Category Archives: Atheist

The Real Mrs Muhammad tackles the complexities of an inter-cultural live-in love affair between a naturalised, practicing Muslim, Pakistani man named as Sajid, and an atheist South African woman, Simone, that is interrupted by an arranged marriage. The two meet on a plane and swear reciprocal undying love. After a year of long distance between Cape Town and Pretoria where he resides, she packs her bags to commence the "unholy" shack-up until a "situationship" triangle ensues.

While he took her as the girlfriend, to Pakistan to introduce to his family and friends, a gesture not synonymous in such a traditional world, he simultaneously but secretly continues with the traditional arranged marriage preparations. When his secret is eventually revealed, Simone opposes this turn of events. He tries to justify the solemnisation of his arranged Muslim marriage, to take place in Pakistan, around his contention that, as he puts it, he wants a "real woman" who can give him a "real child" as opposed to her who does not see as a "real woman" as she cannot bear him a child. The idea of surrogacy or adoption is out of the question to him as he claims it's "against his religion and culture".

This impending arranged marriage causes much consternation, stress and upheaval, during the early years of their relationship. Other major cultural and religious differences puts additional strain on the two's future....if indeed there is a future?

A few years into the relationship, and although she supposedly subscribes to the principles of feminism, she conditionally agrees to accept his arranged marital status. Deviously she agrees that the wife and baby could move to South Africa to live with them. Is this a ruse in her under-handed gamble in the hope that between the wife and the common law wife, "The Real Mrs Muhammad" would be revealed to the world? Which one would it be?

The play is written and performed by Simone Heradien. It is directed by Kurt Egelhof. It is based on actual events that transpired between the author and her partner. The wife remains nameless in the production although at times she is referred to as "The Bitch" so as not to give her credence.

The Real Mrs Muhammad forms part of this year's Suidoosterfees at Artscape Theatre It premiered at the SoloAfrika Festival of Monodrama 2018, marking Simone's debut performance as an actor.

Performances run 28 April- 30 April.Ticket price: R70 throughout

Strict COVID-19 protocol is observed. No mask, no entry.

Go here to see the original:

THE REAL MRS MUHAMMAD Will Be Performed as Part of Suidoosterfees at Artscape Theatre This Month - Broadway World

Jerry Coyne has posted in reply to my observation that Gods existence can be demonstrated by the ordinary methods of science. That is to say, all proofs of Gods existence are scientific theories in the sense that they have the same logical structure as any other scientific theory that proposes explanations for the natural world.

Scientific theories are inductive in that they depend upon evidence in the natural world to reach a conclusion. Thus demonstrations of Gods existence, for example Thomas Aquinass Five Ways, are scientific theories in the sense that Newtons Law of Gravitation, Einsteins Theory of Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and Darwins Theory of Evolution are scientific theories. Scientific theories can demonstrate the existence of things outside of nature the singularity that gave rise to the Big Bang and the singularities at the cores of black holes are things outside of nature. Science has demonstrated the existence of these supernatural singularities.

There is only one difference between the scientific demonstration of Gods existence and that of gravity, general relativity, quantum mechanics, or evolution: the evidence for Gods existence is immeasurably greater than the evidence for any other scientific theory.

Many readers will think this a radical statement but it is conventional natural theology. Natural theology is the branch of science that demonstrates the existence of God according to evidence in nature. It has deep roots going back at least to Aristotle. It is different from divine revelation, which is another way of understanding God.

Demonstrations of Gods existence in natural theology depend on evidence in nature, such as the existence of change, of causation, of a hierarchal manifestation of qualities, of teleology and design, and even of existence itself. For example, Aquinass First Way demonstrates Gods existence by showing the necessity for a Prime Mover to explain change in nature. That is, if everything that grows, moves, or changes in nature is caused to do so, a Prime Mover outside nature must start the causes. Thus, the evidence in favor of the First Way is observable in every movement of an atom, every gust of wind, and every physiological process in every organism. Everything and anything that changes in this world is a data point that supports the existence of God, according to Aquinass First Way.

