The Negative Effects of Religion
Melbourne Terrorist Pleads Guilty
A MELBOURNE Muslim convert who allegedly pledged to al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden to pursue violent jihad while he was undertaking paramilitary training in Afghanistan has pleaded guilty to two terrorism charges in an apparent last-minute deal with prosecutors... in a dramatic turnaround, Kent pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally belonging to a terrorist organisation and one reduced count of recklessly making a document connected with preparing a terrorist act, which related to an al-Qa'ida propaganda video he helped to produce. (Source)
COMMENT: As part of a Muslim terror cell, Kent was plotting to kill MCG during the 2005 AFL grand final. Can religious people please explain how we can argue against extremism? How can you let someone understand that his or his leaders interpretation of the Scriptures is not the 'true' interpretation? When can we acknowledge that the arguments against extremism are arguments against blindly following the religions from which they have spawned. Extremism is what you get when people believe ideas not founded on reason, evidence and rationality. As a result, invidividuals become empowered to carry out acts of cruelty to defend themselves from the perceived threats of being defiled by society because many of us just happen not to live our lives as prescribed by their religion. From the recent events in Bali to the events here, these types of extremism are not political. They are religious.
The Tyranny Of God
Paperback Edition
Is there a God? Where do the animals, plants and human beings come from? Are scriptures the words of gods? Does religion teach us to live moral lives? Why do so many people kill and are killed over it? How should we live our lives if God exists? How should we live it if God does NOT exist?
This book explores the truth behind our beliefs in God and the propensity of human beings to be religious. In an honest attempt to seek the answers to life's deepest questions, I probe into how life began. I then progress to investigate the true nature of religions and their impact on our lives and the rest of humanity.
The main purpose of this book is not to argue against religion. Rather, it tells our story and how we have come to oppress ourselves with the tyranny of our own beliefs. I wrote this book to include everything I discovered to be relevant in my search for the truth, not just the truth behind God and morality, but also behind us and our existence. Instead of reading this book with the expectation that it is trying to prove the tyranny of God, I would like to recommend you read it as a story book: as a book that tells the story of humanity from the Big Bang.
REVIEW
"While Comelab's writing is always moderate in tone, its message clearly undermines current distractions with accommodationist arguments towards presumed religious "moderates". It is written with the fresh confidence of a young man who has had early success in his adopted country and only recently come to realise the truth of atheism. For those like me whose only worry about Atheism has long been its faultering progress, Comelab reminds us that much of the energy must continue to come from those who have more recently learned the truth. He seems more than bright enough to soon progress to seeing atheism not as an end but as a starting point to the kind of understanding that should enable us to work towards a future incomparably better than any heaven the faithful can imagine."
- TONY SMITH (AUSTRALIA)