that you have a story that will make me believe in God?” asks the writer to a middle-aged Piscine (Pi, for short) during the opening moments of “Life of Pi.” Damn, that’s a lofty and incredibly futile setup for a film! I’m all ears. Ang Lee’s new [...]
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There is no better example of the toxicity of mixing religious fundamentalism with politics than that of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. The Jewish deity bestowed control of this particular piece of land unto his people, so says a collection of books called the Bible. Israelis are making sure God’s will is carried out by evicting all [...]
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![Post image for Muhammad entering from the rear [Booklist]](http://hipstermonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/osama.jpeg)
Osama Van Halen Michael Muhammad Knight Soft Skull Press (2009) If punk rock songs are short, loud, offensive, and give a big F.U. to the mainstream, then Michael Muhammad Knight’s new novel, Osama Van Halen is very punk rock. The barely there, comic book plot of Osama Van Halen is sketchy at best: Rabeya, a [...]
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I think a misconception a lot of us in the west have about Islam is that it is one-dimensional; that it’s a rigid set of beliefs and practices with no wiggle room for personal interpretation. 1.5 billion Muslims moving in strict unison. The Taqwacores, a movie based on Michael Muhammad Knight’s modern cult classic novel [...]
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Shiites and Sunnis have been separate entities within the religion of Islam for about 1400 years. Extremist Shiites and Sunnis have been in bloody conflict for the last several. Yet, there is still much confusion differentiating the two groups, especially among the west. Here is a brief primer: What caused the original rift? When Islam’s [...]
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World religions differ greatly in their individual beliefs, practices and traditions. But the one thing that they all share is the Ethic of Reciprocity, or the Golden rule as it is commonly known. Here is a list of several religious traditions’ version of the universal rule.
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