Is God An Atheist?

In realm of the natural, humans differ in their views about how the universe came into existence. While some claim that a supernatural being created the universe, others claim that the universe came into existence without having been created by some supernatural influence. Traditionally, we call the first group "theists" and the second group "atheists".

Let's assume for the sake of argument that God does indeed exist, and that he created the natural universe that we live in. Let's also further assume that religions that claim to be revealed by God are in fact revealed by God. Let's go even more and assume that what God revealed is what God believes is true (ie. God is not lying to us). So what is revealed to us through religions is that God of religions created this universe, and that he was not created, but rather God came into existence without having been created by some kind of "super god".

The question becomes: Is God an atheist? Certainly God cannot prove nor disprove the claim that he was created by some "super god"... So in reality the fact that God does not believe in "super god" in a very real sense makes him super-atheist!!

The Arabs Needed A Victorious Moment

This is what my father always used to say: "The Arabs need a moment of victory." The meaning of which is that the recent history of the Arab nation is full of failures, and those consecutive failures caused them to be in a state of defeat and frustration, losing confidence and being defeatists. The effect of which lead to shameful results, like the one I blogged about few years back.

Today, the climate is changing. Tunisian revolution was the moment of victory that most Arabs were looking for. I commend the spirit of those revolutions, because as I mentioned in previous posts, the problem was that the Arab nations were looking for victory in places were there is no place for victory. Misplaced anger you might call it. Blaming external forces for their defeat, instead of looking for the real reasons of defeat, which is internal corruption rather than external conspirators.

It is for this reason that the Tunisian revolution has gone viral throughout the Arab world. The victorious moment has come. And for this reason, the claims of the anti-reformists saying that each country is "unique" in its situation is misleading. Those revolutions are spreading precisely because the situation is similar throughout the nation. All of them see the undeniable resemblances across the different regimes that exist today, and all of them require the same kind of solution: Reform.

Protests in Jordan at Al-Dakhiliyeh Roundabout

Yesterday, Jordanian protesters chose Al-Dakhiliyeh Roundabout as a place to perform their demonstrations. However, I read in the Jordanian newspapers, and declarations from Jordanian officials, those who speak against demonstrating in such places namely because it is a vital place in the city of Amman, and accusing the demonstrators of causing traffic jams and disrupting the flow of everyday life.

First of all, I commend the choice of demonstrators, because such important demonstrations need to exist in highly visible places. And the fact that traffic jams occurred because of the demonstrations is not a negative thing. Justifying violence against protesters because they disrupt the flow of everyday life is such an ignorant claim.

Of course protests will disrupt the normal flow of everyday life, as it should! I find it offensive that the authorities want people to go on with their everyday life, when the country is in crisis. When the parliament does not represent the people, when police interfere with people's legitimate activities, when the intelligence agency spies on civilians, and when corruption is prevalent. Anyone asking people to act as if everything is normal is ignorant, and obviously does not care about democracy and reform.

It is very short-sighted for a citizen in Jordan to be upset that they reached their home a bit late because a traffic jam occurred while knowing that the traffic jam was caused by protests aimed at political reform. And I don't think that Jordanian citizens are that much short-sighted to be upset by that traffic jam. This is simply an excuse for the authorities to obstruct the reform process. Excuses that shows that the people who come up with those excuses are ignorant and corrupt.

In those times, the least of our concerns is normalcy. We don't need people to go on with their everyday life. We need them to be angry, enraged, and mobilized. We need people to demand and make change. And dare I say it, we need nation-wide civil disobedience! Civil disobedience is the basis of democracy, it is the ideal that every nation that respects itself aspires to.

Religions and Politics

Some people might ask, what does religion have to do with politics?! The answer is A LOT. Religion and politics have very strong ties in many aspects: psychological, socio-economical, socio-political, intellectual, and historical. In history, many countries were founded with religious regimes. Christian and Islamic crusades are prime examples. The Dark Ages when the christian church ruled that caused Europe lots of suffering. And in contemporary politics, Israel which is a state founded on religious background.