As you might expect, atheists dont like this fact. Coyne tries to offer rebuttals in his blog post. They serve mainly to demonstrate the fact that he doesnt understand the problem.

One of Coynes commenters (Torbjrn Larsson) raised an issue worth noting the claim that God is unnecessary because the universe itself may be the most fundamental thing that exists.

Everything must have a cause. Therefore [magic agent].

What caused [magic agent]?

A [magic agent] need no cause.

Then there are things that need no cause. I cut out the middleman and can now say the universe need no cause.

He is asserting that the universe itself is the ground of existence. God is unnecessary.

As philosophers have noted over the past several thousand years, there are many reasons why the universe cannot be the most fundamental thing that exists. Ill discuss two of them here:

First, as Aquinas notes in his first Three Ways, change, cause, and existence in nature cannot go backward forever in an essential causal chain. Essential causal chains require the continued existence of all the causes in the chain. Forces and states in nature tend to be essential causal chains the warming of the air in summer is due to the direct radiance from the sun due to tilt of the earth as it revolves around the sun which is due to gravitation as described by general relativity, etc. If any step in the causal chain from gravitation to summer warmth is eliminated, the effect is eliminated. If the earth ceased to tilt or revolve, or the sun cease to shine, or gravity cease to operate, summer would cease.

But these ordered causal chains in the universe cant regress to infinity because there must be a fully actual cause at the beginning that gets the chain going. That fully actual cause cannot itself depend on any other cause within the system. Otherwise, how would it start?

Imagine a chain hanging from the sky supporting a weight suspended in the air. Each link in the chain is a cause for the continued suspension of the links and the weight they hold up. However, the chain could not hold itself up alone. It cant be links all the way up. Something at the beginning must be holding the chain up. And whatever holds the whole causal series up cannot just be another link in the chain. To be a first cause, whatever is holding up the chain must be something different from the chain itself.

In the same way, the cause of the universe must be something other than the universe itself and must have the power to cause things independently of the laws of nature. That is what all men call God.

A second reason why the universe cannot be the most fundamental thing is the principle of sufficient reason. In its most distilled form, the principle states that every fact in the universe has a reason sufficient to account for it. We may not know the reason for every fact and we may not even be able to know the reason for every fact. But we must infer that there is a reason for every fact.

For example, imagine waking up one morning and finding a car parked in the front yard. That would be a strange thing and we might infer that somebody got drunk and inadvertently parked in the yard or perhaps the car was left there after a collision. Or possibly it was someones idea of a practical joke. But we cannot infer that the car is there for no reason whatsoever. We intuitively understand that there must be an explanation, even if it is hard to come by.

Now lets assume that the universe itself exists for no reason. Then everything that exists violates the principle of sufficient reason. If the whole universe doesnt need a reason, then nothing within the universe needs a reason. Then science would be impossible, because anytime a scientist tried to explain the existence of a subatomic particle, a star, or a species, one could simply say that they existed for no reason at all and that would count as a scientific explanation.

Denial of the principle of sufficient reason would make ordinary life impossible we would have to accept that everyday occurrences in our lives could well have happened with no explanation whatever. But in reality, even chance occurrences happen in accord with physical laws and thus happen for reasons.

Atheists who deny that God exists deny the principle of sufficient reason for the universe. In doing so, they must also deny our common-sense experience of the world and they must even deny science itself. So the answer to the objection But then God Himself needs sufficient reason to exist is straightforward: God is supernatural and self-subsistent and thus is the First Reason. He is not in need of a reason for Himself.

As I said before, the existence of God is a more well-established scientific fact than any other theory in science. In fact without God as Prime Mover and sufficient reason, science itself would be impossible. It is deeply ironic that atheist scientists, by denying Gods existence, deny the rational basis for their own profession.

You may also wish to read: Heres why an argument for Gods existence is scientific: The form of reasoning and the type of evidence accepted is the same as with Newtons theories or Darwins. We can observe Gods effects in the natural world just as we inferred the existence of the Big Bang and black holes by observing their effects. (Michael Egnor)

Read this article:

Why the Universe Itself Can't Be the Most Fundamental Thing - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

In our latest podcast, Jessica and I discussed the past week in politics and atheism.

