I do not agree with any of these notions. Reality, as I perceive it, is otherwise, un- fortunately. Islam is anything but a tolerant and peaceful religion

To me, all religions may be bad, but some are worst than others. All diseases are bad, but some are more dangerous and lethal than the others. Likewise, all religions may be bad, but, according to my perception, Islam is the worst of all, considering the negative impact it has on society as a whole and on the individual member of society.

Another very important point to consider is the fact that most religions, not including Islam, have evolved into faiths that are quite different from what they originally were, some having become outdated and dysfunctional and others having become modern- ized and significantly more tolerant and peaceful. That is to say, the lethal effects of these religions are mostly absent or are dying out.

All religions--all except Islam--only have the old scars and nothing else. Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc. have lost their ability to effectively control and dominate a sovereign state or national society, currently existing and operating at only the personal level. All most all countries that are predominantly Christian, Hidu, or Jewish, etc., are democratic and, most of all, they have secular governments. Therefore, the vices of these religions are not as strong today as they were in the past and therefore do not have as negative an impact on society as they once had. We can say that these faiths have, in large measure, reformed themselves and replaced theocracies with secular governments.

Today, truly militant and warrior religions, with the exception of Islam, are things of the past. We should not blame contempory Christians or Hindus for destructive and evil events caused by Christians or Hindus in the past. For example, we should not condemn present-day Hindus for past practices, such as the “Sati-dah” (widow burn- ing), which was stopped and prohibited by law a century ago. We cannot fairly associate contemporary Christians with the Crusaders' activities, which were ended several centuries ago.

In contrast, militant and warrior Islam has been rejuvenated during the modern era. Muslims all over the world are going backward, reverting to barbarism. Today, Islam, the religion of Muslims, has become a dangerous problem for modern civilized soci- ety, a threat to every country and government throughout the world. In every Muslim country, fundamentalist Muslims are constantly at war to capture state power.

Because Islam strongly opposes and condemns separation of state and mosque, not even one Muslim country today has a truly secular government. Almost a dozen Muslim countries have strict Islamic governments ruled by the 1400 years-old Shariat (Islamic law). The rest of the all-Muslim and Muslim-dominated countries have governments that are, in varying degrees, directly influenced by the Shariat.

The religion of Islam has become the most negative factor impeding the advancement of every Muslim country in the world. Just look at political, economic, and social conditions in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the other Muslim-dominated countries of the world. Even where Muslims are a minority (such as in the Philip- pines), they are fighting relentlessly to capture the political power and authority of the country.

Islam is the only religion on earth which claims that it is the religion of peace, that it is the only God-given religion, the only religion truly given to the people of this earth, the only religion that came from God, Allah’s Monanitta Dharma (God's chosen religion).

Islam teaches that every word in the Qur’an is God’s word, and that the Qur'an contains all the knowledge that mankind ever needs. The Qur'an is full of scientific knowledge. The Qur'an has answers to all human problems. The Qur'an is the way of life for all mankind. The Qur’an is the best code of life for all mankind. Etc., etc.

Orthodox Muslim fanatics even go one step further by claiming: After the arrival of the Qur’an from God, all other previously evolved religions were declared by God to be null and void. That is, the entire human species, all the people of this planet, must embrace Islam. And these are beliefs widely held among the orthodox as well as illiterate Muslims.

Orthodox and illiterate Muslims believe that, someday, all the inhabitants of this planet will convert to Islam. Militant Islamist fanatics, such as Osama bin Laden, are engaged in a Jihad, or Holy War, devoting their entire energy to achieve this cher- ished objective of Muslim fanatics, and they are in a hurry to bring about this final success, which they believe will bring them Paradise as a reward from Allah for their good job.

Historical Effects of Religious Fanaticism:

An extremely dogmatic religion makes a person closed-minded and lazy. A religious fanatic develops a very narrow vision and is utterly devoid of free thinking. A dog- matic religion is anti-technology, anti-science, anti-women, and sometimes can be dangerously anti-human. The late Taliban government’s cruel and oppressive activ- ities in Afghanistan are good examples what a religion controlled and directed by fanatics and hidebound dogmatists can do to a nation. Women rights are greatly hin- dered in Muslim countries, primarily because of dogmatic religion and religious fa- natics.

In brief, orthodox, dogmatic religion is one of the important causes of a nation’s backwardness in every sphere of life.

Knowledge and understanding of the pre-modern history of Europe and the Western world as a whole will enable one to see the truth of the foregoing statement. From the 4th. century to the 13th. century, the entire continent of Europe was ruled by a strict religious code of dogmatic Christianity enforced by the socalled Holy Roman Empire and later by various kings claiming to be representatives of God on earth. The en- tirety of Europe was submerged in religious dogma and intolerance, was devoid of humanity, and was backward, undeveloped, desperately poor, and inhabited by peo- ples who were abysmally ignorant and therefore superstitious. Economic and social conditions very similar to those which existed in Europe during its Dark Ages can be seen in present-day Iran, Afghanistan, etc.