However, knowledge of those religions does not explain how religion has been able to have this drastic effect on politics. The reason that religions are powerful is that they shape the intellectual terrain, the ethics and morality of people, and is taught as truth to people ever since they are born. Anyone who studies mainstream religions find that they carry an incredible amount of evil. Mainstream religions teach hypocrisy, fear, false morality, submission, and hate. Anyone who looks at those religions objectively can see their true purpose, which is to enslave humanity.

Most religions are engineered by power-hungry people, and fed to the public to enslave them. It can be seen without ambiguity that mainstream religions pave the way to absolute tyranny. "God" this mysterious being who watches you every minute of every day, and is ready to punish you mercilessly if you disobey. It does not take a genius to figure out that "God" is nothing but the alter-ego of a tyrant government. The primary purpose of religion is to make people sympathize with the idea of absolute tyranny. To trick people into believing that being "watched", "judged", and "punished" is something acceptable. Not only accept this type of behavior, but to support it and root for it. And then it boils down to the oldest trick in the book, bait and switch. Make people accept those heinous behaviors, then the tyrant would engage in those activities without being questioned.

Once people accept the idea of being slaves, enslaving them becomes easier. So teach people that they are slaves to God, then they will be more accepting to be slaves to an autocrat. Teach people that God watches them 24/7, and then having an intelligence agency spying on them becomes acceptable. We now see people okay with governments spying on them with satellites, tapping their phone calls, putting cameras in public places. All those behaviors are facilitated by the psychological warfare that is religion. And of course, God knows everything, so the government should know everything. And God punishes people with endless suffering, so torturing people is okay, especially if torture is used to get information, because the government has a right to know everything. The parallels are endless, but you can now see how mainstream religions fit the picture. Mainstream religions are nothing more than psychological tools that rationalize the actions of a tyrant government, with God as the alter-ego of such governments. When it comes to religion, you need to accept the "facts" without questions, which is very convenient for tyranny. Tyrants don't want people to ask questions, just to obey blindly; And that's easy because they had lots of practice in their religious beliefs.

But of course, God loves us all... That's the christian way of saying: "The government does bad things, but only because they care. It's all for the greater good!"

It is no coincidence that democracy and secularism go hand in hand. Of course change needs time, and the effects of history takes time to heal. But the fight for freedom and democracy is ultimately a fight against religious institutions. The religious beliefs that made tyranny possible and even acceptable. And tyranny and religions shall fall together because they are two sides of the same coin. Anyone observing history can easily see the inverse relationship between freedom and religion. The more religious the public is, the more tyranny is prevalent. And in this time and age, religions are slowly fading away, as freedom is slowly growing more and more. Once again, it is not a coincidence that the most developed nations of our time are those where secularism is prevalent.

Anyone who follows my blog knows that I am a relentless supporter of Satanism. Satan being a symbol of Humanity and rebellion against God. However, it always was (and still is) my vision that promotion of Atheism and Satanism is not just about philosophical investigation of facts of the world, such as whether or not God exists. It goes beyond that: It is a promotion for the ethics and beliefs that will change the world from one that is ruled by tyrants, to one where freedom and personal liberty are essential part of the socio-political scene.

I urge anyone and everyone who is looking for reform in the political arena to understand the negative effects of the religious institutions to our freedom. Your rebellion against tyranny is a rebellion against "God", and rebellion against "God" is rebellion against tyranny. Because at the heart of the matter, they are one and the same. "God" is a symbol of absolute tyranny, and supporting that symbol is the greatest heresy against humanity.

Democracy and Gun Rights

A number of countries around the world have established Gun Rights as a constitutional right. Some people are not aware of the grave importance of Gun Rights for any true democracy. In my opinion, without Gun Rights no real democracy can exist. And this statement goes beyond an opinion, but is a necessary conclusion of any reasonable person who understands the meaning of democracy and the dynamics of the real world.

