#opinionpeice — Public Fediverse posts

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Bible vs. The Quran: Surah al-Baqarah Verses 156-158.

Last time on Flippin’ Fatwa Friday, we covered three issues, talking about good works, the Ka’ba, and jihad. Today, we’re sort-of back to talking about the Ka’ba, though we’ll more specifically be looking at another big part of the Hajj. Let’s take a look at this:

156. Who, when a calamity befalls them, say, ‘Surely, we belong to Allah and to him, of course, we return (and in his will is our peace).’ 157. It is they upon whom descend the benedictions from their Lord and his mercy, and it is they who are guided aright. 158. The Safa and Marwah (- the two eminences near Ka’ba) are certainly (two) of the symbols of Allah, so he who is on Pilgrimage to the house or performs ‘Umrah (- a visit to Ka’ba), there is no blame on him to perform Tawaf (- to run between) the two (eminences), and he who remains thoroughly dutiful and chooses to do good deeds spontaneously, the surely (he will find) Allah is Appreciative and rewards ever good deed done. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing.

I’ve already talked about the pagan origins of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone, but one of the things I sadly forgot to mention was how the Hajj also includes running between two small hills, the Safa and Marwa, seven times. This verse is the only time where this practice is mentioned, and it isn’t really elaborated on in the Quran.

The pagan origins of this practice aren’t something that can only be found through spending hours flipping through history books or scrolling on Google. It’s readily admitted in the hadiths that this practice stems from Arabian pagans. For example, Sahih Bukhari 4496 says:

Narrated `Asim bin Sulaiman:
I asked Anas bin Malik about Safa and Marwa. Anas replied, “We used to consider (i.e. going around) them a custom of the Pre-islamic period of Ignorance, so when Islam came, we gave up going around them. Then Allah revealed: “Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah. So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah) or perform the Umra to ambulate (Tawaf) between them.” 

Stange how pagan customs were never absorbed into Judaism or Christianity by God. Why would Allah make a pagan custom something that is mandatory in Islam?

The reason for this has much to do with what I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the Hajj. It was all to gain a following. Muhammad knew that these customs were important to the people groups he knew. It wasn’t something they would give up easily. Thus, he simply absorbed them into Islam to make it more palatable for them.

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Bible vs. The Quran: Surah al-Baqarah Verses 156-158.

Last time on Flippin’ Fatwa Friday, we covered three issues, talking about good works, the Ka’ba, and jihad. Today, we’re sort-of back to talking about the Ka’ba, though we’ll more specifically be looking at another big part of the Hajj. Let’s take a look at this:

156. Who, when a calamity befalls them, say, ‘Surely, we belong to Allah and to him, of course, we return (and in his will is our peace).’ 157. It is they upon whom descend the benedictions from their Lord and his mercy, and it is they who are guided aright. 158. The Safa and Marwah (- the two eminences near Ka’ba) are certainly (two) of the symbols of Allah, so he who is on Pilgrimage to the house or performs ‘Umrah (- a visit to Ka’ba), there is no blame on him to perform Tawaf (- to run between) the two (eminences), and he who remains thoroughly dutiful and chooses to do good deeds spontaneously, the surely (he will find) Allah is Appreciative and rewards ever good deed done. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing.

I’ve already talked about the pagan origins of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone, but one of the things I sadly forgot to mention was how the Hajj also includes running between two small hills, the Safa and Marwa, seven times. This verse is the only time where this practice is mentioned, and it isn’t really elaborated on in the Quran.

The pagan origins of this practice aren’t something that can only be found through spending hours flipping through history books or scrolling on Google. It’s readily admitted in the hadiths that this practice stems from Arabian pagans. For example, Sahih Bukhari 4496 says:

Narrated `Asim bin Sulaiman:
I asked Anas bin Malik about Safa and Marwa. Anas replied, “We used to consider (i.e. going around) them a custom of the Pre-islamic period of Ignorance, so when Islam came, we gave up going around them. Then Allah revealed: “Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah. So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah) or perform the Umra to ambulate (Tawaf) between them.” 

Stange how pagan customs were never absorbed into Judaism or Christianity by God. Why would Allah make a pagan custom something that is mandatory in Islam?

The reason for this has much to do with what I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the Hajj. It was all to gain a following. Muhammad knew that these customs were important to the people groups he knew. It wasn’t something they would give up easily. Thus, he simply absorbed them into Islam to make it more palatable for them.

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Bible vs. The Quran: Surah al-Baqarah Verses 156-158.

Last time on Flippin’ Fatwa Friday, we covered three issues, talking about good works, the Ka’ba, and jihad. Today, we’re sort-of back to talking about the Ka’ba, though we’ll more specifically be looking at another big part of the Hajj. Let’s take a look at this:

156. Who, when a calamity befalls them, say, ‘Surely, we belong to Allah and to him, of course, we return (and in his will is our peace).’ 157. It is they upon whom descend the benedictions from their Lord and his mercy, and it is they who are guided aright. 158. The Safa and Marwah (- the two eminences near Ka’ba) are certainly (two) of the symbols of Allah, so he who is on Pilgrimage to the house or performs ‘Umrah (- a visit to Ka’ba), there is no blame on him to perform Tawaf (- to run between) the two (eminences), and he who remains thoroughly dutiful and chooses to do good deeds spontaneously, the surely (he will find) Allah is Appreciative and rewards ever good deed done. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing.

I’ve already talked about the pagan origins of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone, but one of the things I sadly forgot to mention was how the Hajj also includes running between two small hills, the Safa and Marwa, seven times. This verse is the only time where this practice is mentioned, and it isn’t really elaborated on in the Quran.

The pagan origins of this practice aren’t something that can only be found through spending hours flipping through history books or scrolling on Google. It’s readily admitted in the hadiths that this practice stems from Arabian pagans. For example, Sahih Bukhari 4496 says:

Narrated `Asim bin Sulaiman:
I asked Anas bin Malik about Safa and Marwa. Anas replied, “We used to consider (i.e. going around) them a custom of the Pre-islamic period of Ignorance, so when Islam came, we gave up going around them. Then Allah revealed: “Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah. So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah) or perform the Umra to ambulate (Tawaf) between them.” 

Stange how pagan customs were never absorbed into Judaism or Christianity by God. Why would Allah make a pagan custom something that is mandatory in Islam?

The reason for this has much to do with what I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the Hajj. It was all to gain a following. Muhammad knew that these customs were important to the people groups he knew. It wasn’t something they would give up easily. Thus, he simply absorbed them into Islam to make it more palatable for them.

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Bible vs. The Quran: Surah al-Baqarah Verses 156-158.

Last time on Flippin’ Fatwa Friday, we covered three issues, talking about good works, the Ka’ba, and jihad. Today, we’re sort-of back to talking about the Ka’ba, though we’ll more specifically be looking at another big part of the Hajj. Let’s take a look at this:

156. Who, when a calamity befalls them, say, ‘Surely, we belong to Allah and to him, of course, we return (and in his will is our peace).’ 157. It is they upon whom descend the benedictions from their Lord and his mercy, and it is they who are guided aright. 158. The Safa and Marwah (- the two eminences near Ka’ba) are certainly (two) of the symbols of Allah, so he who is on Pilgrimage to the house or performs ‘Umrah (- a visit to Ka’ba), there is no blame on him to perform Tawaf (- to run between) the two (eminences), and he who remains thoroughly dutiful and chooses to do good deeds spontaneously, the surely (he will find) Allah is Appreciative and rewards ever good deed done. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing.

I’ve already talked about the pagan origins of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone, but one of the things I sadly forgot to mention was how the Hajj also includes running between two small hills, the Safa and Marwa, seven times. This verse is the only time where this practice is mentioned, and it isn’t really elaborated on in the Quran.

The pagan origins of this practice aren’t something that can only be found through spending hours flipping through history books or scrolling on Google. It’s readily admitted in the hadiths that this practice stems from Arabian pagans. For example, Sahih Bukhari 4496 says:

Narrated `Asim bin Sulaiman:
I asked Anas bin Malik about Safa and Marwa. Anas replied, “We used to consider (i.e. going around) them a custom of the Pre-islamic period of Ignorance, so when Islam came, we gave up going around them. Then Allah revealed: “Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah. So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah) or perform the Umra to ambulate (Tawaf) between them.” 

Stange how pagan customs were never absorbed into Judaism or Christianity by God. Why would Allah make a pagan custom something that is mandatory in Islam?

The reason for this has much to do with what I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the Hajj. It was all to gain a following. Muhammad knew that these customs were important to the people groups he knew. It wasn’t something they would give up easily. Thus, he simply absorbed them into Islam to make it more palatable for them.

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Bible vs. The Quran: Surah al-Baqarah Verses 156-158.