We talked about:

Atheists no longer have to swear an oath to God in order to vote in Alabama. (1:30)

An anti-LGBTQ official in Alabama dropped his future Senate bid after his mistress revealed their taped conversations. (8:19)

Tennessee Republicans are removing a ban on priests holding office but not the part banning atheists from the same thing. (16:54)

Tennessees Lt. Gov. found a clever way to block a bill making the Bible the Official State Book. (25:52)

Texas wants lawyers for fetuses. (29:05)

The Arkansas House passed a bill permitting the teaching of Creationism in science class. (32:56)

Jerry Falwell, Jr. told people to get vaccinated to own the libs. (37:05)

A New York GOP official resigned after claiming gay people on an island would die in a few decades. (40:36)

A Kentucky tax preparer is openly refusing to work with gay couples. (46:46)

Creationists are mad that higher standards in science education mean not teaching Creationism. (50:33)

This is a weird reason to not like Morgan Freeman. (1:05:20)

The president of the Mormon Church said people with religious doubts are lazy learners. (1:13:09)

Wed love to hear your thoughts on the podcast. If you have any suggestions for people we should chat with, please leave them in the comments, too.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Google Play, stream all the episodes on SoundCloud or Stitcher, or just listen to the whole thing below. Our RSS feed is here. And if you like what youre hearing, please consider supporting this site on Patreon and leaving us a positive rating!

Continue reading here:

Podcast Ep. 369: Atheists No Longer Have to Swear to God to Vote in Alabama - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

The community is invited to participate in a Zoom Live event aimed at increasing dialogue between theists and nontheists this week.

Idaho State Universitys P.E.A.C.E. (People Empowered by Acceptance, Conversation, and Education), Diversity Resource Center and Cultural Events Committee will present Faitheist: Building Bridges Between Believers, Nonbelievers and Everyone in Between at 5:30 p.m. MT on Wednesday. The event is open to everyone, but those who would like to participate should register online at https://qrco.de/faitheist before it starts.

Organizers say those who register can watch the event live or, if they cant make it at that time, watch a recording later on. Links will be provided as part of the registration process.

Story continues below video

The event will feature Chris Stedman, author of two books: Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious and IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives.

Stedman, a Minneapolis resident, has been both religious and nonreligious at different times in his life, and he believes there is an immense value to be gained when people on both sides of that divide engage. Stedman says those who do will not only learn more about others, but also themselves.

In this presentation and discussion, professor, author, and activist Chris Stedman will share his storyincluding how studying religion at a Lutheran college helped him understand his identity as an atheistand help participants explore what theists and nontheists can gain from being in dialogue, how we can come to better understand one another, and how we can work together to improve the world we all share, according to a news release.

Stedman was the founding director of the Yale Humanist Community and was a fellow at Yale University. In addition, he served as a humanist chaplain at Harvard University, according to the news release. He currently teaches in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Augsburg University.

I love speaking at colleges and universities, Stedman said, adding that hes excited to share this experiences with ISU and the surrounding community.

He anticipates the event will be more of a conversation than a lecture, and he encourages everyone who is interested to participate.

The more voices (we have) in the conversation, the more well all learn, Stedman said.

For more information about Stedman, people can visit https://chrisstedmanwriter.com.

Link:

Zoom event to promote dialogue between theists and nontheists - Idaho State Journal

The Tennessee State Constitution has a section in it that specifically lists whos not allowed to hold elected office. You may be familiar with that because heres Article IX, Section 2:

No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.

Its the infamous section that says atheists cant hold public office. (Six other state constitutions have similar language.)

Thankfully, that whole section is enforceable, due to the 1961 Supreme Court case Torcaso v. Watkins, but still: Thats what the State Constitution says. Even after that SCOTUS decision, it remained on the books, a vestigial reminder of a more intolerant past.

The reason that section still exists on paper is because theres a process for amending the state constitution that requires more than a Supreme Court ruling. Lawmakers would need to pass a resolution over two consecutive sessions to get rid of that section, and then voters would need to support that move in a future election.