Gun Rights are not just constitutional rights but rather a result of deep understanding of Human Rights, specifically the right to exist, also known as the right to life. Self-defense is the concept that emerges when the right to exist is asserted. Any organism that lacks the ability to defend itself from predators will perish.

At the international politics level, the right of a country to own a military army is well established. It stands to reason that a country that lacks a military army cannot sustain itself. So, it can be seen without ambiguity that the right to own a military army is intrinsically associated with its right to exist.

Wars and armed conflicts are generally frowned upon events. Many people have died in wars, and it would be really nice if there was an international law that bans all countries from owning a military army. Don't you agree? Wouldn't it be nice to have a world where no country has an army? Where all wars come to an end and become a thing of the past?

Unfortunately, it stands to reason that if you agree with the proposal above that you are an idiot! A bill to have countries without armies is equivalent to a doomsday device, with a death toll that might reach phenomenal numbers. Because all it takes is one rebellious country that creates a military army and it would invade all other defenseless countries, creating military dictatorships around the world.

So, we have established that the right of a country to own a military army is really part of its right to exist and have independence. This point is usually non-controversial. However, the claim that civilians within a country to have the right to own firearms is not recognized. My arguments lies on two relatively uncontroversial pillars, the result of which inevitably leads to Gun Rights.

The right to exist is generally considered as a human right, and this right alone gives every human a right to own firearms which is necessary for him to defend himself against any threats.

The second pillar is that of democracy. Almost every democratic constitution states that the people are the source of all the power of the state. Legislative, executive, and judicial are the three powers of the state, and the people are the source of those powers. It stands to reason that within a true democracy, the claim that the people are the government is non-controversial. As a matter of fact, this is what it means to have a democratic government.

However, democracy is one form of government. Dictatorship and Tyranny are some of the forms of government that might be competing with democracy to rule. And since in a democratic nation the people are the government, it is part of the right to exist for that government to own the means to defend itself. Those means are Gun Rights. It stands to question how a constitution of democracy asserts that the people are the source of the powers of the state without giving those people the power to defend themselves from threats to their government. Such a constitution is weak, and just like a country without an army would most certainly perish, a democracy without Gun Rights would most certainly perish!

Of course the problem of security and violence comes to mind, however this type of thinking bears dangerous resemblance to the idea of countries without military armies. A simpleton might see merit to gun control, but short-sightedness prevents them from seeing the more dangerous consequences of gun control. The consequences of gun control is giving up the right to exist, and the right to have a democratic government. Both of which are reasonable and legitimate demands.

In reality, gun control only prevents honest law abiding citizens from obtaining the means to defend themselves, while corrupt governments, mobsters, terrorists, and firearms dealers have access to firearms. Gun control gives the 'bad guys' access to the means through which they can terrorize people, while the honest and law abiding citizens remain defenseless. This is a situation that non-democratic governments have incentive to keep as status quo.

My Dream Country

I believe that a hero is the man who tries to become the best, and once he is there tries to out-do himself. That's how we as people should perceive our goals in life. And my dream country is a country full of such heroes.

I dream of a country that sets an example of political philosophy that generations will come trying to achieve what that country has achieved. A political philosophy that embarrasses its neighbors, and rallies them to make political reforms.

Unfortunately, the contemporary political scene in the Arab world is retarded. It feels like the 18th century or something. However, the recent events show that the winds of change has come.

The Arab street has two common stereotypes: Those who want to go back to the 10th century, and those that want to play the catch-up game, and advance to the 20th century. A few have balls enough to enter the 21st century.

Everytime on the news someone says: "This is the 21st century, things shouldn't be like that", I have this urge to take a knife and slit his throat. The catch-up game shouldn't be the goal. The goal should be to out-do the 21st century.

What I really wish to hear is someone who says: "This is not good enough, it does not meet the standards of the 25th century!".

Yes, I wish to live in a country where the people in the 25th century would look back at history and say: "Wow, what we just formulated as a standard in political philosophy, there was a country that did it before." And this is the country I dream of.