Last time on Flippin’ Fatwa Friday, we covered three issues, talking about good works, the Ka’ba, and jihad. Today, we’re sort-of back to talking about the Ka’ba, though we’ll more specifically be looking at another big part of the Hajj. Let’s take a look at this:

156. Who, when a calamity befalls them, say, ‘Surely, we belong to Allah and to him, of course, we return (and in his will is our peace).’ 157. It is they upon whom descend the benedictions from their Lord and his mercy, and it is they who are guided aright. 158. The Safa and Marwah (- the two eminences near Ka’ba) are certainly (two) of the symbols of Allah, so he who is on Pilgrimage to the house or performs ‘Umrah (- a visit to Ka’ba), there is no blame on him to perform Tawaf (- to run between) the two (eminences), and he who remains thoroughly dutiful and chooses to do good deeds spontaneously, the surely (he will find) Allah is Appreciative and rewards ever good deed done. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing.

I’ve already talked about the pagan origins of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone, but one of the things I sadly forgot to mention was how the Hajj also includes running between two small hills, the Safa and Marwa, seven times. This verse is the only time where this practice is mentioned, and it isn’t really elaborated on in the Quran.

The pagan origins of this practice aren’t something that can only be found through spending hours flipping through history books or scrolling on Google. It’s readily admitted in the hadiths that this practice stems from Arabian pagans. For example, Sahih Bukhari 4496 says:

Narrated `Asim bin Sulaiman:
I asked Anas bin Malik about Safa and Marwa. Anas replied, “We used to consider (i.e. going around) them a custom of the Pre-islamic period of Ignorance, so when Islam came, we gave up going around them. Then Allah revealed: “Verily, Safa and Marwa (i.e. two mountains at Mecca) are among the Symbols of Allah. So it is not harmful of those who perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah) or perform the Umra to ambulate (Tawaf) between them.” 

Stange how pagan customs were never absorbed into Judaism or Christianity by God. Why would Allah make a pagan custom something that is mandatory in Islam?

The reason for this has much to do with what I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the Hajj. It was all to gain a following. Muhammad knew that these customs were important to the people groups he knew. It wasn’t something they would give up easily. Thus, he simply absorbed them into Islam to make it more palatable for them.

Until next time,

M.J.

Poll: Pick a Meme (LOTR Edition)

Poll: Pick a Meme (LOTR Edition)

Poll: Pick a Meme (LOTR Edition)

Poll: Pick a Meme (LOTR Edition)

Poll: Pick a Meme (LOTR Edition)

Review: Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation of The Odessey…I Have Questions.

One of the biggest movies that is supposed to come out this year is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odessey, the classic Greek epic that we (hopefully) all had to read in middle/high school. Unfortunately, however, the trailer for this is already making me want to hate watch the movie because it already looks terrible.

#1: The Casting

The casting of this movie is so bad that Epic: The Musical did a better job casting the characters…and you can’t even see the cast (though I had some issues with the guy voicing Odesseus, but I digress.)

The first issue is that it has so many highly recognizable stars in it that any time they popped up, I just went, “Oh, it’s Spiderman,” “Oh, it’s Edward Cullen,” “Zendaya,” “Ay, it’s Anne Hathaway,” etc. Typically, this wouldn’t be a problem, and it could be overlooked, but what prevents me from doing so is that a bunch of them are totally miscast.

Zendaya as Athena. Tom Holland as Telemachus. Elliot Page as Achilles. Robert Pattinson as Antinous. Lupita Nyong’o as Helen.

All of this has been said before, but this is terrible for so many reasons. Zendaya is a terrible Athena as she doesn’t have the screen presence or range to portray the goddess of war and wisdom. Angelina Jolie or someone similar would have been better.

Similarly, Tom Holland as Telemachus could be good, as he starts off in The Odyssey as a young man finding his feet before maturing into an heir befitting his father, but I once again worry about how well Holland will be able to portray that on screen. As the joke goes, he seems doomed to play a 19-year-old forever and his acting range supports this view. How well he’ll be able to play the heir of Ithaca is up in the air.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous was a terrible choice, once again because he doesn’t have the screen presence to pull it off. Antinous is the worst of the suitors, being their impromptu leader. He’s violent, arrogant, mean-spirited, and the overall embodiment of hubris. Epic: The Musical captured this perfectly in the parts Antinous sings (think the song “Hold Them Down,”) and the fans of the musical animated him in such a way that it shows his power, cunning, and pride. He’s genuinely unnerving to listen to. The person who plays him should embody that, and Robert Pattinson is way off the mark. He does brooding scumbag well, but that’s pretty much it. If you want him to play an angsty vampire, go ahead. Other than that, he doesn’t have the acting range or looks to pull off playing such a major villain. He just comes off as a bully who would go running to his mom if anyone stood up to him. He’s scummy but not scary.

Lupita Nyong’o as Helen is another person that’s been commented on since this movie was announced. While she is beautiful, she simply is not a book accurate Helen. Helen of Troy was the embodiment of Greek beauty standards and is described as “white-armed,” blonde, and blue eyed by various Greek poets like Hesiod and Sappho. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Nyong’o.

As for Eliot Page as Achilles, while (to my knowledge) this hasn’t been confirmed yet, if the rumors are true…do I need to say why this is stupid?

#2: Bad Writing

Though it could be possible that the writers are trying to write this for a younger audience, we’re not so dumb that we can’t understand formal speech. What dialogue we’ve gotten so far from the trailer is very modern and had people roasting it mercilessly in the comments. For example, instead of Telemachus telling Antinous, “My father is coming home,” he tells him, “My dad is coming home.”

Apparently, Odysseus went out to get milk and disappeared for 20 years.

This is supposed to be a serious adaptation of The Odyssey. This isn’t supposed to be a parody. If I hear “rizz” mentioned anywhere in this adaptation, I’m leaving for Mars.

#3: What Translation is Being Adapted?

Apparently, there are a lot of different translations of The Odyssey out there and some of them are terrible. The one Nolan is adapting is particularly questionable, written by Emily Wilson, who wished to make the poem more female centered. She wanted to make the whole thing more focused on the women of the story and their experiences, obviously by interjecting feminism in there.

That said, if it’s a faithful adaptation of that particular translation of the poem, we can safely assume that the wokeness will be present in more ways than just the casting. While the women are certainly an interesting part of the story and play some pivotal roles in the plot, to make the story all about them takes away from the main plot: Odysseus wanting to return home after 20 years abroad.

#4: The Costuming

The costuming in this movie looks like it could be hit and miss, which is sad given the fact that we know exactly what ancient Greek clothing looked like from art and sculptures. Penelope’s dress looks alright, though it could have been better. Athena’s outfit is okay in terms of being historically accurate, though for the goddess of weaving, I expected it to look more complex (also, where’s her signature helmet and shield?) Some of the men’s outfits look accurate as well.

However, when it comes to some of the armor, I’m simply not buying it. The most obvious example of this is Agamemnon’s helmet. It’s literally just Batman’s mask but made to look Greek with a dumb spinal column added to it for no reason. I guess we’re also going to ignore the fact that the Greeks didn’t have steel armor, and only steel armor can look like the metal used on that helmet.

That’s also not even mentioning the Laestrygonians, which need no explanation:

At this rate, the only thing anyone will die of is laughter. It’s a bunch of overweight dudes with fake abs and the ever-hilarious sculpted moobs. How inclusive of the directors to recognize that you can be hilarious at any size.

Until next time,

M.J.

Review: Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation of The Odessey…I Have Questions.

One of the biggest movies that is supposed to come out this year is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odessey, the classic Greek epic that we (hopefully) all had to read in middle/high school. Unfortunately, however, the trailer for this is already making me want to hate watch the movie because it already looks terrible.

#1: The Casting

The casting of this movie is so bad that Epic: The Musical did a better job casting the characters…and you can’t even see the cast (though I had some issues with the guy voicing Odesseus, but I digress.)

The first issue is that it has so many highly recognizable stars in it that any time they popped up, I just went, “Oh, it’s Spiderman,” “Oh, it’s Edward Cullen,” “Zendaya,” “Ay, it’s Anne Hathaway,” etc. Typically, this wouldn’t be a problem, and it could be overlooked, but what prevents me from doing so is that a bunch of them are totally miscast.

Zendaya as Athena. Tom Holland as Telemachus. Elliot Page as Achilles. Robert Pattinson as Antinous. Lupita Nyong’o as Helen.

All of this has been said before, but this is terrible for so many reasons. Zendaya is a terrible Athena as she doesn’t have the screen presence or range to portray the goddess of war and wisdom. Angelina Jolie or someone similar would have been better.