Those are a lot of obstacles, and lets face it the Republican majority running Tennessees government isnt really eager to clean up their Constitution to help out atheists.

But heres where it gets interesting: Section 3 of that same Article says people who have fought duels (or helped someone fight a duel) cant hold office either. Thats also messed up and wildly out-of-date.

Section 1 is equally bizarre. It says anyone whos a church leader is barred from office because it might distract them from more important work:

Whereas ministers of the Gospel are by their profession, dedicated to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions; therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature.

I dont think I need to burn my Atheist Membership Card to say that shouldnt be there either. Its also unenforceable due to a separate Supreme Court case, but just like the anti-atheist section, it takes work to remove that passage from the states constitution.

Well, guess what?

Republicans in Tennessee are now taking the steps to remove Section 1 and only Section 1 from the Constitution. They want to clean the important document of the anti-priest language while just side-stepping the anti-atheist language.

Senate Joint Resolution 55, sponsored by State Senator Mark Pody, would amend the Constitution by eliminating Section 1 if it passes through the legislature and has the support of the majority of voters in the 2022 general election.

On its own, the resolution is sensible. Ill say it again: That part of the Tennessee Constitution should be eliminated. If a pastor wants to run for office, thats fine. (Hell, just look at Senator Raphael Warnock, the Georgia senator who is still serving as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.) Having church leaders in office isnt a problem; legislating their faith or ignoring church/state separation would be, but thats a separate issue. The two do not necessarily overlap.

Heres what I dont get. (Or maybe I do.) If Tennessee lawmakers are going through all the trouble of getting rid of an archaic section of their Constitution because they should why not just get rid of that entire Article?

Its the height of Christian privilege for a lawmaker to eliminate a(n unenforceable) law banning priests from holding office while keeping the (also-unenforceable) law that bans atheists from the exact same thing even though theyre literally right next to each other in the document.

It would have taken no additional work to get rid of that part. Theyre deliberately choosing not to.

One Democrat even brought that up during a hearing of the State and Local Government Committee (at the 42:20 mark):

During last weeks senate committee hearing, Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, questioned why Pody wasnt addressing other provisions in the Tennessee Constitution that have been rendered unconstitutional.

If were going to do that, should we just clean up everything thats currently [unconstitutional] in the Tennessee Constitution? We have numerous provisions that can be deleted. Seems like that would be a more sensible way of doing it and putting it in one resolution.

Pody said in response that is a thought, but he said one simple step at a time would be best. Committee Chairman Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, said legislative attorneys told him the resolution cant be amended.

What a pathetic dismissal. Even if the current resolution cant be amended, it could easily have been fixed from the outset if Pody cared. He doesnt. Thats the problem. Saying we need to go one simple step at a time is a very convenient excuse when your religion is the beneficiary of step one and you have no intention to ever move on to step two.

Im not surprised that Mark Pody would do this. Hes previously sponsored legislation to make the Holy Bible the official state book. Hes filed bills to reject marriage equality and ban abortions early in a pregnancy. Hes also filed a bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion to have her fathers permission even if her father is the one who impregnated her.

Hes a Christian Nationalist in every sense of the word. The Bible guides his decision-making, not the Constitution and what will best help the people in his state. But the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the Senate State & Local Government Committee both approved this resolution unanimously. It could be voted on in the State Senate this week and move on from there.

Ultimately, this whole resolution is symbolic more than anything else because we know those parts of the constitution are effectively worthless. But symbols can perpetuate stigmas. The right thing to do here would be to eliminate all of those sections barring people from holding office on the basis of their religious views or positions. But Tennessee lawmakers have decided to keep the part barring atheists from holding elected office while getting rid of the part limiting the participation of preachers.

I know there are a lot of examples to choose from, but what a perfect example of how a Republican majority in state or federal government opposes equality under the law. They didnt have to do it this way. But they did anyway. It wouldve cost them nothing to say lets just get rid of sections 1 AND 2 but no. They decided to just play to their Christian base.

