Rational Ramblings – therationaliser@gmail.com
Recently I read this excellent article on the BBC news website by the historian Tom Holland. Once again the BBC have not published examples of the cartoons that caused the offence. Personally I think it is important to show these kinds of images so that people can get a fuller idea of what exactly what was perceived as so offensive that it resulted in the murder of twelve people, It is important that people see these images so they can be […]
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Here are my notes on apostasy from my recent discussion with Abdullah al-Andalusi Quran verses Q4.89 They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them Q4.90 Except those who […]
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The Council Of Ex Muslims recently wrote a report on the various statements of staff of the iERA, the report claims they are a far-right extremist hate group. This report coincided with an announcement from the UK Charity Commision that they are investigating the iERA for its policies on invited speakers and payments to the charity’s trustees. The iERA have on numerous occasions had to distance themselves from comments made in the past by employees and even its own directors and founders. […]
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I recall the hostility received by Dr Usama Hasan when he suggested the Quran was compatible with evolution, and specifically with human evolution. I never did read what he wrote on the subject, and was deeply disappointed and very frustrated when he appeared on The Jinn & Tonic Show back in January 2013 and I didn’t get a good enough opportunity to discuss with him the details of his views on the subject. As far as I am able to tell […]
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Back in 2011 I made this video about the claim that the expanding universe is mentioned in the Quran. The Arabic word used for expanding is not a verb but an active participle. So what does this mean? It means it is identifying an individual that either has done an act (perfect verb) or is in the process of performing an act (imperfect verb). Because 51.47 only has the expand/expanse word as an active participle and not a verb we […]
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Marie Curie was the first female to win a Nobel prize, the first person to two Nobel prizes, and the only person 8to ever win a Nobel prize in two different fields of science (Physics for radiation, chemistry for the discovery of Radium and Polonium) Henrietta Swan Leavitt was responsible for discovering predictable properties of Cepheid variable stars (standard candles). A discovery that enabled astronomers to calculate distances to very distant stars and led to the proof of other galaxies. […]
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Although the term “Trouble Maker”, recently attributed to me by Hamza Tzortzis, was not meant as a compliment I cannot help but take it was one. I certainly do take pride in causing trouble against an organisation that has members who promote sex with nine year old brides and beating one’s wife. If these are the genuine held views of these people then they certainly should be exposed, on the other hand if this is no more than a misunderstanding […]
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Context You may know that I once met some Muslim proselytisers and have since stayed in touch with one of them. We occasionally chat via email and I really enjoy or correspondences. He doesn’t try to convince me Islam is true, he tries to understand why I do not think that it is. I greatly appreciate and enjoy his approach. He recently wrote and asked what I thought of the miracle claim that Muhammad performed a miracle and split the […]
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It seems there are some questions that are too difficult for certain people to answer. The first one is with regards to Hamza Tzortzis and his views on sex with 9 year old brides. Having sat in front of an audience and told them that under the right circumstances it is okay for an adult male to have sex with his 9 year old bride he now seems very coy about discussing the issue. The only brief correspondence we had […]
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iERA sent a small delegation of proselytisers to the world atheist convention in Dublin 2011. During this event claims were made for information in the Quran which pre-dated modern scientific discovery, including mountains stablising the Earth’s crust via isostasy and microscopic level knowledge of the embryonic stages of human development. Since then there has been a change in position. In this article Hamza (chief researcher for iERA) states that he has since changed his position completely and no longer holds this view. The […]
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