Similarly, Tom Holland as Telemachus could be good, as he starts off in The Odyssey as a young man finding his feet before maturing into an heir befitting his father, but I once again worry about how well Holland will be able to portray that on screen. As the joke goes, he seems doomed to play a 19-year-old forever and his acting range supports this view. How well he’ll be able to play the heir of Ithaca is up in the air.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous was a terrible choice, once again because he doesn’t have the screen presence to pull it off. Antinous is the worst of the suitors, being their impromptu leader. He’s violent, arrogant, mean-spirited, and the overall embodiment of hubris. Epic: The Musical captured this perfectly in the parts Antinous sings (think the song “Hold Them Down,”) and the fans of the musical animated him in such a way that it shows his power, cunning, and pride. He’s genuinely unnerving to listen to. The person who plays him should embody that, and Robert Pattinson is way off the mark. He does brooding scumbag well, but that’s pretty much it. If you want him to play an angsty vampire, go ahead. Other than that, he doesn’t have the acting range or looks to pull off playing such a major villain. He just comes off as a bully who would go running to his mom if anyone stood up to him. He’s scummy but not scary.

Lupita Nyong’o as Helen is another person that’s been commented on since this movie was announced. While she is beautiful, she simply is not a book accurate Helen. Helen of Troy was the embodiment of Greek beauty standards and is described as “white-armed,” blonde, and blue eyed by various Greek poets like Hesiod and Sappho. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Nyong’o.

As for Eliot Page as Achilles, while (to my knowledge) this hasn’t been confirmed yet, if the rumors are true…do I need to say why this is stupid?

#2: Bad Writing

Though it could be possible that the writers are trying to write this for a younger audience, we’re not so dumb that we can’t understand formal speech. What dialogue we’ve gotten so far from the trailer is very modern and had people roasting it mercilessly in the comments. For example, instead of Telemachus telling Antinous, “My father is coming home,” he tells him, “My dad is coming home.”

Apparently, Odysseus went out to get milk and disappeared for 20 years.

This is supposed to be a serious adaptation of The Odyssey. This isn’t supposed to be a parody. If I hear “rizz” mentioned anywhere in this adaptation, I’m leaving for Mars.

#3: What Translation is Being Adapted?

Apparently, there are a lot of different translations of The Odyssey out there and some of them are terrible. The one Nolan is adapting is particularly questionable, written by Emily Wilson, who wished to make the poem more female centered. She wanted to make the whole thing more focused on the women of the story and their experiences, obviously by interjecting feminism in there.

That said, if it’s a faithful adaptation of that particular translation of the poem, we can safely assume that the wokeness will be present in more ways than just the casting. While the women are certainly an interesting part of the story and play some pivotal roles in the plot, to make the story all about them takes away from the main plot: Odysseus wanting to return home after 20 years abroad.

#4: The Costuming

The costuming in this movie looks like it could be hit and miss, which is sad given the fact that we know exactly what ancient Greek clothing looked like from art and sculptures. Penelope’s dress looks alright, though it could have been better. Athena’s outfit is okay in terms of being historically accurate, though for the goddess of weaving, I expected it to look more complex (also, where’s her signature helmet and shield?) Some of the men’s outfits look accurate as well.

However, when it comes to some of the armor, I’m simply not buying it. The most obvious example of this is Agamemnon’s helmet. It’s literally just Batman’s mask but made to look Greek with a dumb spinal column added to it for no reason. I guess we’re also going to ignore the fact that the Greeks didn’t have steel armor, and only steel armor can look like the metal used on that helmet.

That’s also not even mentioning the Laestrygonians, which need no explanation:

At this rate, the only thing anyone will die of is laughter. It’s a bunch of overweight dudes with fake abs and the ever-hilarious sculpted moobs. How inclusive of the directors to recognize that you can be hilarious at any size.

Until next time,

M.J.

Review: Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation of The Odessey…I Have Questions.

One of the biggest movies that is supposed to come out this year is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odessey, the classic Greek epic that we (hopefully) all had to read in middle/high school. Unfortunately, however, the trailer for this is already making me want to hate watch the movie because it already looks terrible.

#1: The Casting

The casting of this movie is so bad that Epic: The Musical did a better job casting the characters…and you can’t even see the cast (though I had some issues with the guy voicing Odesseus, but I digress.)

The first issue is that it has so many highly recognizable stars in it that any time they popped up, I just went, “Oh, it’s Spiderman,” “Oh, it’s Edward Cullen,” “Zendaya,” “Ay, it’s Anne Hathaway,” etc. Typically, this wouldn’t be a problem, and it could be overlooked, but what prevents me from doing so is that a bunch of them are totally miscast.

Zendaya as Athena. Tom Holland as Telemachus. Elliot Page as Achilles. Robert Pattinson as Antinous. Lupita Nyong’o as Helen.

All of this has been said before, but this is terrible for so many reasons. Zendaya is a terrible Athena as she doesn’t have the screen presence or range to portray the goddess of war and wisdom. Angelina Jolie or someone similar would have been better.

Similarly, Tom Holland as Telemachus could be good, as he starts off in The Odyssey as a young man finding his feet before maturing into an heir befitting his father, but I once again worry about how well Holland will be able to portray that on screen. As the joke goes, he seems doomed to play a 19-year-old forever and his acting range supports this view. How well he’ll be able to play the heir of Ithaca is up in the air.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous was a terrible choice, once again because he doesn’t have the screen presence to pull it off. Antinous is the worst of the suitors, being their impromptu leader. He’s violent, arrogant, mean-spirited, and the overall embodiment of hubris. Epic: The Musical captured this perfectly in the parts Antinous sings (think the song “Hold Them Down,”) and the fans of the musical animated him in such a way that it shows his power, cunning, and pride. He’s genuinely unnerving to listen to. The person who plays him should embody that, and Robert Pattinson is way off the mark. He does brooding scumbag well, but that’s pretty much it. If you want him to play an angsty vampire, go ahead. Other than that, he doesn’t have the acting range or looks to pull off playing such a major villain. He just comes off as a bully who would go running to his mom if anyone stood up to him. He’s scummy but not scary.

Lupita Nyong’o as Helen is another person that’s been commented on since this movie was announced. While she is beautiful, she simply is not a book accurate Helen. Helen of Troy was the embodiment of Greek beauty standards and is described as “white-armed,” blonde, and blue eyed by various Greek poets like Hesiod and Sappho. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Nyong’o.

As for Eliot Page as Achilles, while (to my knowledge) this hasn’t been confirmed yet, if the rumors are true…do I need to say why this is stupid?

#2: Bad Writing

Though it could be possible that the writers are trying to write this for a younger audience, we’re not so dumb that we can’t understand formal speech. What dialogue we’ve gotten so far from the trailer is very modern and had people roasting it mercilessly in the comments. For example, instead of Telemachus telling Antinous, “My father is coming home,” he tells him, “My dad is coming home.”

Apparently, Odysseus went out to get milk and disappeared for 20 years.

This is supposed to be a serious adaptation of The Odyssey. This isn’t supposed to be a parody. If I hear “rizz” mentioned anywhere in this adaptation, I’m leaving for Mars.

#3: What Translation is Being Adapted?

Apparently, there are a lot of different translations of The Odyssey out there and some of them are terrible. The one Nolan is adapting is particularly questionable, written by Emily Wilson, who wished to make the poem more female centered. She wanted to make the whole thing more focused on the women of the story and their experiences, obviously by interjecting feminism in there.

That said, if it’s a faithful adaptation of that particular translation of the poem, we can safely assume that the wokeness will be present in more ways than just the casting. While the women are certainly an interesting part of the story and play some pivotal roles in the plot, to make the story all about them takes away from the main plot: Odysseus wanting to return home after 20 years abroad.

#4: The Costuming

The costuming in this movie looks like it could be hit and miss, which is sad given the fact that we know exactly what ancient Greek clothing looked like from art and sculptures. Penelope’s dress looks alright, though it could have been better. Athena’s outfit is okay in terms of being historically accurate, though for the goddess of weaving, I expected it to look more complex (also, where’s her signature helmet and shield?) Some of the men’s outfits look accurate as well.

However, when it comes to some of the armor, I’m simply not buying it. The most obvious example of this is Agamemnon’s helmet. It’s literally just Batman’s mask but made to look Greek with a dumb spinal column added to it for no reason. I guess we’re also going to ignore the fact that the Greeks didn’t have steel armor, and only steel armor can look like the metal used on that helmet.

That’s also not even mentioning the Laestrygonians, which need no explanation:

At this rate, the only thing anyone will die of is laughter. It’s a bunch of overweight dudes with fake abs and the ever-hilarious sculpted moobs. How inclusive of the directors to recognize that you can be hilarious at any size.

Until next time,

M.J.

Review: Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation of The Odessey…I Have Questions.

One of the biggest movies that is supposed to come out this year is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odessey, the classic Greek epic that we (hopefully) all had to read in middle/high school. Unfortunately, however, the trailer for this is already making me want to hate watch the movie because it already looks terrible.

