I hate Jesus

The previous attempt at trying to explain the reason for the above stamp seems like it was failing. Either I failed to properly express the intention behind the stamp (was it too confusing for you guys? Did I use too many words?) or people just didn't bother reading this at all. So I decided that I would clean it up a little and make it pretty clear.

What is this about?

This isn't about Jesus or hating Jesus. It's not about anyone in particular, or any religion in particular. The stamp is bait. It's meant to offend you and get your attention long enough that you'd come here, read this, and then form a response. Instead, it seems the majority of you who reply here are either trolls, lazy or truly ignorant of how the world outside of your own individual existance works. You see my stamp, it offends you and the first and foremost reaction you choose to fuel your response is the very reason behind this stamp.

This is about blasphemy laws.

What are blasphemy laws?

Blasphemy laws are laws that prohibit/limit the freedom of speech and expression on the subject of religion, that being anything that would be deemed offensive, hateful, derogatory, toward anything or anyone concerning religion, whether it be a holy person, artifact, belief, custom or person of authority within a religious organization. There are still countries that observe and even enforce these laws, some with penalties that go as far as prison and/or execution. But these are laws that are enforced by the governing body of countries that enforce religious tyranny, then there's also the vigilante groups - usually these are made up of ordinary citizens, sometimes consisting of relatives of the person being persecuted - that take it upon themselves to mete out their own form of justice by hanging, burning, stoning, drowning, etc. the person that is believed to be guilty of blasphemy, regardless if that person is of their own flesh and blood, a child, an elderly person or a complete stranger.

To put it simply: You can't say anything bad about religion or anything/anyone remotely related to religion because you can/will be arrested and imprisoned for it, and depending on how serious it is, you might even die for it.

But persecution doesn't mean to arrest, imprison or execute someone for their opinion. Persecution is the act of hostility toward anyone or anything that offends you and/or doesn't agree with your beliefs - religious or otherwise - or opinion. Persecution is what happened to Hamza Kashgari, a Saudi Arabian man who tweeted portions of a poem he had written about the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The tweets were innocuous, but a lot of people felt otherwise. The tweets were as followed:

“On your birthday, I will say that I have loved the rebel in you, that you’ve always been a source of inspiration to me, and that I do not like the halos of divinity around you. I shall not pray for you,” he wrote in one tweet.

“On your birthday, I find you wherever I turn. I will say that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many more,” he wrote in a second tweet.

“On your birthday, I shall not bow to you. I shall not kiss your hand. Rather, I shall shake it as equals do, and smile at you as you smile at me. I shall speak to you as a friend, no more,” he concluded in a third twet.

People were enraged that he had said/tweeted such things about the prophet Muhammad and demanded that he be executed as an example to anyone who would dare say anything on the subject of religion/a religious icon. They responded with hatred and racism, and even accused him of apostasy, and demanded that a man die for written/spoken words. Prosecution is what happened afterward when the government of Saudi Arabia responded. After being hunted internationally by the Saudi government and spending two years in prison, he was finally released October 29, 2013.

Or the case against Faryal Bhatti, an eigth grade girl who was accused, beaten and expelled all because of a spelling error on an exam. The spelling of praise and curse in Urdu is rather similar, as seen here.

Khalil Ahmad, 65 and a father of four, shot dead whilst in police custody by a teenage boy after Ahmad had asked a shopkeeper to remove stickers from his shop window that were derogatory toward Ahmad's religion. He died because though he was Muslim, he was Ahmadi. This is like Catholics versus Christians. Both believe in the same God, but they both believe/worship in a different manner. Thus is the difference between Sunni and Ahmadi.

What does this have to do with us?

Everything.

The reason why I chose Jesus as the bait is because it would be the easiest and most effecient of all the baits as it would offend the greatest number of people who would come here and respond by either being very enlightened about the subject, curious and ask questions - to which I reply to -, or do the very thing that is the very subject of this discussion: persecute. People take for granted that they live in a nation that protects them from things like blasphemy laws and grants them the human/civil right to freedom of expression and religion. The moment anyone says anything bad about religion, people say things like we have no right to say these things because Jesus/God/-insert preaching here-.

