MITT ROMNEY MEHDI HASAN AND THE ELEPHANT QUESTION

On a TV television debate that took place last year Mr Mehdi Hassan, until recently contributing editor to the New Statesman, declared that he believed the Quran was the ‘literal word of God.’  Thus statements such as,


‘Sura 5.38 “As for the thief, male or female, cut off his or hands; a punishment by way of example from God, for the crime; and God is exaltedin [sic]power……………The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the hereafter.”[1]

Are for Mr Hasan God’s words, the  literal truth.[2]

But surely he writes for the New Statesman, supports the Labour Party, is a bit of a leftie, let’s cut him some slack here. Anyhow isn't it a bit inappropriate to criticise a man for his religious beliefs, surely these are a private affair? Is there not also something of the Ad Hominem  about such an attack, going for the man rather than the ball?

Do we then cut the same slack for the would be President of the United States, Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon? The Church of Latter Day Saints [LDS], has views which are, well what can I say, interesting, not least respecting Black people;-

‘And [God] had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. And thus saith the Lord God; I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people,[3] save they shall repent of their iniquities." (2 Nephi 5:21)’


Not until 1978 did the LDS suddenly have a ‘revelation’ that that black people were not after all to be condemned in perpetuity. Romney was 31 and had been active in the church member all his adult life with this vile racist doctrine at its heart. He now claims with his father to have been a supporter of Martin Luther King, with all these white conservatives supporting them it’s a wonder there was any need for a civil rights movement!

All religions are man made[4] but none more nakedly so than Mormonism created in the early 19th century by an American farmer Joseph Smith, a cobbled together plagiarism of Old and New testaments, with a New world twist.[5]
There is too little space here to list all the sheer silliness of the Mormon faith, though it is worth noting that the all powerful deity, master of the universe seems to have a strange obsession with the American state of Missouri[6] and forewarns  the cities of New York and Boston that they are to be laid waste. Well Boston I can understand[7] but New York, a city full of vibrant multicultural energy? Though it does seem that vibrant multicultural energy is just the kind of thing these man made deities would abhor, God not keen on multiculturalism.
It could be argued, correctly in my opinion, that close examination of any religious doctrine can make them appear ridiculous, which in fact rather proves my point; the hideous doctrine of transubstantiation, the existence of Jinns,[8] talking bushes or vengeful gods turning cities into pillars of salt all sound ridiculous, which of course they are.
Thus we are left with the Elephant question. Mr Romney or Mr Hasan are interviewed making perfectly sensible points, that you may agree or disagree with, respecting American foreign policy or the minimum wage; in the back of your mind is the knowledge that they hold the existence of Jinns or approaching armageddon to be literal truths, this is the elephant in the room to which it  is inappropriate to refer. Do you ask, “yes Mr Romney, but how does the approaching end of the world influence your foreign policy?” Or query Mr Hasan whether he believes that Jinns have played a significant role in 20th century European history? 
Well call me boorish and lacking in good manners, positively courting the faux pas, but my answer will always be yes.

[1] For a full analysis of the historical inaccuracies, inconsistencies and exhortations to violence in the Qoran please see Ibn Warraq ‘Why I Am Not a Muslim,’ Prometheus Books 1995.
[2] In a speech to a Muslim audience he declared, “The kaffar, the disbelievers, the atheists who remain deaf and stubborn to the teachings of Islam, the rational message of the Quran; they are described in the Quran as, quote, 'a people of no intelligence', Allah describes them as; not of no morality, not as people of no belief – people of 'no intelligence' – because they’re incapable of the intellectual effort it requires to shake off those blind prejudices, to shake off those easy assumptions about this world, about the existence of God. In this respect, the Quran describes the atheists as 'cattle', as cattle of those who grow the crops and do not stop and wonder about this world.”
 Some might say these remarks are offensive and that as an atheist I could take offence and adopt the victim position, perhaps creating a new concept ‘athiestaphobia.’ But I believe in free speech and in Mr Hasan’s right to insult me, though to be honest being accused of being of low intellegence by a follower of a religion like Islam hardly carries any weight with me.
[3] In this the all powerful deity has failed miserably, not least in the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who I am currently reading, one of the most beautiful women on the planet.
[4] Literally made by men, for men, women invariably playing a subordinate role.
[5] George Orwell wrote that to make serious money all you had to do was to invent a religion. I do not know how much money Joseph Smith made out of Mormonism but you can bet being a founding prophet was a hell of a lot more glamorous than being a farmer and, I suspect more profitable.
[6] Strange how these deities seem consumed by particularly parochial concerns, whether in Medina, Salt Lake City or Jerusalem.
[7] It seems to me to be a city that incorporates all the British vices of snobbery and the worse sort of elitism with none of the American virtues of democracy and openness, though I may have just met the wrong people.
[8] Jinn (Arabic: جن‎ ǧinn, singular جني ǧinnÄ« ; variant spelling djinn) or genies are supernatural creatures as mentioned in the Qur'an and often referred to in Arab folklore and Islamic mythology that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that Jinn are made of smokeless flame or "scorching fire".[1] Like human beings, the Jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.[2] Wikepedia


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