#1: The Casting

The casting of this movie is so bad that Epic: The Musical did a better job casting the characters…and you can’t even see the cast (though I had some issues with the guy voicing Odesseus, but I digress.)

The first issue is that it has so many highly recognizable stars in it that any time they popped up, I just went, “Oh, it’s Spiderman,” “Oh, it’s Edward Cullen,” “Zendaya,” “Ay, it’s Anne Hathaway,” etc. Typically, this wouldn’t be a problem, and it could be overlooked, but what prevents me from doing so is that a bunch of them are totally miscast.

Zendaya as Athena. Tom Holland as Telemachus. Elliot Page as Achilles. Robert Pattinson as Antinous. Lupita Nyong’o as Helen.

All of this has been said before, but this is terrible for so many reasons. Zendaya is a terrible Athena as she doesn’t have the screen presence or range to portray the goddess of war and wisdom. Angelina Jolie or someone similar would have been better.

Similarly, Tom Holland as Telemachus could be good, as he starts off in The Odyssey as a young man finding his feet before maturing into an heir befitting his father, but I once again worry about how well Holland will be able to portray that on screen. As the joke goes, he seems doomed to play a 19-year-old forever and his acting range supports this view. How well he’ll be able to play the heir of Ithaca is up in the air.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous was a terrible choice, once again because he doesn’t have the screen presence to pull it off. Antinous is the worst of the suitors, being their impromptu leader. He’s violent, arrogant, mean-spirited, and the overall embodiment of hubris. Epic: The Musical captured this perfectly in the parts Antinous sings (think the song “Hold Them Down,”) and the fans of the musical animated him in such a way that it shows his power, cunning, and pride. He’s genuinely unnerving to listen to. The person who plays him should embody that, and Robert Pattinson is way off the mark. He does brooding scumbag well, but that’s pretty much it. If you want him to play an angsty vampire, go ahead. Other than that, he doesn’t have the acting range or looks to pull off playing such a major villain. He just comes off as a bully who would go running to his mom if anyone stood up to him. He’s scummy but not scary.

Lupita Nyong’o as Helen is another person that’s been commented on since this movie was announced. While she is beautiful, she simply is not a book accurate Helen. Helen of Troy was the embodiment of Greek beauty standards and is described as “white-armed,” blonde, and blue eyed by various Greek poets like Hesiod and Sappho. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Nyong’o.

As for Eliot Page as Achilles, while (to my knowledge) this hasn’t been confirmed yet, if the rumors are true…do I need to say why this is stupid?

#2: Bad Writing

Though it could be possible that the writers are trying to write this for a younger audience, we’re not so dumb that we can’t understand formal speech. What dialogue we’ve gotten so far from the trailer is very modern and had people roasting it mercilessly in the comments. For example, instead of Telemachus telling Antinous, “My father is coming home,” he tells him, “My dad is coming home.”

Apparently, Odysseus went out to get milk and disappeared for 20 years.

This is supposed to be a serious adaptation of The Odyssey. This isn’t supposed to be a parody. If I hear “rizz” mentioned anywhere in this adaptation, I’m leaving for Mars.

#3: What Translation is Being Adapted?

Apparently, there are a lot of different translations of The Odyssey out there and some of them are terrible. The one Nolan is adapting is particularly questionable, written by Emily Wilson, who wished to make the poem more female centered. She wanted to make the whole thing more focused on the women of the story and their experiences, obviously by interjecting feminism in there.

That said, if it’s a faithful adaptation of that particular translation of the poem, we can safely assume that the wokeness will be present in more ways than just the casting. While the women are certainly an interesting part of the story and play some pivotal roles in the plot, to make the story all about them takes away from the main plot: Odysseus wanting to return home after 20 years abroad.

#4: The Costuming

The costuming in this movie looks like it could be hit and miss, which is sad given the fact that we know exactly what ancient Greek clothing looked like from art and sculptures. Penelope’s dress looks alright, though it could have been better. Athena’s outfit is okay in terms of being historically accurate, though for the goddess of weaving, I expected it to look more complex (also, where’s her signature helmet and shield?) Some of the men’s outfits look accurate as well.

However, when it comes to some of the armor, I’m simply not buying it. The most obvious example of this is Agamemnon’s helmet. It’s literally just Batman’s mask but made to look Greek with a dumb spinal column added to it for no reason. I guess we’re also going to ignore the fact that the Greeks didn’t have steel armor, and only steel armor can look like the metal used on that helmet.

That’s also not even mentioning the Laestrygonians, which need no explanation:

At this rate, the only thing anyone will die of is laughter. It’s a bunch of overweight dudes with fake abs and the ever-hilarious sculpted moobs. How inclusive of the directors to recognize that you can be hilarious at any size.

Until next time,

M.J.

Review: Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation of The Odessey…I Have Questions.

One of the biggest movies that is supposed to come out this year is Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odessey, the classic Greek epic that we (hopefully) all had to read in middle/high school. Unfortunately, however, the trailer for this is already making me want to hate watch the movie because it already looks terrible.

#1: The Casting

The casting of this movie is so bad that Epic: The Musical did a better job casting the characters…and you can’t even see the cast (though I had some issues with the guy voicing Odesseus, but I digress.)

The first issue is that it has so many highly recognizable stars in it that any time they popped up, I just went, “Oh, it’s Spiderman,” “Oh, it’s Edward Cullen,” “Zendaya,” “Ay, it’s Anne Hathaway,” etc. Typically, this wouldn’t be a problem, and it could be overlooked, but what prevents me from doing so is that a bunch of them are totally miscast.

Zendaya as Athena. Tom Holland as Telemachus. Elliot Page as Achilles. Robert Pattinson as Antinous. Lupita Nyong’o as Helen.

All of this has been said before, but this is terrible for so many reasons. Zendaya is a terrible Athena as she doesn’t have the screen presence or range to portray the goddess of war and wisdom. Angelina Jolie or someone similar would have been better.

Similarly, Tom Holland as Telemachus could be good, as he starts off in The Odyssey as a young man finding his feet before maturing into an heir befitting his father, but I once again worry about how well Holland will be able to portray that on screen. As the joke goes, he seems doomed to play a 19-year-old forever and his acting range supports this view. How well he’ll be able to play the heir of Ithaca is up in the air.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous was a terrible choice, once again because he doesn’t have the screen presence to pull it off. Antinous is the worst of the suitors, being their impromptu leader. He’s violent, arrogant, mean-spirited, and the overall embodiment of hubris. Epic: The Musical captured this perfectly in the parts Antinous sings (think the song “Hold Them Down,”) and the fans of the musical animated him in such a way that it shows his power, cunning, and pride. He’s genuinely unnerving to listen to. The person who plays him should embody that, and Robert Pattinson is way off the mark. He does brooding scumbag well, but that’s pretty much it. If you want him to play an angsty vampire, go ahead. Other than that, he doesn’t have the acting range or looks to pull off playing such a major villain. He just comes off as a bully who would go running to his mom if anyone stood up to him. He’s scummy but not scary.

Lupita Nyong’o as Helen is another person that’s been commented on since this movie was announced. While she is beautiful, she simply is not a book accurate Helen. Helen of Troy was the embodiment of Greek beauty standards and is described as “white-armed,” blonde, and blue eyed by various Greek poets like Hesiod and Sappho. She’s pretty much the polar opposite of Nyong’o.

As for Eliot Page as Achilles, while (to my knowledge) this hasn’t been confirmed yet, if the rumors are true…do I need to say why this is stupid?

#2: Bad Writing

Though it could be possible that the writers are trying to write this for a younger audience, we’re not so dumb that we can’t understand formal speech. What dialogue we’ve gotten so far from the trailer is very modern and had people roasting it mercilessly in the comments. For example, instead of Telemachus telling Antinous, “My father is coming home,” he tells him, “My dad is coming home.”

Apparently, Odysseus went out to get milk and disappeared for 20 years.

This is supposed to be a serious adaptation of The Odyssey. This isn’t supposed to be a parody. If I hear “rizz” mentioned anywhere in this adaptation, I’m leaving for Mars.

#3: What Translation is Being Adapted?

Apparently, there are a lot of different translations of The Odyssey out there and some of them are terrible. The one Nolan is adapting is particularly questionable, written by Emily Wilson, who wished to make the poem more female centered. She wanted to make the whole thing more focused on the women of the story and their experiences, obviously by interjecting feminism in there.

That said, if it’s a faithful adaptation of that particular translation of the poem, we can safely assume that the wokeness will be present in more ways than just the casting. While the women are certainly an interesting part of the story and play some pivotal roles in the plot, to make the story all about them takes away from the main plot: Odysseus wanting to return home after 20 years abroad.

#4: The Costuming

The costuming in this movie looks like it could be hit and miss, which is sad given the fact that we know exactly what ancient Greek clothing looked like from art and sculptures. Penelope’s dress looks alright, though it could have been better. Athena’s outfit is okay in terms of being historically accurate, though for the goddess of weaving, I expected it to look more complex (also, where’s her signature helmet and shield?) Some of the men’s outfits look accurate as well.

