• just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      8 hours ago

      Its not about religion, its politics. A few years ago the Pakistani military overthrew a very popular prime minister who publicly said that it was the military behind his removal. Then slowly and gradually there was more and more evidence behind military involvement which as a result, made the public anti-military. They have been kidnapping and torturing anyone critical of them.

      But the more they oppress, the more people become anti-military. It got to the point that in february the government blocked access to twitter because of anti-military sentiment, so people started using VPNs. Now this “religious body” which is government appointed claims to block VPN because “people are watching immoral things via VPN”. But in reality, it is to stop people organizing protests.

      Also a governmental body can not decide what is islamic or not, thats not how islamic law works. It has to come from islamic scholars and there needs to be consus on it.

      I don’t think any major islamic scholar who lives inside pakistan has signed or approved this message even though they want to stop porn they know its not about stopping porn, its about making it difficult to criticize the military.

      • maplebar@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        7 hours ago

        Its not about religion, its politics.

        It’s about religion. In a theocracy religion is politics, and law, and culture too.

        Religion isn’t something that empowers people to do more or live more freely. Religious dogma is nothing more than a set of arbitrary laws and norms, written and decided by man, but given the weight and authority of god(s)–the fear of eternal damnation in the afterlife being the only way that people knew to keep others in line in a world devoid of secular laws.

        How did we convince women that they were lesser beings throughout human history? Why do we consider some forms of consensual adult sexuality to be morally wrong? Why do we believe that human beings are destined and entitled to live on this planet forever no matter how poorly we treat it?

        The answer is religion. Religion is mass delusion, used mainly as a tool of oppression. Socrates was sentenced to death by a jury of Athenians for thought crimes against Athena, showing that religion, democracy and justice simply do not mix. Thousands of years ago (or more) gods and religious law were the inventions that ushered humanity into the post-truth world that we live in today.

    • kholby@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      43
      ·
      13 hours ago

      You know how some people make the claim that atheism is a religion? This is why. People who think that anyone who believes something different from them is a moron and/or in need of conversion. I don’t like it when religions behave like this, and I don’t like it when nonreligions behave like this, either.

      • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 hours ago

        So if I call you a moron for not believing that the Easter Bunny is a real deity, you shouldn’t criticize me?

        Religious people literally believe in things that mostly are no longer believed in after someone reaches about 10 years of age. All this thing’s, Santa Claus, slender man, you name it, it’s all dropped as fantasy yet religion keeps being reinforced causing actual sane adults to believe that there is a magical sky being.

        As this article goes to show, it’s a great tool to control the populace, it has little real world value.

      • socsa@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        12 hours ago

        Using allegory as a moral proxy is fine. And even a really great way of making complex or dry topics more approachable.

        What is not ok is when you take allegory as literal, such that you actually believe that there is a sky wizard who will punish you for showing your hair in public. What is incredibly fucked up is when you then project that literal belief to a prescriptive action framework which commands you to murder heretics.

      • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        28
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        13 hours ago

        Respectfully, you think I’m denigrating Islam because it’s different from what I believe?

        No.

        I’m simply pointing out what, to anyone who wasn’t raised in it, is obvious stupidity.

        • SulaymanF@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          8 hours ago

          Muslim here, this “ruling” is nonsense and is just one dumb political opinion that the rest of the Muslim world is mocking. This isn’t Islam.

        • kholby@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          11
          ·
          13 hours ago

          Sorry if I misunderstood. I interpreted your comment as saying that all religion was moronic bullshit, which would be in line with what I said.

          If you meant that this particular religious behavior is moronic bullshit, I completely agree. I just don’t hold the view that every religious person is a moron because they believe in a religion.

          • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            16
            ·
            12 hours ago

            All religions are moronic bullshit. People are free to believe what they like, no one has a need for rules that tell them how to believe.

          • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            13 hours ago

            Not all religion is bullshit, but there is a lot of crossover between religious teachings and bullshit. That’s why they invented the word ‘faith’, because they are self-aware of the incredulousness of it all.

            Like the utter bullshit in this article, as if 7th Century teachings have anything to say about VPN’s.

      • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        12 hours ago

        Those are certainly words. Maybe you should stick to painting with crayons, though - the result might make more sense.