Pody did not respond to a request for comment last night.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

Go here to see the original:

TN GOP Will Fix Statewide Ban on Priests in Government (But Atheist Ban Remains) - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

1.The Irish Problem

2. The North

3. The South

4. The Troubles

5. The Crossness

6. The Clones Affray

7. B Specials

8. Unapproved Road

9. Concession Road

10. The Monaghan Salient

11. Drummully Polyp

12. ire

13. The Six Counties

14. The Wee North

15. The Black North

16. The Occupied Territories

17. Our Wee Country

18. Ulster

19. The Province

20. The Mainland

21. Fenian

22. Taig

23: Themmuns

24. Black Orangemen

25. Big House Unionist

26. Lundy

27. A cold house for Catholics

28. The Northern Disease [] at the present [] safely confined in its Ulster quarantine. (George OBrien, 1936)

29. Norn Iron

30. The dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone

31. Puckoon

32. The Patriot Game

33. Border Campaign

34. Only our rivers run free

35. Nordies

36. Mexicans

37. El Paso

38. P ONeill

39. glaigh na hireann

40. Officials & Provisionals

41. We will not stand by

42. Vanguard

43. Free Derry

44. Free Stater

45. Free Presbyterian

46. The Men Behind the Wire

47. Romper rooms

48. The disappeared

49. Bandit Country

50. Soldiers briefly entered the Republic due to a

map-reading error.

51. Stroke City

52. Foyleside

53. Tiocfaidh r l

54. Stoops

55. The Condom Train

56. The Peace Train

57. A suspect device on the line near Newry

58. Q. Are you Catholic or Protestant? A. Im an atheist, thank God.

59. Q. A Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?

60. On the blanket

61. Haitch Blocks

62. Aitch Blocks

63. Its gonna happen, happen, happens all the time/Its gonna happen, happen, till you change your mind.

64. As British as Finchley

65. A failed political entity

66. Third Force

67. Legitimate target

68. Loyal

69. Peter the Punt

70. Slab.

71. I pondered on the churches of England and Rome/Hadnt paid the rent for my spiritual home.

72. Walk the Queens Highway

73. Traditional route to church

74. Peace wall

75. Garda X

76. Stakeknife

77. Humespeak

78. Creative ambiguity

79. Confidence Building

80. Sunningdale for Slow Learners

81. I feel the hand of history on my shoulder.

82. I hate to leave (George Mitchell)

83. Never! Never! Never! Never! (Oh, all right)

84. The Chuckle Brothers

85. They havent gone away, you know

86. I have not been and am not a member of the IRA

87. Put beyond use in the presence of two

clergymen.

88. Whataboutery.

89. Curry My Yoghurt

90. The Derry Girls blackboard

91. Our Precious Union

92. Backstop

93. Seamless technological solutions

94. Get Brexit Done

95. Oven-Ready Deal

96. The Northern Ireland Protocol

97. Boris Johnson has assured unionists

98. Feasibility studies for a proposed bridge across the Irish Sea

Read the rest here:

Frank McNally on A History of Northern Ireland in 100 Euphemisms - The Irish Times

Nearly a decade ago, a computer programmer used data from the Skeptics Annotated Bible and available information about Bible verses that cross-referenced the same topics to create a visual masterpiece called BibViz (Bible Visualization). The site allowed visitors to hover over different arcs to discover biblical contradictions.

Unfortunately, the site atrophied over the years the old URL now redirects to one with a lot of broken links but the source code was always available online under a Creative Commons license and now an enterprising atheist named Randy has resurrected the graphics and fixed the broken parts at LyingForJesus.org.

Go there and just start playing around. Each arc lights up when you hover over it and tells you which verses are being linked together. Click on an arc and itll take you to those contradictions specifically with citations so you can check them out for yourself. As Randy told me, its just a wonderful counter-apologetics resource for anyone interested.

Show your fundamentalist friends and watch them squirm. Theres just no plausible way anyone can take the Bible literally after going through all these unless theyre closing their eyes, sticking their fingers in their ears, and refusing to think about any of the errors in their worldview. Some items can be rationalized, but not all of them.