However, when it comes to some of the armor, I’m simply not buying it. The most obvious example of this is Agamemnon’s helmet. It’s literally just Batman’s mask but made to look Greek with a dumb spinal column added to it for no reason. I guess we’re also going to ignore the fact that the Greeks didn’t have steel armor, and only steel armor can look like the metal used on that helmet.

That’s also not even mentioning the Laestrygonians, which need no explanation:

At this rate, the only thing anyone will die of is laughter. It’s a bunch of overweight dudes with fake abs and the ever-hilarious sculpted moobs. How inclusive of the directors to recognize that you can be hilarious at any size.

Until next time,

M.J.

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Blog: I Went to a New Age Expo (Stranger in a Strange Land) – Why are There so Many Kids Here? And What’s with Reincarnation?

Welp, it’s that time of year again. The birds are chirping, the flowers are coming up, the dang mosquitos are back for no other reason than to spite us, and the weather is as indecisive as Taylor Swift where it can’t decide what it wants to be. In other words, its spring, and that means that my local New Age expo is back in town, which means y’all get to hear about the madness.

This expo is one of four this year, with two happening in spring, one happening in mid-summer, and the last in early fall. However, from what I’ve heard from the people who went in previous years, the one we went to was the biggest one of the year. That said, I wasn’t surprised about the sheer number of people who were there. The convention hall was super crowded, but one of the things I wasn’t expecting about the crowd was how many kids were there. The majority of the crowd was female, so it was only natural that there would be some moms, but I wasn’t expecting the moms to bring their kids, ages ranging from babies to pre-teens. I saw one little boy holding a crystal wand in each hand as he sat and meditated at a booth, for crying out loud.

I can’t tell what’s worse: kids running around at Sephora, or kids running around at the New Age Expo. At least Sephora doesn’t have several booths selling psilocybin.

But besides the absurd number of kids there, the main thing that my family’s conversations with people revolved around was reincarnation. Now, I’ll stick to the three most interesting conversations we had with the people there for the sake of brevity, but all three are weird.

The first person we talked to was a lady who identified as Roman Catholic and believed in various Masters of Wisdom, particularly that Jesus is the Master of Love and Buddha is the Master of Wisdom. Further, she believed in perennial wisdom, which is the belief that there was once an ultimate truth or religion that got turned into the various beliefs and religions held by everyone today. Thus, everyone is on their own path to the ultimate source of everything as they gradually figure out and accept that they have the divine spark within them and reach enlightenment over the course of thousands or millions of reincarnation cycles.

She also believed that since everyone gets reincarnated, they basically have infinite attempts to get it right. If the planet blows up in the meantime, that’s fine. You’ll get transferred to a different planet. And if you do get it right and become some sort of super enlightened spiritual master, you can get transferred to another planet to help other people reach their enlightenment. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Now, for those of you who have read the Bible, you might be slightly confused about who the heck Jesus is to this lady and how He fits into her belief system. After all, she was saying that he’s one of the various Masters you can follow while the Bible says that He’s your only shot to Heaven. Well, when I brought up John 14:6 when Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” she said that Jesus is essentially the most enlightened person ever. He’s the gatekeeper to reaching God, so as the Master of Love, He’s the highest standard for everyone to follow to reach their divine spark.

Of course, that is not at all what Jesus meant in the Bible, but this is how she was interpreting it to fit with her worldview.

But that leaves the question of how Jesus reached such a high enlightenment status that He could claim to be God. According to her, it was through being unconditionally loving, thus reaching His full potential through the divine spark within, because God is love, whatever that’s defined as. It’s not like according to the Bible, while God is loving and merciful, He’s also just and must rain down His wrath on those who break His law or anything.

Overall, the path to the ultimate truth according to her was by being unconditionally loving and by following whatever truth fits you…which is entirely subjective and contradictory.

Another interesting conversation I had was with a member of what’s possibly the most obvious pseudo-Christian cult I’ve ever seen. This cult is called the Church of Shambhala Vajradhara Maitreya Sangha, and its leader is a dude who calls himself Buddha Maitreya and claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. As such, he believes that it’s his job to restore the Noosphere through Christ consciousness, amongst other things.

But what is the Noosphere? I’ll let him explain:

The Noosphere is the planetary sphere of mind or thinking layer of the planet Earth. To grasp the idea of the Noosphere, we must elevate our consciousness and open ourselves to the most general, elemental, and cosmic principles of life on Earth.

The Noosphere is the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness. As the mental sheathe of the planet, the Noosphere characterizes mind and consciousness as a unitary phenomenon. This means that the quality and nature of our individual and collective thoughts directly affects the Noosphere and creates the quality of our environment – the biosphere.

The historic process is changing dramatically before our eyes … Mankind taken as a whole is becoming a powerful geological force. Humanity’s mind and work face the problem of reconstructing the biosphere in the interests of freely thinking Mankind as a single entity. This new state of the world we are approaching without noticing it, it is the ‘Noosphere’.
‍
The return of Christ as the fulfillment of the Noosphere as well as the consummation of the universe. According to the Law of Time, the end of linear time begins the time of the Noosphere and the return of Christ Consciousness.

But when will the return of Christ be if this dude is claiming to be the reincarnation of Christ? According to the lady I was talking to, who was a nun for this cult, the first coming occurred when Jesus came in His original body. After He died and was resurrected, she then said that He went to India (where He also spent His early years between 12 and 30), married, and somewhere along the line, was reincarnated in various forms, which is the second coming.

If you’re confused, I am too.

I asked her how that lined up with what the Bible (which she claimed to have read) says about the return of Jesus and how everyone will see Him and every knee will bow. Her response, like with many of the other questions I asked her, was, “I’m just a student.”

Some of the other questions I asked her included:

1). “Do you believe the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the actual teachings of Jesus during His first coming?”

2). “What evidence is there that Buddha Maitreya is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ?”

3). “If karma is real,” – (they believe in karma) – “then if a woman is raped, then does she deserve it for something bad that she did in a past life?”

4). “What defines good and bad, or your concept of ‘virtue’?”

5). “What happens after we die? Do I get reincarnated or do I get to break out of that cycle?”

6). “If we’re constantly being reincarnated, then what purpose is there in repenting and following this guy if I’m still, maybe, going to get reincarnated?”

The answers to questions 4-6 could be summed up as, “I don’t know,” as she kept telling me, “I’m just a student. It’s better to hear ‘Jesus’ speak.” The other three questions, however, she did try to answer. On the first one, she said that while Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were okay about Jesus’ ministry, but it’s better to hear from Buddha Maitreya himself. Additionally, her group mainly focuses on the “Lost Gospels.” The Lost Gospels are basically a theory that Jesus, in the 18 years that we know next to nothing about between His childhood and ministry, went to India, did some stuff there, and travelled back to Israel to His thing. Of course, there’s no solid historical evidence for this, but this is what they roll with.

On my second question, her response was that some anonymous pastor/theologian in South Africa said that Buddha Maitreya was Jesus after listening to him. And with the third question, she just brushed that off entirely as absurd.

I hope y’all can detect the issues with her apologetic for this cult. If it wasn’t saying “I don’t know” or deflecting, it’s based on completely unverifiable sources or unsupported theories. It got to a point where we were both getting frustrated, her with the questions, and me with the lack of answers. Finally, she directed me to Buddha Maitreya’s YouTube channel, and I may do a deep dive post on him and his cult eventually.

Finally, the last person I’ll mention here is a dude I’m just going to call Wyatt. Originally, we thought he was a Wiccan, but actually, he was closer to a Luciferian. There are different types of Luciferians out there, but in his case, he believed that we are gods who came from some source that we later called “God,” and that we need to realize that we’re God to eventually reach our full potential as god at some point. Thus, Wyatt believed that he’s a god and that he can help other people reach their god-ness.

As we continued to question this belief, though, Wyatt started getting visibly flustered to the point where his neck was so red and splotchy that I was wondering if he was having an allergic reaction to something. Thankfully, we were able to end the conversation when my dad informed Mom and I that he had finally located a family friend who was also doing evangelism there.

So, that was my experience with the New Agers this time around. It’s honestly a depressing look at how easily people are deceived as long as they can feel like they are in control.

Until next time,

M.J.

Blog: I Went to a New Age Expo (Stranger in a Strange Land) – Why are There so Many Kids Here? And What’s with Reincarnation?

Welp, it’s that time of year again. The birds are chirping, the flowers are coming up, the dang mosquitos are back for no other reason than to spite us, and the weather is as indecisive as Taylor Swift where it can’t decide what it wants to be. In other words, its spring, and that means that my local New Age expo is back in town, which means y’all get to hear about the madness.