Europe remained submerged in mass ignorance, superstitution, backwardness, and poverty until the great revolution of the Renaissance took place during the period comprising the 13th. through the 16th. centuries.

Technological revolution was not possible, as long as religious orthodoxy and dogma- tism remained full-fledged. Why? Because, quite obviously, dogmatic religion is al- ways anti-technology and anti-science. Europe under the theological autocrats be- lieved that religion--the Bible, as interpreted by the clerics--already answered all human questions, that there was no room for human inquisitiveness, that there was nothing more for people to know.

Theologians believed that a person’s chief responsibility was to pray to God and study theology, the study of God. In Bangladesh, the social and cultural phenomena of the present are no better than that of pre-Renaissance Europe.The dark shadow of religious dogmatism and fanaticism is a major handicap or drawback for the less de- veloped countries today.

Dogmatic religion and religious fanaticism can not make man pure and honest, al- though the very purpose of religion is to make man pure and honest. The more re- ligiously dogmatic and fanatical a nation, the more corrupt is the country. The peoples of Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Sudan, and most Arab nations are devout Muslims, but all those countries are heavily corrupt and anti-human. On the other hand, all Western secular and democratic countries are less corrupt and more humanitarian. Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore are non-religious or less religious countries, and these are the most honest countries in the world.

Perhaps, extreme religiosity makes men too proud of their piousness, or the reli- gious fanatic thinks that his prayers will clear or erase his sins, or he thinks all of his sins will be cleared at the end of a pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). Beshi kare Namaj porille Allah Sha’ab mapp kare divey” (If you pray devoutly, Allah will forgive you for all sins).

My fervent request to those who differ with me is that they tell me which world re- ligion or religions have the following:

(a) A strict dress-code for women (Hijab/Burkha);
(b) A strict code for food, applicable to both men and women;
(c) A strong hatred for all other religions and an insistence on segregation of all religions from one another;
(d) Oppression and suppresssion of women by puritanical sha'rias;
(e) Hadiths prohibiting the use of the left hand and the petting of dogs;
(f) Strict prohibition of all kinds of amusements: music, songs, dance, TV, radio, cinemas, and games/sports;
(g) Rampant religious persecution and communal and sectarian fighting in countries governed by the shariat of Islam--countries such as Afghanistsn, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. (In the whole world, could you show me one or two countries being ruled as Christian/Jewish/Hindu/Budhist states where religious persecution and communal and sectarian fights are rampant?)
(h) Various Jihadist organizations throughout the world, such as Al-Qai'ida, Hamas, Hizbollah, Horkut-ul-Jihad, Jihad-e-Ferdous, etc.--organizations which are fighting and killing people in the name of religion? (Can you mention any religion [except Islam] that inspires and supports such violent and dangerous organizations?)
(i) World famous or infamous terrorists like Osama-bin-Laden; (Could you name one such world famous or infamous terrorist in any other world religion?)
(j) Strong advocacy of the killing of people adhering to religious beliefs other than those of Islam; (Could you name any religion [except Islam] which strongly advocates the mass murder of people of other beliefs?)
(k) People fighting "tooth & nail" to topple their own democratic government to establish a tyrannical and despotic religious state ?
(l) Punishment of thieves, criminals, political prisoners, etc. by lashing them with whips (101 lashes as punishment for a single offense); stoning to death, and chopping off heads or hands; (Could you name one country [except one that is Muslim] where violators of the law are punished in this barbaric fashion?)
(m) Incarceration and execution of persons for blasphemy; (In Pakistan, tens of thousands of people are jailed for blasphemy, which is a serious violation of the law of the land. Among the blaphemers, many thousands are given the death penalty by the courts. The governmernt of Pakistan is on the verge of falling at and into the hands of such violent Muslim extremists as the remnants of the Taliban. My question: Could anybody assure me that, when Pakistan is ruled by the Shariaat, people convicted of blasphemy will not be executed by stoning?)
(n) Strict enforcement of blasphemy laws; (In the whole modern world today, do we have any other religion which hands down and enforces brasphemy laws? If I declare Jesus “a son of Roman Soldier” or even “a son of bitch,” shall I be under the threat of the death penalty in a predominantly Christian country? Could I do the same with the Prophet Muhammad in a predominantly Muslim country?
(o) The extreme difficulty Muslims emigrating to a non-Muslim country have blending with the inhabitants of the host country: (The countries of the Judeo- Christian West, including the United States of America, have immigrants from all kinds of religious backgrounds. Could you name any group of immigrants in Western countries [except Muslim religious zealots] having serious problems with negotiating the process of aculturation and assililation into the common national culture of the host country?

I can go on and on, and my list of Islamic vices would not soon come to an end.

Now, everything I cited should be considered current and not past history. We are not discussing the old scars of a disease that was cured or ran its course a long time ago. Rather, we are discussing the acute fever of a lethal disease rampart in the present era. Islam’s current fever is very severe and acute, and it is increasing and spreading with great speed.