The site also shows you where in the Bible youll find all the biblical passages featuring Cruelty & Violence, Discrimination against Homosexuals, Scientific Absurdities & Historical Inaccuracies, or (below) Misogyny/Violence/Discrimination against Women. You can also scroll all the way down to see a list of every contradiction in the supposedly infallible Holy Book.

Those vertical bars go from the number of relevant verses in Genesis (on the left) to Revelation (on the right).

Its a new site so there are still some snags in there. But Randy tells me hes working on fixes and plans to make a similar site for the Quran in the near future. If you have suggestions or corrections, feel free to contact him directly.

Excerpt from:

Check Out This Massive (Resurrected) Interactive Chart of Bible Contradictions - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

For all the predictions and talk of a slump in support among evangelicals, it appears Donald Trumps election loss was not at the hands of religious voters.

As an analyst of religious data, Ive been crunching data released in March 2021 that breaks down the 2020 US presidential election results by faith. And by and large there was very little notable change in the vote choice of religious groups between 2016 and 2020 in fact, for most faiths, support for Trump ticked up slightly. Instead, it was among those who do not identify with any religion that Trump saw a noticeable drop.

Despite exit poll data initially pointing toward a drop in white evangelical support for Trump in 2020, the latest data shows this not to be the case. The data is based on the Cooperative Election Study, which has become the gold standard for assessing vote choice because of its sample size and its ability to accurately represent the voting population of the United States.

In fact, with 80% of white evangelicals backing Trump in 2020, support actually ticked up from the 78% who voted for him four years earlier.

These differences are not statistically significant, and as such it would be wrong to say it definitively shows Trump gained among religious groups. But it indicates that among the largest religious groups in the US, voting patterns in the November 2020 vote seemed to hold largely steady with four years earlier. Trump did not manage to win significantly larger shares, nor was winner Joe Biden able to peel away religious voters from the Trump coalition.

However, there are some interesting and statistically significant trends when you break down the data further. Nonwhite Catholics shifted four points toward Donald Trump. This fits with what we saw in places like the heavily Hispanic and Catholic Miami-Dade County, Florida, where Trumps overall vote share improved from 35% to 46% between 2016 and 2020.

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Trump also managed to pick up 15 percentage points among the Mormon vote. On first glance this would appear a large jump. But it makes sense when you factor in that around 15% of the Mormon vote in 2016 went to Utah native and fellow Mormon Evan McMullin, who ran in that years election as a third-party candidate. Without McMullin in 2020, Trump picked up Mormon voters as did Joe Biden, who did slightly better than Hillary Clinton had among Mormons.

There is also some weak evidence that the Republican candidate picked up some support among smaller religious groups in the US, like Hindus and Buddhists. Trump increased his share among these two groups by four percentage points each. But it is important to note that these two groups combined constitute only about 1.5% of the American population. As such, a four-point increase translates to only a very small fraction of the overall popular vote.

What is clear is that Trump lost a good amount of ground among the religious unaffiliated. Trumps share of the atheist vote declined from 14% in 2016 to just 11% in 2020; the decline among agnostics was slightly larger, from 23% to 18%.

Additionally, those who identify as nothing in particular a group that represents 21% of the overall US population were not as supportive of Trump in his reelection bid. His vote share among this group dropped by three percentage points, while Bidens rose by over seven points, with the Democrat managing to win over many of the nothing in particulars who had backed third-party candidates in the 2016 election.

Looked at broadly, Trump did slightly better among Christians and other smaller religious groups in the US but lost ground among the religiously unaffiliated. What these results cannot account for, however, is record turnout. There were nearly 22 million more votes cast in 2020 than in 2016. So while vote shares may not have changed that much, the number of votes cast helped swing the election for the Democratic candidate. A more detailed breakdown of voter turnout is due to be released in July 2021 by the team that administers the Cooperative Election Study; that will bring the picture of religion and the 2020 vote into clearer focus.

Read more here:

Why did Trump lose non-religious votes at the ballot? - The Jerusalem Post

CW: Homophobia, self-harm, suicide

When Kyles teachers found out he was self-harming, they immediately put two and two together and took it upon themselves to tell his born-again evangelical Christian parents that their son was gay.

After so long in the closet, Kyle was finally out to his parents. But, he could have never foreseen their extreme reaction.