This expo is one of four this year, with two happening in spring, one happening in mid-summer, and the last in early fall. However, from what I’ve heard from the people who went in previous years, the one we went to was the biggest one of the year. That said, I wasn’t surprised about the sheer number of people who were there. The convention hall was super crowded, but one of the things I wasn’t expecting about the crowd was how many kids were there. The majority of the crowd was female, so it was only natural that there would be some moms, but I wasn’t expecting the moms to bring their kids, ages ranging from babies to pre-teens. I saw one little boy holding a crystal wand in each hand as he sat and meditated at a booth, for crying out loud.

I can’t tell what’s worse: kids running around at Sephora, or kids running around at the New Age Expo. At least Sephora doesn’t have several booths selling psilocybin.

But besides the absurd number of kids there, the main thing that my family’s conversations with people revolved around was reincarnation. Now, I’ll stick to the three most interesting conversations we had with the people there for the sake of brevity, but all three are weird.

The first person we talked to was a lady who identified as Roman Catholic and believed in various Masters of Wisdom, particularly that Jesus is the Master of Love and Buddha is the Master of Wisdom. Further, she believed in perennial wisdom, which is the belief that there was once an ultimate truth or religion that got turned into the various beliefs and religions held by everyone today. Thus, everyone is on their own path to the ultimate source of everything as they gradually figure out and accept that they have the divine spark within them and reach enlightenment over the course of thousands or millions of reincarnation cycles.

She also believed that since everyone gets reincarnated, they basically have infinite attempts to get it right. If the planet blows up in the meantime, that’s fine. You’ll get transferred to a different planet. And if you do get it right and become some sort of super enlightened spiritual master, you can get transferred to another planet to help other people reach their enlightenment. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Now, for those of you who have read the Bible, you might be slightly confused about who the heck Jesus is to this lady and how He fits into her belief system. After all, she was saying that he’s one of the various Masters you can follow while the Bible says that He’s your only shot to Heaven. Well, when I brought up John 14:6 when Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” she said that Jesus is essentially the most enlightened person ever. He’s the gatekeeper to reaching God, so as the Master of Love, He’s the highest standard for everyone to follow to reach their divine spark.

Of course, that is not at all what Jesus meant in the Bible, but this is how she was interpreting it to fit with her worldview.

But that leaves the question of how Jesus reached such a high enlightenment status that He could claim to be God. According to her, it was through being unconditionally loving, thus reaching His full potential through the divine spark within, because God is love, whatever that’s defined as. It’s not like according to the Bible, while God is loving and merciful, He’s also just and must rain down His wrath on those who break His law or anything.

Overall, the path to the ultimate truth according to her was by being unconditionally loving and by following whatever truth fits you…which is entirely subjective and contradictory.

Another interesting conversation I had was with a member of what’s possibly the most obvious pseudo-Christian cult I’ve ever seen. This cult is called the Church of Shambhala Vajradhara Maitreya Sangha, and its leader is a dude who calls himself Buddha Maitreya and claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. As such, he believes that it’s his job to restore the Noosphere through Christ consciousness, amongst other things.

But what is the Noosphere? I’ll let him explain:

The Noosphere is the planetary sphere of mind or thinking layer of the planet Earth. To grasp the idea of the Noosphere, we must elevate our consciousness and open ourselves to the most general, elemental, and cosmic principles of life on Earth.

The Noosphere is the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness. As the mental sheathe of the planet, the Noosphere characterizes mind and consciousness as a unitary phenomenon. This means that the quality and nature of our individual and collective thoughts directly affects the Noosphere and creates the quality of our environment – the biosphere.

The historic process is changing dramatically before our eyes … Mankind taken as a whole is becoming a powerful geological force. Humanity’s mind and work face the problem of reconstructing the biosphere in the interests of freely thinking Mankind as a single entity. This new state of the world we are approaching without noticing it, it is the ‘Noosphere’.
‍
The return of Christ as the fulfillment of the Noosphere as well as the consummation of the universe. According to the Law of Time, the end of linear time begins the time of the Noosphere and the return of Christ Consciousness.

But when will the return of Christ be if this dude is claiming to be the reincarnation of Christ? According to the lady I was talking to, who was a nun for this cult, the first coming occurred when Jesus came in His original body. After He died and was resurrected, she then said that He went to India (where He also spent His early years between 12 and 30), married, and somewhere along the line, was reincarnated in various forms, which is the second coming.

If you’re confused, I am too.

I asked her how that lined up with what the Bible (which she claimed to have read) says about the return of Jesus and how everyone will see Him and every knee will bow. Her response, like with many of the other questions I asked her, was, “I’m just a student.”

Some of the other questions I asked her included:

1). “Do you believe the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the actual teachings of Jesus during His first coming?”

2). “What evidence is there that Buddha Maitreya is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ?”

3). “If karma is real,” – (they believe in karma) – “then if a woman is raped, then does she deserve it for something bad that she did in a past life?”

4). “What defines good and bad, or your concept of ‘virtue’?”

5). “What happens after we die? Do I get reincarnated or do I get to break out of that cycle?”

6). “If we’re constantly being reincarnated, then what purpose is there in repenting and following this guy if I’m still, maybe, going to get reincarnated?”

The answers to questions 4-6 could be summed up as, “I don’t know,” as she kept telling me, “I’m just a student. It’s better to hear ‘Jesus’ speak.” The other three questions, however, she did try to answer. On the first one, she said that while Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were okay about Jesus’ ministry, but it’s better to hear from Buddha Maitreya himself. Additionally, her group mainly focuses on the “Lost Gospels.” The Lost Gospels are basically a theory that Jesus, in the 18 years that we know next to nothing about between His childhood and ministry, went to India, did some stuff there, and travelled back to Israel to His thing. Of course, there’s no solid historical evidence for this, but this is what they roll with.

On my second question, her response was that some anonymous pastor/theologian in South Africa said that Buddha Maitreya was Jesus after listening to him. And with the third question, she just brushed that off entirely as absurd.

I hope y’all can detect the issues with her apologetic for this cult. If it wasn’t saying “I don’t know” or deflecting, it’s based on completely unverifiable sources or unsupported theories. It got to a point where we were both getting frustrated, her with the questions, and me with the lack of answers. Finally, she directed me to Buddha Maitreya’s YouTube channel, and I may do a deep dive post on him and his cult eventually.

Finally, the last person I’ll mention here is a dude I’m just going to call Wyatt. Originally, we thought he was a Wiccan, but actually, he was closer to a Luciferian. There are different types of Luciferians out there, but in his case, he believed that we are gods who came from some source that we later called “God,” and that we need to realize that we’re God to eventually reach our full potential as god at some point. Thus, Wyatt believed that he’s a god and that he can help other people reach their god-ness.

As we continued to question this belief, though, Wyatt started getting visibly flustered to the point where his neck was so red and splotchy that I was wondering if he was having an allergic reaction to something. Thankfully, we were able to end the conversation when my dad informed Mom and I that he had finally located a family friend who was also doing evangelism there.

So, that was my experience with the New Agers this time around. It’s honestly a depressing look at how easily people are deceived as long as they can feel like they are in control.

Until next time,

M.J.

Blog: I Went to a New Age Expo (Stranger in a Strange Land) – Why are There so Many Kids Here? And What’s with Reincarnation?

Welp, it’s that time of year again. The birds are chirping, the flowers are coming up, the dang mosquitos are back for no other reason than to spite us, and the weather is as indecisive as Taylor Swift where it can’t decide what it wants to be. In other words, its spring, and that means that my local New Age expo is back in town, which means y’all get to hear about the madness.

This expo is one of four this year, with two happening in spring, one happening in mid-summer, and the last in early fall. However, from what I’ve heard from the people who went in previous years, the one we went to was the biggest one of the year. That said, I wasn’t surprised about the sheer number of people who were there. The convention hall was super crowded, but one of the things I wasn’t expecting about the crowd was how many kids were there. The majority of the crowd was female, so it was only natural that there would be some moms, but I wasn’t expecting the moms to bring their kids, ages ranging from babies to pre-teens. I saw one little boy holding a crystal wand in each hand as he sat and meditated at a booth, for crying out loud.

I can’t tell what’s worse: kids running around at Sephora, or kids running around at the New Age Expo. At least Sephora doesn’t have several booths selling psilocybin.

But besides the absurd number of kids there, the main thing that my family’s conversations with people revolved around was reincarnation. Now, I’ll stick to the three most interesting conversations we had with the people there for the sake of brevity, but all three are weird.

The first person we talked to was a lady who identified as Roman Catholic and believed in various Masters of Wisdom, particularly that Jesus is the Master of Love and Buddha is the Master of Wisdom. Further, she believed in perennial wisdom, which is the belief that there was once an ultimate truth or religion that got turned into the various beliefs and religions held by everyone today. Thus, everyone is on their own path to the ultimate source of everything as they gradually figure out and accept that they have the divine spark within them and reach enlightenment over the course of thousands or millions of reincarnation cycles.