But the fact of the matter is that we do have that right. Whether you find it offensive or not is irrelevant to this fact itself. In truth, any opinion on this subject of freedom of expression on the subject of religion is irrelevant as well, especially in countries that enforce these rights.

For as much as any religious person is allowed to express his or her personal religious belief, others have the very same right to express their disdain of religion as well. I reiterate when I say that it doesn't matter if you're offended by it, be offended, that is your right, but we will express ourselves nonetheless. We don't live in a nation where we have to fear for our own lives, or the lives of our loved ones, when we excercise this very right. So whenever you're belligerent toward someone that expresses something on the subject of religion that you find to be offensive, you're doing the exact same thing as people do in other countries that have blasphemy laws. You're lowering yourself to their level and taking for granted that men and women have died to protect your right to be a shit eating excuse for a human being.

Stop projecting your religious insecurities on other people. If you truly felt secure in your own beliefs, then it wouldn't matter what anyone said or did, none of these things would shake you of your faith. No one is denying you the right to worship or believe, no one is oppressing you by expressing their own dislike of religion. Your rights as a human being are not being denied. I'm so sick of hearing people say that they're being oppressed because people want to say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas, or that Muslims are infringing upon your rights because some Muslim women want to wear the hijab, or that it's OK for you to impose your religious beliefs on children in public schools.

Stop whining and preaching whenver you come across someone who doesn't believe in the same things you do, or someone who isn't afraid to express things that offend you. It falls on deaf ears; no one gives a shit. If you want to join a discussion on the subject of blasphemy, freedom of expression and religion, you're more than welcome to it. If you're curious or you don't understand something, just ask. For as much as religious people say they're tolerant, you guys are some of the most intolerant assholes I've ever met, and not the funny kind of asshole either, but the kind you want to sit a few seats away from on the bus because we don't want people to think we have anything to do with you (mind you I've met some pretty interolant atheist assholes as well).

I won't censor my opinion simply because they make you uncomfortable or they offend you, nor should you expect anyone else to, nor should you expect people to pander to your precious feelings because some book told you it was wrong.

Fuck your book.

Fuck your God.

Fuck your religion.

Be offended. It's ok to be offended. But be tolerant and civil. If you want people to tolerate your right to your religion - Jesus is Love, Jesus Loves You, Jesus Stamp - you have to actually be tolerant to the opposite side of the coin - God is a Dick, Religion Sucks, USA: Not a Christian Nation-, because that's what true tolerance is. Tolerance isn't just for things that you like or agree with.

That's what the above stamp is about. It isn't about Jesus. It isn't about God. It isn't about religion.

It's about the fundamental right for all people, regardless of belief, age, gender/sex, color, race, etc. to express an opinion/statement on the subject of religion without fear of persecution or prosecution, by one's peers or government, regardless if whether it is offensive or not.



Hopefully, this is much clearer than the previous text. If you have any questions, feel free to ask below. However, if your post includes preaching/bible quotes or verses, you'll either be ignored by me or called out by others for being a dick. This will be especially true if you didn't bother reading any of the above.

Have a fucktastic day.



I wanted to make a note of something very important here that I realized after having reread what I wrote above. In no way or form am I condemning Islam or Muslims. The only reason why the examples above are of the Islamic faith is because at this very moment people, and governments, are using and abusing this religion for their own purposes. It adds fuel to blasphemy laws and it makes it all the more difficult for positive change to happen.

But what I wanted to make clear is that persecution and prosecution against people who are accused of blasphemy has happened, does happen and will continue to happen in all religions. Whether it be Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Bahai or any other religion, extremism occurs everywhere. Christianity has had just as dark a past as any other religion where it concerns blasphemy and crimes against humanity. Even Buddhism has its own dark side.

It doesn't matter what religion is the subject of the accusation of blasphemy; It has to stop.