Kyles Mum was hugely shocked and brought elders from the church round to try and pray the gay away. And then came the final straw. Kyles family suggested he see a doctor about getting conversion therapy.

Kyles mental health had deteriorated to the point where he was thinking of taking his own life every day. He decided that enough was enough. With the conversion therapy I said if you send me there, I will never come home again, Kyle said.

Young Kyle and younger Kyle

Growing up gay in a deeply religious household can be a traumatic experience, one that seems to traverse the boundaries of individual religions.

Haliem is a third year Keele student who is gay and was raised Muslim. The conflict between religion and sexuality was a constant throughout his upbringing.

On my dads side [homosexuality] was always forbidden to talk about, although at times it was inevitable such as if an LGBT+ person came on TV. Haliem said whoever it was would be quickly insulted, laughed at or turned off all together, Haliem told The Tab.

Homosexuality was rarely discussed within Kyles household or the wider Northern Irish Free Presbyterian Church community of which he was a part. When the topic did come up, it was always in a negative context. It was never positive. It was never something to embrace, Kyle said.

Kyle can recall specific incidents when his fathers negative attitude towards homosexuality would boil over into outright fury. I can remember a gay couple coming onto the telly and hed be roaring or would turn the TV off and wed have a conversation about how wrong or immoral it is, Kyle said.

Haliem encountered a similar level of hostility towards homosexuality within the home, leaving him feel awful and scared.

For my own safety, I suppressed a lot and to this day theres still people in my family who wont ever know about drag or my sexuality, Haliem told The Tab.

This idea of suppressing feelings is something that clearly resonates with Kyle. At school, he once tried to convince himself he fancied a girl in his maths class. I tried to ask another girl out and it just didnt happen, Kyle said.

Haliem

Haliem was around 13 years old when he realised he might gay. I always had girlfriends and silly relationships most of my school life, so I assumed it was a phase or potentially I was bisexual until I was about 16, Haliem told The Tab.

Haliem is now out to some of his family, and is particularly close to those on his Christian-born mothers side, who he says are more liberal. Theyve known about his sexuality for at least two years now, but there are certain members of his family who Haliem says will never know.

My dads family are strict Muslims from Egypt and Sudan. I dont visit them anymore because to this day you can get killed and will definitely be sent to prison for homosexuality, Haliem told The Tab.

Reflecting on the impact of Islam on his fledgling homosexual feelings, Haliem said: Its a weird position to be in as a young person, because youre born this way (gay) and youre told because of a chosen religion, that its wrong.

Kyle at Pride

The feelings of disgust and shame that were drummed into Kyle still affect him to this day. My religious upbringing completely victimised me for feeling the way that I felt.

You were subhuman if you were anything that my church said that you couldnt be, Kyle told The Tab.

A lot has since changed for Kyle. His siblings, English teachers and Lady Gaga got him through his childhood, before he left rural Ireland and headed for Newcastle. Thats when I realised, this is me, Kyle said.

He completed his undergraduate degree in Politics and is now pursuing a Masters course at Queens University Belfast. Reflecting on the moment when his parents suggested conversion therapy all those years ago, Kyle said: Im really glad I was able to stand up for myself.

Unfortunately, conversion therapy is still legal today, with a study finding that 68.7 per cent of participants in the practise suffered from suicidal thoughts as a result.

Haliem is also thriving. These days hes a big name on the drag scene, performing as the amazing Cairo Ali. When I discovered drag, I found a character which if people judged, I didnt care because its just an act of performance, extravagant make up, and outfits! Haliem told The Tab.

Growing up gay in a deeply religious household can be traumatic, but thats not the case for everyone. Lancaster student Luke was raised Catholic and attended church throughout his childhood.

He recalls no real conversations about his sexuality until his cousin came out as gay. At this point, Lukes parents sat him down for a chat and said theyd love him no matter what.

Luke only really registered his homosexual feelings towards the end of high school, coming out to his Mum in college and to the rest of his family last summer. According to Luke, they all reacted fairly well.