She also believed that since everyone gets reincarnated, they basically have infinite attempts to get it right. If the planet blows up in the meantime, that’s fine. You’ll get transferred to a different planet. And if you do get it right and become some sort of super enlightened spiritual master, you can get transferred to another planet to help other people reach their enlightenment. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Now, for those of you who have read the Bible, you might be slightly confused about who the heck Jesus is to this lady and how He fits into her belief system. After all, she was saying that he’s one of the various Masters you can follow while the Bible says that He’s your only shot to Heaven. Well, when I brought up John 14:6 when Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” she said that Jesus is essentially the most enlightened person ever. He’s the gatekeeper to reaching God, so as the Master of Love, He’s the highest standard for everyone to follow to reach their divine spark.

Of course, that is not at all what Jesus meant in the Bible, but this is how she was interpreting it to fit with her worldview.

But that leaves the question of how Jesus reached such a high enlightenment status that He could claim to be God. According to her, it was through being unconditionally loving, thus reaching His full potential through the divine spark within, because God is love, whatever that’s defined as. It’s not like according to the Bible, while God is loving and merciful, He’s also just and must rain down His wrath on those who break His law or anything.

Overall, the path to the ultimate truth according to her was by being unconditionally loving and by following whatever truth fits you…which is entirely subjective and contradictory.

Another interesting conversation I had was with a member of what’s possibly the most obvious pseudo-Christian cult I’ve ever seen. This cult is called the Church of Shambhala Vajradhara Maitreya Sangha, and its leader is a dude who calls himself Buddha Maitreya and claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. As such, he believes that it’s his job to restore the Noosphere through Christ consciousness, amongst other things.

But what is the Noosphere? I’ll let him explain:

The Noosphere is the planetary sphere of mind or thinking layer of the planet Earth. To grasp the idea of the Noosphere, we must elevate our consciousness and open ourselves to the most general, elemental, and cosmic principles of life on Earth.

The Noosphere is the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness. As the mental sheathe of the planet, the Noosphere characterizes mind and consciousness as a unitary phenomenon. This means that the quality and nature of our individual and collective thoughts directly affects the Noosphere and creates the quality of our environment – the biosphere.

The historic process is changing dramatically before our eyes … Mankind taken as a whole is becoming a powerful geological force. Humanity’s mind and work face the problem of reconstructing the biosphere in the interests of freely thinking Mankind as a single entity. This new state of the world we are approaching without noticing it, it is the ‘Noosphere’.
‍
The return of Christ as the fulfillment of the Noosphere as well as the consummation of the universe. According to the Law of Time, the end of linear time begins the time of the Noosphere and the return of Christ Consciousness.

But when will the return of Christ be if this dude is claiming to be the reincarnation of Christ? According to the lady I was talking to, who was a nun for this cult, the first coming occurred when Jesus came in His original body. After He died and was resurrected, she then said that He went to India (where He also spent His early years between 12 and 30), married, and somewhere along the line, was reincarnated in various forms, which is the second coming.

If you’re confused, I am too.

I asked her how that lined up with what the Bible (which she claimed to have read) says about the return of Jesus and how everyone will see Him and every knee will bow. Her response, like with many of the other questions I asked her, was, “I’m just a student.”

Some of the other questions I asked her included:

1). “Do you believe the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the actual teachings of Jesus during His first coming?”

2). “What evidence is there that Buddha Maitreya is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ?”

3). “If karma is real,” – (they believe in karma) – “then if a woman is raped, then does she deserve it for something bad that she did in a past life?”

4). “What defines good and bad, or your concept of ‘virtue’?”

5). “What happens after we die? Do I get reincarnated or do I get to break out of that cycle?”

6). “If we’re constantly being reincarnated, then what purpose is there in repenting and following this guy if I’m still, maybe, going to get reincarnated?”

The answers to questions 4-6 could be summed up as, “I don’t know,” as she kept telling me, “I’m just a student. It’s better to hear ‘Jesus’ speak.” The other three questions, however, she did try to answer. On the first one, she said that while Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were okay about Jesus’ ministry, but it’s better to hear from Buddha Maitreya himself. Additionally, her group mainly focuses on the “Lost Gospels.” The Lost Gospels are basically a theory that Jesus, in the 18 years that we know next to nothing about between His childhood and ministry, went to India, did some stuff there, and travelled back to Israel to His thing. Of course, there’s no solid historical evidence for this, but this is what they roll with.

On my second question, her response was that some anonymous pastor/theologian in South Africa said that Buddha Maitreya was Jesus after listening to him. And with the third question, she just brushed that off entirely as absurd.

I hope y’all can detect the issues with her apologetic for this cult. If it wasn’t saying “I don’t know” or deflecting, it’s based on completely unverifiable sources or unsupported theories. It got to a point where we were both getting frustrated, her with the questions, and me with the lack of answers. Finally, she directed me to Buddha Maitreya’s YouTube channel, and I may do a deep dive post on him and his cult eventually.

Finally, the last person I’ll mention here is a dude I’m just going to call Wyatt. Originally, we thought he was a Wiccan, but actually, he was closer to a Luciferian. There are different types of Luciferians out there, but in his case, he believed that we are gods who came from some source that we later called “God,” and that we need to realize that we’re God to eventually reach our full potential as god at some point. Thus, Wyatt believed that he’s a god and that he can help other people reach their god-ness.

As we continued to question this belief, though, Wyatt started getting visibly flustered to the point where his neck was so red and splotchy that I was wondering if he was having an allergic reaction to something. Thankfully, we were able to end the conversation when my dad informed Mom and I that he had finally located a family friend who was also doing evangelism there.

So, that was my experience with the New Agers this time around. It’s honestly a depressing look at how easily people are deceived as long as they can feel like they are in control.

Until next time,

M.J.

Blog: I Went to a New Age Expo (Stranger in a Strange Land) – Why are There so Many Kids Here? And What’s with Reincarnation?

Welp, it’s that time of year again. The birds are chirping, the flowers are coming up, the dang mosquitos are back for no other reason than to spite us, and the weather is as indecisive as Taylor Swift where it can’t decide what it wants to be. In other words, its spring, and that means that my local New Age expo is back in town, which means y’all get to hear about the madness.

This expo is one of four this year, with two happening in spring, one happening in mid-summer, and the last in early fall. However, from what I’ve heard from the people who went in previous years, the one we went to was the biggest one of the year. That said, I wasn’t surprised about the sheer number of people who were there. The convention hall was super crowded, but one of the things I wasn’t expecting about the crowd was how many kids were there. The majority of the crowd was female, so it was only natural that there would be some moms, but I wasn’t expecting the moms to bring their kids, ages ranging from babies to pre-teens. I saw one little boy holding a crystal wand in each hand as he sat and meditated at a booth, for crying out loud.

I can’t tell what’s worse: kids running around at Sephora, or kids running around at the New Age Expo. At least Sephora doesn’t have several booths selling psilocybin.

But besides the absurd number of kids there, the main thing that my family’s conversations with people revolved around was reincarnation. Now, I’ll stick to the three most interesting conversations we had with the people there for the sake of brevity, but all three are weird.

The first person we talked to was a lady who identified as Roman Catholic and believed in various Masters of Wisdom, particularly that Jesus is the Master of Love and Buddha is the Master of Wisdom. Further, she believed in perennial wisdom, which is the belief that there was once an ultimate truth or religion that got turned into the various beliefs and religions held by everyone today. Thus, everyone is on their own path to the ultimate source of everything as they gradually figure out and accept that they have the divine spark within them and reach enlightenment over the course of thousands or millions of reincarnation cycles.

She also believed that since everyone gets reincarnated, they basically have infinite attempts to get it right. If the planet blows up in the meantime, that’s fine. You’ll get transferred to a different planet. And if you do get it right and become some sort of super enlightened spiritual master, you can get transferred to another planet to help other people reach their enlightenment. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Now, for those of you who have read the Bible, you might be slightly confused about who the heck Jesus is to this lady and how He fits into her belief system. After all, she was saying that he’s one of the various Masters you can follow while the Bible says that He’s your only shot to Heaven. Well, when I brought up John 14:6 when Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” she said that Jesus is essentially the most enlightened person ever. He’s the gatekeeper to reaching God, so as the Master of Love, He’s the highest standard for everyone to follow to reach their divine spark.

Of course, that is not at all what Jesus meant in the Bible, but this is how she was interpreting it to fit with her worldview.

But that leaves the question of how Jesus reached such a high enlightenment status that He could claim to be God. According to her, it was through being unconditionally loving, thus reaching His full potential through the divine spark within, because God is love, whatever that’s defined as. It’s not like according to the Bible, while God is loving and merciful, He’s also just and must rain down His wrath on those who break His law or anything.