I have studied most religions thoroughly and entirely, and I have yet to find another world religion having so many scriptural instructions for hatred and subjugation of the adherents of other religions. People are accusing and criticizing Islam today, not be- cause those people hate Muslims, but because Islamic fever is effecting everybody, including us expatriates from Muslim countries.

In the rest of the world, playing God or claiming to be God's messenger and avenger is gradually loosing the popular suport and lucrative it business it enjoyed in the past. In the public arena in the Muslim world, Allah is still standing strong in the minds of a generally illiterate mass public, doing very lucrative business, and functioning as a source of political power for ambitious politicians and Muslim clerics with a political agenda.

How Islam Affects Third World Countries:

In the Third World countries, dogmatic religion has become a tremendous burden or manacle for most of the people in each of those countries. The common people in each Third World country are thoroughly and unmercifully exploited in the name of religion. As a case study, let us examine how Bangladeshis are being exploited in the name of religion. Almost 80% of Bangladeshis are strong believers in Islam, and their preoccupation with religious devoutness is almost like opium addiction. Reli- gious fanaticism is one of the most important causes of total backwardness of the na- tion of Bangladesh. Here, people’s minds are mostly occupied by religious illusions (Hell and Heaven’s furies, etc.), The Bangladeshi people are highly superstitious and have very narrow/limited visions. There is no free thinking, no imagination, no inno- vation, and no creativeness. Hence, there is no new discovery.

In the name of religion, most Bangladeshis are being exploited. Pirs, Mauolana and, Mullahs are totally unproductive and are simply parasites, living on other people’s blood. They are pure “Dharma Beboshaii” (religious traders), and they vigorously and relentlessly exploit religiously addicted common people. In Bangladesh, edu- cated people exploit illiterate common people in the name of religion. Politicians ex- ploit the general public in the name of religion. Man exploits woman in the name of religion.

In Bangladesh, people spend much of their valuable time in the unproductive field of dogmatic and superstitous religion. Religious activities absorb at least 30 to 40% of Bangladeshi man-hours--time which could be utilized in developing works that would benefit the people. Because the common people spend their considerable time, en- ergy, and wealth for religious activities, Bangladesh is an extremely backward soci- ety, making virtually no progress toward longterm economic growth and moderniza- tion.

Moreover, I do not believe in destroying or abolishing any religion. And nobody can realistically expect or claim that any existing religion will be destroyed or abolished and wiped off the face of the earth. Most people will always need religion. For most people, religion gives them hope and a sense of peace and security, since they have faith and believe that a higher being, a divine power, watches over them from above and gives protection. Therefore, no major religion has been eliminated and wiped off the face of the earth.

However, all major religions, except Islam, have been made less dogmatic and mys- terious and have been unveiled to the general mass of the people. And this was possible by making translated religious scriptures readily available to the general public, by continuous analyses and critical studies on the part of numerous scholars, intellectuals and philosophers, and eventually by secularism in government, i.e., separation of government and religion. It took several centuries to subdue the rig- orously dogmatic and fanatical forces operating under the cloak of Christianity and Hinduism. The final nail in the coffin of extremely dogmatic Christianity was driven by secular government, civil law (non-religious law), and constitutional democracy. Islam needs the same treatment very badly, if those Third World Muslim countries are to prosper at all.

Unfortunately, however, the prospects for Muslims achieving the same degree of success in secularizing government, law and politics, as did the adherents of Chris- tianity and Hinduism, look very slim. The prospects look very slim for following reasons:

(a) In Muslim societies, the Qur’an remained untranslated and therefore a total mystery to the common people for almost thirteen hundred years.
(b) Unlike Christian and Hindu intellectuals, most Muslim intellectuals re- mained blind-folded (more fanatic than the Muslim masses) and still preach rigidly dogmatic and very distorted notions of the Divinity to the common people, who never have read Qur'an in their mother tongues.
(c) Very recently, these insincere, wishful intellectuals discovered science (with the help of two Western hypocrites, in exchange of millions of dollars) in the Qur’an just to rejuvenate fanaticism in the minds of the Muslim masses.

Conclusion:

There is nothing wrong with believing in some form of religion, as long as, it remains purely a personal religion, voluntarily and freely embraced by its ad- herents . But I am against a dogmatic and tightly organized, authoritarian re- ligion, like the Islam of today. Islam, unlike Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism, is the one present-day religion that is extremely dogmatic, fa- natical, and tightly organized as a political and warrior faith. I am a proponent of the secularism of the Western world, where every religion exists on a personal basis. A person should adhere to and practice his or her religion on an individ- ual or family personal level. No state sponsors of any religion should exist. There should be separation of religion and government, what in the Western world is called "separation of church and state."

Politics on the basis of religion should be prohibited, and no public money should be allocated/spent for the cause of any religion. Religion should remain as a private and personal matter.

In order to achieve true secularism in a Muslim country, the common people should be taught that the contents of the Qur'an and the Hadiths are not nec- essarily the words of God. Only this education and understanding will help es- tablish secularism and make progress possible in a country like Bangladesh

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