Mania! Hooray!

Well boys and girls, I think it's official: I'm manic again. That means lots of posts for the next two years or so. And very little sleep unless it's medicated sleep (right now I'm taking Seraquel for sleep after a month of averaging 3 hours of sleep but getting as little as 1.5 hours. The seraquel is working fantastically, thank you. I feel so much better!). And that I will be compulsively pissing people off. Basically the thing I despise about Christianity is that it allows you to check your morality at the door because Jesus will forgive you of whatever you do. I have been sexually assaulted by five Christians when I was between the ages of 9 to 14. I've been horrifically abused by Christians so bad that I can't even remember all of the abuse. It's been a rough life. I have PTSD from the abuse and I have nightmares about my abusers chasing me through the woods almost every night. But anyway, this isn't a pity party. This is a celebration of my mania. L'Chaim! Or something. I don't know. But enjoy it while it lasts, it won't last forever; in two short years I will go back to being violently suicidal all the time.

Jesus: Died for our sins?

Did Jesus die for our sins? Is this even necessary according to the Bible? What did the early Christians say?
First, sacrifices ARE NOT the way sins are forgiven: sins are forgiven through sincere repentance (teshuva), prayer (tefilah), and deeds of charity (tzedakah).
Prayer:
2 Chronicles 6:21 And hearken Thou to the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; yea, hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive. 22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before Thine altar in this house; 23 then hear Thou from heaven, and do, and judge Thy servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. 
Repentance:
Psalm 51:18 For Thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering. 19 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
Second, God DESPISES offerings that are not accompanied by these three things:
Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. 12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations--I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Psalm 40:7 Sacrifice and meal-offering Thou hast no delight in; mine ears hast Thou opened; 

burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.
8 Then said I: 'Lo, I am come with the roll of a book which is prescribed for me;
9 I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is in my inmost parts.'

Malachi 1:10 Oh that there were even one among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on Mine altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 

Etc.

So, even IF Jesus had died for our sins, it is not his death, nor his resurrection, nor belief in him that would grant the forgiveness of God. God despises sin offerings that are not offered with sincere repentance, prayer, and deeds of charity, and it is these things that make God forgive a person, not the sin offering. The sin offering is only an outward sign of an inward change that has already occurred. 

Thirdly, many early Christians did not believe Jesus had actually died. 

I did not succumb to them as they had planned. But I was not afflicted at all. Those who were there punished me. And I did not die in reality but in appearance, lest I be put to shame by them because these are my kinsfolk. I removed the shame from me and I did not become fainthearted in the face of what happened to me at their hands. I was about to succumb to fear, and I suffered according to their sight and thought, in order that they may never find any word to speak about them. For my death, which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death. For their Ennoias did not see me, for they were deaf and blind. But in doing these things, they condemn themselves. Yes, they saw me; they punished me. It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon Whom they placed the crown of thorns. But I was rejoicing in the height over all the wealth of the archons and the offspring of their error, of their empty glory. And I was laughing at their ignorance. (The Treatise of the Great Seth) 

When the soldiers with Judas drew near to the place where Jesus was, Jesus heard the approach of many people, wherefore in fear he withdrew into the house. And the eleven were sleeping. Then God, seeing the danger of his servant, commanded Gabriel;, Michael;, Rafael;, and Uriel, his ministers, to take Jesus out of the world. The holy angels came and took Jesus out by the window that looks toward the South;. They bare him and placed him in the third heaven in the company of angels blessing God for evermore.

Judas entered impetuously before all into the chamber whence Jesus had been taken up. And the disciples were sleeping. Whereupon the wonderful God acted wonderfully, insomuch that Judas was so changed in speech and in face to be like Jesus that we believed him to be Jesus. And he, having awakened us, was seeking where the Master was. Whereupon we marvelled, and answered: 'You, Lord, are our master; have you now forgotten us?'  

And he, smiling, said: 'Now are you foolish, that know not me to be Judas Iscariot!' And as he was saying this the soldiery entered, and laid their hands upon Judas, because he was in every way like to Jesus. We having heard Judas' saying, and seeing the multitude of soldiers, fled as beside ourselves. And John, who was wrapped in a linen cloth, awoke and fled, and when a soldier seized him by the linen cloth he left the linen cloth and fled naked. For God heard the prayer of Jesus, and saved the eleven from evil. (The Gospel of Barnabas)

In conclusion, Jesus did not need to die for our sins; and even if he had, believing in him would not grant forgiveness of sins.

