Multiculturalism: Egypt's Doin it Rite

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The men standing in this picture from Egypt are Christian. You see, the protestors in Egypt are mostly Muslim. Islam does not give a pass on prayer because you are protesting, so they have to pause in their protests five times a day to kneel and pray. Their Christian neighbors are shielding the praying Muslims with their own bodies.

Back in January*, the Egyptian Muslims did the same for the Christians, attending Christmas masses so that if Muslim extremists wanted to bomb Christian churches, they would have to kill large numbers of Muslims, too.

Sometimes, my fellow human beings make me proud.

*Some Christians celebrate Christmas December 25th, some celebrate it 12 days later.

Well, That Explains a Lot

fox, news, middle east, iraq, egypt, lebanon

This is what Fox News, and their viewers, think the Middle East looks like. Either Egypt has miraculously switched continents, or somebody is a fucking moron. Although I suppose it's possible we won the war in Iraq and decide to recycle an old name. You know, for lulz. And who knows what happened to Lebanon in this brave new world of Fox's.


Props to Sadly, No! and props to me for figuring out how to post more than one picture, and put them where I want them. I've only been doing this for a good 10 months.

Most Disturbing Comment I've Seen In a While

god, jesus, religion, comfort, ray, atheism, atheist, egypt, pharoah, plagues, religion, religious, christian, christianity,
Ray Comfort's fan club is generally harmless. Their comments on his blog normally amount to nothing more than cheerleading and vague threats that atheists will burn- BURN!- for all eternity. (Which is terribly rude when you think about it, but we're used to it.)

Payton Dooley, commenting as Euaggelion, on the other hand, reminded me of one of the most disturbing episodes in the bible- the Plagues. This story has many disturbing aspects: the tortures and killings of completely uninvolved innocents (Pharoah wouldn't let the Israelites go, the average egyptian citizen had no say whatsoever. why punish them?), the slaughter of animals (twice), and the deaths of newborn children.

However, by far the most disbturbing element of the story is highlighted in Payton Dooley's comment:

Keep it up Ray!! The atheists really don't see that they are helping to increase the Kingdom of God. God is using them, even with their hardened hearts, to accomplish His plan. Just like He used Pharaoh. I will continue to pray for you Ray.In Him,Payton

You see, more than once during the plagues, Pharoah was perfectly willing to let the Israelites leave Egypt, which was their stated goal. All that was asked of Pharoah was "let the Israelites go." But, every time Pharoah was ready to let them go, god "hardened his heart", forcing Pharoah to keep the Israelites and thus continue the plagues, and the suffering and death therefrom.

Exodus 9:12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses

In Exodus 10:1-2, we find out why God does this : Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them 2 that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."

Think about this for a second. God knows that Pharoah is willing to let the Israelites leave Egypt. God deliberately changes Pharoah's mind for him, thus condemning everyone in Egypt (except the Israelites) to enormous suffering, just to prove to the Israelites that he is indeed god. That's just? That's loving? No, that's psychopathic. It's cruel and evil. God could have proven he was god by healing all the sick, or making everyone's eyes purple, or something equally good or benign. No, god goes straight for undrinkable water and painful diseases and dead children.

Think about what Payton Dooley is saying about god and atheists. Atheists will burn in hell. Forever. Atheists could believe in god, may even want to believe in god (it's a load of crap, but it is what he is saying), but god is making sure they don't just to prove a point.

What the fuck is good about that? Why is believing in that better than believing in nothing at all?