As far fetched as it might seem to realize, it would be my heartiest desire that this country be Jordan. And for that, I urge everyone who looks for political reform to not be shortsighted. Do not look for quick solutions, but for radical solutions. Do not remedy the symptoms, remedy the disease. Do not aim to imitate, do not aim to catch-up. Aim to set an example. Aim high, and aim true.

Can You Love More Than One Person At The Same Time?

Is it possible that humans experience love towards more than one person at the same time? It is an interesting question to ponder.

To answer this question, another question needs to be answered: Is it possible to love more than one person at different times? In other words, is love a once in a lifetime experience or something that can happen more than once?

I think that most people would agree that it is possible to love different people at different times. Love can happen again. It would be depressing to think that if you loved a person, then for whatever reason that person is no more in your life that you are not going to experience love ever again. But it is not only depressing but also unrealistic to believe that.

So now lets consider a hypothetical scenario where a person loved more than one person at different times:

Let's say it was a girl who met her first boyfriend in high school. They loved each other, they were fond of each other. Unfortunately life happens, and her boyfriend's family moved to another country and her boyfriend had to move with them. Few years later, she was in university, she met a gorgeous guy, and one thing lead to another they were madly in love. The years go by, and life happens once again. Couple of years later, she meets yet another lovely guy they have so much in common, and right now she is happily engaged to the guy.

It is reasonable to believe that the girl in our scenario had sincere feeling towards all three guys. And it is imaginable that those sincere feelings are all instances of love.

So now, let's imagine a different storyline about those same people, but that they were all classmates in high school. Now, from the previous storyline we know that the girl is capable of having sincere feelings of love towards all three guys. However, the dilemma lies in the fact that she met them all at the same time.

So the question now is: Could she possibly love two or all three of those guys at the same time? Does love transcend the limits of time? Or is she destined to love only one of them?

Recommendations for a Better Government

In the wake of the waves of reform in the political arena of the Arab world, I have compiled a list of recommendations for what I believe would be a better government and social order. Some of these recommendations are practical for the current world politics, others are progressive, and would hopefully be implemented in future revisions to governments and laws. However, as far fetched some of these recommendations might be, I hope that people would work to realize those recommendations sooner rather than later.

Constitutional Recommendations:
Recommendation 1: Government representatives should be elected in a democratic process. This needs to apply to both the legislative and executive powers of the state.
Recommendation 2: Providing alternative means to representative democracy.
Direct democracy and deliberative democracy are good alternatives to representative democracy. Direct democracy was an impractical form of government due to technological limitations. Nowadays, the technological means are available to make direct democracy a viable solution.
Recommendation 3: Independence of the three powers of state: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
Recommendation 4: All citizens are equal with respect to the law. There must be no discrimination against them in terms of race, origin, religion, gender, language, sexual orientation, or social status.
Recommendation 5: The right to a fair and public trial.
All people have the right to a fair and public trial. No person should be imprisoned without trial. No person should be detained without a court order or probable cause. Making trials public is a way of making sure that the proceedings are fair.
Recommendation 6: Secularization of government.
Separation of religion and government is an important aspect of a modern government.
Recommendation 7: Personal liberties must be granted.
This includes (but not limited to): Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of information, freedom to practice politics, freedom to own firearms, freedom to protest and demonstrate, the right to demand overthrowing of government.
Recommendation 8: A constitutional right to overthrow government.
There needs to be laws that recognize the right of civilians to demand overthrowing the government. Those laws can provide legitimacy and order when events similar to what is currently happening around the Arab world.
Recommendation 9: Gun rights as a constitutional right.
Gun rights are the most important civil rights. No government truly respects its citizens unless it admits that civilians have a right to own firearms. Throughout history corrupt governments fight to cease control. The events in Libya is a prime example of a corrupt government that would do anything, including killing civilians to remain in control. Installment of the right to own firearms is the only sincere symbolism of a government that allows its citizens to be in control, and provide practical means in extreme cases to overthrow government if that government became excessively corrupt. Some might be concerned about gun rights, but one quote by Benjamin Franklin comes to mind: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
Recommendation 10: Constitutional freedom of speech and expression.
Another extremely important civil right. The internet and the press need to be protected by the law from any governmental pressure to censor material. There have been brutal attempts to limit the freedom of the internet. Now more than ever, social networking websites might be under pressure to collaborate with governments to expose and eliminate all anti-government activities.
Recommendation 11: Constitutional freedom of religion.
The right to join and abandon existing religions must be granted. Also, the right to create new religions need to be recognized as part of the right of assembly.
Recommendation 12: Constitutional freedom to practice politics.
The right to join and abandon existing political parties must be granted. Also, the right to create new political parties need to be recognized as part of the right of assembly. The right to criticize and investigate the government also need to be recognized as part of the freedom of speech and the freedom of information.
Recommendation 13: Creation of states.
In the interest of pluralism in the government, it can be beneficial to create several states within one country, such that each state can have different laws. This implies that each state would have its own legislative power, making it possible that different state having different laws. If used properly, this allows government to accommodate the needs of a non-homogeneous community, such that citizens are provided with alternatives and make it possible to experiment with the introduction of new laws which might be controversial for some.