Evolution in Islam

Now I'm pretty sure this post is going to lose me a lot of friends, but please read it all the way through before you hit the "unfriend" button. The short summary is: Evolution is a fact. Get over it.

This video is a good introduction. Evolution has occurred and continues to occur:

Allah is Al-Bari, the Evolver. Islam is THE religion that can boast that it likes science. I don't understand why so many people are against this simple scientific fact. I think probably they're against it because they don't understand it, so I'm opening up my blog for people to ask questions about evolution. I'm no biologist, but I know a thing or two from listening to them. I was going to post some evolution FAQs but they fled my mind. Whatever, I'll do that when you ask the questions. Oh yeah. We didn't evolve from chimpanzees. Like the video says, we share a more primitive common ancestor with chimpanzees. The eye evolved like this: 

Humans have many vestigial organs, like the appendix, the coccyx, and wisdom teeth. That's all the FAQs I can think of but I'm sure you guys will generate more.
I believe that Allah (swt) created the first life, and then used evolution to create more complex forms like us. Thanks for your time. I hope you enjoyed this little deviation from the norm. I probably won't post very many more articles like this; I'm going back to comparative theology in my very next blog post [Jesus: Died for our sins?].

Confessions of an Asexual Muslim

I don't see what the big deal is about sex. It hold absolutely no appeal to me...in fact, it's revolting. It's tough being an asexual Muslim because Islam is the religion most concerned with your sex life. People constantly ask me if I'm satisfied with my sex life. I tell them I am, even tho to be honest I'm more than satisfied with my lack of a sex life. Some people feel that I'm asexual because I was sexually abused by men and a woman as a minor. I don't think that's true; it may be, but I don't believe it is. Maybe that's a part of it, but I don't think that's all of it.
I feel alone as an asexual Muslim. I want other asexual Muslim friends but so far I haven't found any. I found plenty of support for LGBT Muslims, tho.  Apparently all the asexuals but me are on Tumblr. Should I start to figure out Tumblr? I don't really see the need, I mean I hardly ever check on my Twitter, got off of Facebook, and really only use Google Plus to chat with people anymore. I'm not really into social networking. I used to be but now I'm more interested in just talking to people. I want good, close friends.
Also, I apparently only develop crushes on older guys. Like, old enough to be my dad. I have a mad crush on Shahrukh Khan. He's 48. It feels weird to know he's old enough to be my parent. Is that normal? I don't even know. Maybe it's my really bad daddy issues. My daddy was never there for me, boofuckinghoo. It's not really his fault, he has paranoid schizophrenia and one of his paranoias is psychiatrists, so he has never been medicated. Well, he was briefly medicated after a run-in with police back in the 70s, but that's another story.
This post doesn't really have a point. It's just here. Like a blob of goo or something.
Purple.

Jesus: Son of God or a Prophet?

Was Jesus the son of God or just a prophet? What did early Christians believe? What does the Bible say?
First, the Bible never says Jesus was a god. Instead, it refers to him as a prophet:
"Why do you call me good?" answered Jesus, "No one is good but God alone!" Mark 6:10
"Nevertheless I (Jesus) must walk to day, and to morrow, and the [day] following; for it cannot be that a prophet perish outside Jerusalem." Luke 13:33
"And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, 'A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country.'" Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24, John 4:43.
"And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet." Matthew 14:5
"But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, for they took him for a prophet." Matthew 21:46
"And he said unto them, 'What things?' And they said unto him, 'Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a mighty prophet in deed and word before God and all the people.'" Luke 24:19
"The woman saith unto him, 'Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.'" John 4:19
See also John 6:14, John 7:40, Matthew 21:10-11, Luke 7:16, Acts 3:26, and Acts 3:13.
Second, most early Christian sects, like the Ebonites, the Corinthians, the Basilidians, the Capocrations, the Hypisistarians, the Arians, the Paulicians, and the Goths believed that Jesus was just a prophet. Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet of God.

A safe place for gay Muslims to meet

Unfortunately, Imaan (the leading gay meeting site on the internet) has decided that it is not a safe place for gay people to meet if they want to enter into heteronormative marriages like mine. I don't fully understand their reasoning, but since my blog is very popular (averaging 700-1000 views per month) I have decided to make it a safe place for Muslims seeking heteronormative marriages (marriages of convenience) to meet. If you want a heteronormative marriage, leave a comment or send me an email on my contact form and I will try to hook you up with someone else who has emailed me looking for the same thing. Allah hafiz.
EDIT: I am not a lesbian, I am asexual/aromantic. I married a gay man tho. This is his blog: http://www.gaymuslimandproud.com/blog/