Luke is still Catholic to this day, telling The Tab: I just believe God made me as I am and to live in any other way would be to basically be saying that God got it wrong.

Kyle and Haliem on the other hand have found it impossible to continue to be a part of their respective religions. Kyle now describes himself as an angry atheist whos critical but respectful of religion in all forms.

Haliem is also an atheist. I respect religion and would never discriminate against anyone and if it makes you a better person or improves your life, who am I to say anything, Haliem said.

If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, please speak to someone or contact Samaritans on 116 123 at any time. You can also contact Anxiety UK on 03444 775 774, Mind on 0300 123 3393, and Calm (Campaign against living miserably, for men aged 15 to 35) on 0800 58 58 58.

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Recent research shows that the number of religiously unaffiliated is increasing in Thailand, more now than a decade ago. Many students oppose the compulsory teaching of religion in school. At the same time, conversions to Catholicism are growing, after a path of search and study. Apr 08, 2021

BANGKOK: For nearly 10 years, more and more Thais have described themselves as religiously unaffiliated, this according to the Pew Research Center. Many Thai students also oppose compulsory religious education in school. Paradoxically, this may lead some to a more freely chosen personal quest for meaning. For example, Thanatos Sriyotha, a 20-year-old programmer, looked for meaning in his life. For about ten years, I was an atheist. Baptised last Ester Sunday, he explains that Christianity is a religion of freedom for him.

According to studies by the Pew Research Center (a Washington-based think tank), the number of Thais who are religiously unaffiliated is higher now than a decade ago. Recently, some students oppose compulsory religious instruction in the national education curriculum. They even call for religion courses to be optional, so that each can be free to choose according to their interest and learn about other spiritualities in the world. For some young people, this demand could open up a path towards a more freely chosen personal life.

Currently, many Catholic chaplaincies include both Catholic and non-Catholic members. Non-Catholic students are very visible. They are as active and engaged as others, said Chontawat Wano, a young Jesuit-in-training who heads the Catholic Student Network of Thailand, a Jesuit organisation that supports Catholic students in Thailand.

Everything turned upside down from that meetingI was on a quest, said Chaturawit Saenchum, 17, who was baptised this year. Speaking about his his life before his conversion to Catholicism, the high school student said he was searching for meaning and a reason to exist, reading a lot and meeting members of various religions. I learnt about several religions, he added. I talked to imams, and during my studies in Japan, I participated in religious debates between Buddhist monks. But it was a talk with a Sister of St Paul de Chartres, at a Catholic college in Bangkok, that was a trigger for him.

Curious about Christian life, he approached the Sister and asked her: How did you become a nun? Everything turned upside down from that meeting, he said. She helped him make an informed choice. For Chaturawit, she was like a guide, who confirmed that I was on the right path, on the way towards conversion and the request for baptism.

Thanatos Sriyotha, a young programmer in his twenties, also looked for something to give his life some meaning. He explained that For about ten years, I was an atheist. For him, Christianity is a religion of freedom. At the age of 15, he became interested in it. But his choice to connect with the Church was made only on the day he was able to lead his own life. As soon as I started making a living, I began to find time to read books about philosophy, religion and spirituality, and then I felt that the Catholic Church was calling me.

A path that opens up horizonsThe desire for God can sometimes remain hidden for years. This was the case of an older man, 40, who preferred not to give his name. He had already asked himself many questions starting at the age of 12. Born into a Buddhist family, it seemed essential to him to know Buddhism first before thinking about a possible conversion. I lived like a true Buddhist. I became a monk. I also went to a retreat in a temple as soon as I had time. Yet, he always felt that he could not fill a kind of void in him.

For Thanatos, the Christian faith turned things upside down. I can better recognise human values. Before, I could not understand why some people were opposed to the death penalty, why we had to take care of the poor, and many other things like that. Today, he understands all this without the need for explanations or theories. More importantly, his choice to become a Christian allows him to be himself and forever free.

For some Thai youth, the path to the Christian faith appears like a road that opens horizons and gives their lives as young adults a meaning they often unconsciously sought.Asia News

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Thailand: Easter of conversion, Christ as the answer to the meaning of life - Malaysian Christian News