Laws Recommendations:
Recommendation 1: Abolishing all anti-terrorism laws.
Anti-terrorism laws provide the governments with illegitimate power to abuse citizens. Laws that prohibit gatherings, allow the government to spy and detain civilians without warrant. Such laws are of a government that terrorizes its own people.
Recommendation 2: Legalizing prostitution.
Countless efforts exist to eliminate gender discrimination against women. However, it is a fact that the right to practice prostitution is the most important right for women, and the only permanent and uncompromising solution to the problem of discrimination against women. Legalizing prostitution is the means through which societies eliminate the culture of shame that has been terrorizing women for centuries, as well as, allowing them to seek protection under the law, and form unions that help ensure their security and escape abuse.
Recommendation 3: Legalizing drugs.
Criminalization of drugs is another form of civil oppression by governments. Movements for legalizing marijuana have already started to formulate to varying degrees of success around the world. People are starting to realize how such laws are nothing but tools of oppression for the governments.
Recommendation 4: Legalizing gay-marriages.
Yet another form of discrimination based on sexual-orientation. LGBT rights need to be respected an recognized under the law.
Recommendation 5: Legalizing all forms of consensual polygamy.
Polygamy while not widely recognized as a matter of human rights, it does deserve to be recognized as such. Monogamous marriages is a violation of human rights, and a symbol of oppression that goes unnoticed by many. Legalization of polygamy bears many parallels with legalization of gay marriages. This similarity is defined by the notion that all humans have the right to form relationships with fellow human beings, and to form a legally recognizable bindings if they wish to do so. Hence, the right of marriage should be provided to all.
Recommendation 6: Installment of temporary affirmative action laws.
Affirmative action laws are practical tools to fight discrimination. However, this tool needs to be temporary, because affirmative action itself is a type of discrimination. Laws that provide women with additional seats in the house of representatives, and other laws that protect women from violence (especially honor crimes) and discrimination, all of those are good examples of affirmative action laws that need to exist to accelerate the process of abolishing discrimination.
Recommendation 7: Criminalization of torture.
As part of the human rights, torture must be criminalized and punished by law. This applies but not limited to government agencies that use torture as means of investigation.
Recommendation 8: Criminalization of political imprisonment and secretive imprisonment.
As part of the right to practice politics, the right of assembly, and the right of overthrowing government, detaining civilians for political opposition of government need to be criminalized and punished by law. All prisoners and detainees have the right to inform other civilians about their imprisonment. Details of prisoners and detainees should be provided to the public record as part of the freedom of information and the right to a fair and public trial. Failing to do so must be punishable by law.

Of course, these are only a small sample of modifications that I believe are important to advance government and social order.