There's profits in prophets

Why were all prophets invented/created in the Dark Ages?

Or, to put it in historical context, between 1,500 and 5,000 years ago.

The answer, I suspect, may lie in the word "Dark".

How strange that prophets were created by the very few people who were able to read and write back in the dark days. It is estimated that only a small percentage of the populace were literate.

So, say if 90% or so of people were illiterate and possessed the intelligence and wherewithal akin to present-day chimps, what does that make of present-day believers?

Are they just shaven chimps?

Depilated chimp descendants?

Or are they just plain lazy and unimaginative people with no mind of their own?

I believe the latter.

And prophets were conveniently created at a time when human rights were virtually non-existent. When women's importance in society ranked just bellow that of cattle (as in present-day Islam) and children were seen as a burden and vulnerable prey (as in present-day Catholic Institutions and Sharia Law).

Oh yes, it could only have happened back in the days. A time when gullibility reigned supreme. A time when the uneducated revered the few who could speak and write, and the eloquent were instantly deemed as divine.

In all, the Dark Ages were the perfect time to create Gods and Prophets. It simply couldn't happen today.

Can you image a news flash on BBC proclaiming "Important announcement, a Prophet has just emerged in the Middle-East village of Bethlehem, south of  Jerusalem..."

It just wouldn't happen. And for a very good reason. We've come a long way since. At least some of us.

Now, in the Enlightened Era, prophets are used to generate profits...and war...and prejudice...and bigotry...and divisiveness...and suffering to name but a few, but at least no more are being invented.

Phew!

:)

Enough to make you lose your head

Reading the news this morning I came across an article that nearly ruined my day. I say nearly because I´ve long given up trying to understand some cultures and so don´t get as upset as I used to.

It read;  "Man beheaded in Saudi Arabia for being a sorcerer"

A country whose favourite (some say only) past time is public capital punishment, Saudi Arabia, fatherland of the late Osama Bin Laden, has gone a step further in alienating itself from the world community by beheading a man accused of sorcery.

The victim was hauled to a public car park where his head was chopped off in front of dozens of onlookers.

What kind of people want to witness such a cruel act?

(Note to self: I´ll never will set foot in countries that have the death penalty. Good job its only a minority.)

The man is understood to have been arrested after he was entrapped by the Mutawaéen (religious police).

He was asked to concoct a spell to cause an officer´s father to leave his second wife!?!?

Yes, I´m as confused as you, but there´s more...

...when Abdul Hamid agreed to do so for a fee of approximately £1000, he was sentenced to death by a secret court without being allowed a lawyer.

Despite several pleas by Amnesty International to King Abdullah to call off the beheading, the execution went ahead as planned.

That the poor man should be sentenced to death without committing anything that would appear to constitute a crime makes this case even more disgusting and barbaric than most- if that´s at all possible.

Witch hunting used to take place in Europe too - albeit in the  dark ages. Luckily for us we´ve moved on a few centuries. Sadly  the Sharia Law countries haven´t and never will, while shackled to religion.

(...)

On a lighter note...

...I was saddened to read about the late Steve Jobs last words as reported by his sister Mona. She said and I quote;

"He looked at his wife, his children at myself and then above us and uttered the words ´ Oh Wow Oh Wow Oh Wow´ "

Poor old Steve had been immersed for so long in his work that he´d never seen his close family in the same place at the same time. At least thats what I think...or maybe... he was thinking about the latest Samsung Galaxy.

Yemen - looking back...

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And another disturbing report from the "old world" hits my TV screen and fills me with anger. I must stop watching documentaries, or TV in general - it's bad for my blood pressure. This time the bad news comes from the Yemen, a country in the Arabian Peninsula.

The documentary in question was made by CNN to highlight the plight of child brides – sadly still an everyday occurrence in some countries.

Reem al Numeri is a 14-year-old divorcee. Yes, you read it right.  She was just 11 when her father forced her to marry her 32-year-old cousin. Reem used to lock herself in her room at night to keep her “husband” away, but he eventually managed to break in and rape her. After attempting suicide by cutting her wrists, the so called “husband” decided to divorce her.

Reem - victim by the age of  11 -  outcast by 14

Reem now lives the life of an outcast, through no fault of her own, a victim of the cruel society she was born into. Without a husband or family to support her, she can’t even attend school.

(My blood pressure is rising again just thinking about it)

In 2009, Yemen's parliament passed legislation to rise the minimum age of marriage to 17.  Sadly,
Conservative “Koran-led” parliamentarians and more than a 100 leading religious clerics, called the attempt to restrict the age of marriage "un-Islamic"  and argued the bill violated Sharia law, which does not stipulate a minimum age of marriage.

What the fuck is all that about?  How ridiculous an argument!  Does that mean 8,6,4,2-year-olds can also be forced into marrying older men?

(I'm really pissed off now)

When will the blind and ignorant followers of religion start thinking for themselves? When will they start questioning their pathetic archaic laws and miserable existences?

Anyway, the bill to outlaw child marriages got blocked and so the practice continues for now. Yemen's parliament will look again at child marriage in the coming days, so fingers crossed, but don’t hold your breath!

Mohammed Aboulahoum, advisor to Yemen's president, wants the law to be passed, but thinks there are more important issues to deal with first. (!) He would wouldn’t he? Even after conceding that if he (Aboulahoum) was to ask most religious people if they would you let their daughter marry at the age of 12 or 13, they would most likely say no!

The human rights organization “Sisters Arab Forum” tries in vain to intervene on behalf of child brides - to stop the marriages from taking place - but without legislation they are fighting a losing battle.

The people of Yemen need to pull their heads out of the sand and try to understand the horrors of child abuse. They need to change their society's views on women, now, not in years to come but now. Never mind Sharia Law, (which most lay people don’t even fully understand). Wrong and unjust laws have to be changed, never mind the cultural or religious implications. That’s what civilized societies do and have done for centuries. To not evolve is to stagnate and eventually perish, just like the dinosaurs…

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