Overall, the path to the ultimate truth according to her was by being unconditionally loving and by following whatever truth fits you…which is entirely subjective and contradictory.

Another interesting conversation I had was with a member of what’s possibly the most obvious pseudo-Christian cult I’ve ever seen. This cult is called the Church of Shambhala Vajradhara Maitreya Sangha, and its leader is a dude who calls himself Buddha Maitreya and claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. As such, he believes that it’s his job to restore the Noosphere through Christ consciousness, amongst other things.

But what is the Noosphere? I’ll let him explain:

The Noosphere is the planetary sphere of mind or thinking layer of the planet Earth. To grasp the idea of the Noosphere, we must elevate our consciousness and open ourselves to the most general, elemental, and cosmic principles of life on Earth.

The Noosphere is the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness. As the mental sheathe of the planet, the Noosphere characterizes mind and consciousness as a unitary phenomenon. This means that the quality and nature of our individual and collective thoughts directly affects the Noosphere and creates the quality of our environment – the biosphere.

The historic process is changing dramatically before our eyes … Mankind taken as a whole is becoming a powerful geological force. Humanity’s mind and work face the problem of reconstructing the biosphere in the interests of freely thinking Mankind as a single entity. This new state of the world we are approaching without noticing it, it is the ‘Noosphere’.
‍
The return of Christ as the fulfillment of the Noosphere as well as the consummation of the universe. According to the Law of Time, the end of linear time begins the time of the Noosphere and the return of Christ Consciousness.

But when will the return of Christ be if this dude is claiming to be the reincarnation of Christ? According to the lady I was talking to, who was a nun for this cult, the first coming occurred when Jesus came in His original body. After He died and was resurrected, she then said that He went to India (where He also spent His early years between 12 and 30), married, and somewhere along the line, was reincarnated in various forms, which is the second coming.

If you’re confused, I am too.

I asked her how that lined up with what the Bible (which she claimed to have read) says about the return of Jesus and how everyone will see Him and every knee will bow. Her response, like with many of the other questions I asked her, was, “I’m just a student.”

Some of the other questions I asked her included:

1). “Do you believe the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the actual teachings of Jesus during His first coming?”

2). “What evidence is there that Buddha Maitreya is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ?”

3). “If karma is real,” – (they believe in karma) – “then if a woman is raped, then does she deserve it for something bad that she did in a past life?”

4). “What defines good and bad, or your concept of ‘virtue’?”

5). “What happens after we die? Do I get reincarnated or do I get to break out of that cycle?”

6). “If we’re constantly being reincarnated, then what purpose is there in repenting and following this guy if I’m still, maybe, going to get reincarnated?”

The answers to questions 4-6 could be summed up as, “I don’t know,” as she kept telling me, “I’m just a student. It’s better to hear ‘Jesus’ speak.” The other three questions, however, she did try to answer. On the first one, she said that while Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were okay about Jesus’ ministry, but it’s better to hear from Buddha Maitreya himself. Additionally, her group mainly focuses on the “Lost Gospels.” The Lost Gospels are basically a theory that Jesus, in the 18 years that we know next to nothing about between His childhood and ministry, went to India, did some stuff there, and travelled back to Israel to His thing. Of course, there’s no solid historical evidence for this, but this is what they roll with.

On my second question, her response was that some anonymous pastor/theologian in South Africa said that Buddha Maitreya was Jesus after listening to him. And with the third question, she just brushed that off entirely as absurd.

I hope y’all can detect the issues with her apologetic for this cult. If it wasn’t saying “I don’t know” or deflecting, it’s based on completely unverifiable sources or unsupported theories. It got to a point where we were both getting frustrated, her with the questions, and me with the lack of answers. Finally, she directed me to Buddha Maitreya’s YouTube channel, and I may do a deep dive post on him and his cult eventually.

Finally, the last person I’ll mention here is a dude I’m just going to call Wyatt. Originally, we thought he was a Wiccan, but actually, he was closer to a Luciferian. There are different types of Luciferians out there, but in his case, he believed that we are gods who came from some source that we later called “God,” and that we need to realize that we’re God to eventually reach our full potential as god at some point. Thus, Wyatt believed that he’s a god and that he can help other people reach their god-ness.

As we continued to question this belief, though, Wyatt started getting visibly flustered to the point where his neck was so red and splotchy that I was wondering if he was having an allergic reaction to something. Thankfully, we were able to end the conversation when my dad informed Mom and I that he had finally located a family friend who was also doing evangelism there.

So, that was my experience with the New Agers this time around. It’s honestly a depressing look at how easily people are deceived as long as they can feel like they are in control.

Until next time,

M.J.

Blog: I Went to a New Age Expo (Stranger in a Strange Land) – Why are There so Many Kids Here? And What’s with Reincarnation?

Welp, it’s that time of year again. The birds are chirping, the flowers are coming up, the dang mosquitos are back for no other reason than to spite us, and the weather is as indecisive as Taylor Swift where it can’t decide what it wants to be. In other words, its spring, and that means that my local New Age expo is back in town, which means y’all get to hear about the madness.

This expo is one of four this year, with two happening in spring, one happening in mid-summer, and the last in early fall. However, from what I’ve heard from the people who went in previous years, the one we went to was the biggest one of the year. That said, I wasn’t surprised about the sheer number of people who were there. The convention hall was super crowded, but one of the things I wasn’t expecting about the crowd was how many kids were there. The majority of the crowd was female, so it was only natural that there would be some moms, but I wasn’t expecting the moms to bring their kids, ages ranging from babies to pre-teens. I saw one little boy holding a crystal wand in each hand as he sat and meditated at a booth, for crying out loud.

I can’t tell what’s worse: kids running around at Sephora, or kids running around at the New Age Expo. At least Sephora doesn’t have several booths selling psilocybin.

But besides the absurd number of kids there, the main thing that my family’s conversations with people revolved around was reincarnation. Now, I’ll stick to the three most interesting conversations we had with the people there for the sake of brevity, but all three are weird.

The first person we talked to was a lady who identified as Roman Catholic and believed in various Masters of Wisdom, particularly that Jesus is the Master of Love and Buddha is the Master of Wisdom. Further, she believed in perennial wisdom, which is the belief that there was once an ultimate truth or religion that got turned into the various beliefs and religions held by everyone today. Thus, everyone is on their own path to the ultimate source of everything as they gradually figure out and accept that they have the divine spark within them and reach enlightenment over the course of thousands or millions of reincarnation cycles.

She also believed that since everyone gets reincarnated, they basically have infinite attempts to get it right. If the planet blows up in the meantime, that’s fine. You’ll get transferred to a different planet. And if you do get it right and become some sort of super enlightened spiritual master, you can get transferred to another planet to help other people reach their enlightenment. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Now, for those of you who have read the Bible, you might be slightly confused about who the heck Jesus is to this lady and how He fits into her belief system. After all, she was saying that he’s one of the various Masters you can follow while the Bible says that He’s your only shot to Heaven. Well, when I brought up John 14:6 when Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” she said that Jesus is essentially the most enlightened person ever. He’s the gatekeeper to reaching God, so as the Master of Love, He’s the highest standard for everyone to follow to reach their divine spark.

Of course, that is not at all what Jesus meant in the Bible, but this is how she was interpreting it to fit with her worldview.

But that leaves the question of how Jesus reached such a high enlightenment status that He could claim to be God. According to her, it was through being unconditionally loving, thus reaching His full potential through the divine spark within, because God is love, whatever that’s defined as. It’s not like according to the Bible, while God is loving and merciful, He’s also just and must rain down His wrath on those who break His law or anything.

Overall, the path to the ultimate truth according to her was by being unconditionally loving and by following whatever truth fits you…which is entirely subjective and contradictory.

Another interesting conversation I had was with a member of what’s possibly the most obvious pseudo-Christian cult I’ve ever seen. This cult is called the Church of Shambhala Vajradhara Maitreya Sangha, and its leader is a dude who calls himself Buddha Maitreya and claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. As such, he believes that it’s his job to restore the Noosphere through Christ consciousness, amongst other things.

But what is the Noosphere? I’ll let him explain:

The Noosphere is the planetary sphere of mind or thinking layer of the planet Earth. To grasp the idea of the Noosphere, we must elevate our consciousness and open ourselves to the most general, elemental, and cosmic principles of life on Earth.

The Noosphere is the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness. As the mental sheathe of the planet, the Noosphere characterizes mind and consciousness as a unitary phenomenon. This means that the quality and nature of our individual and collective thoughts directly affects the Noosphere and creates the quality of our environment – the biosphere.

The historic process is changing dramatically before our eyes … Mankind taken as a whole is becoming a powerful geological force. Humanity’s mind and work face the problem of reconstructing the biosphere in the interests of freely thinking Mankind as a single entity. This new state of the world we are approaching without noticing it, it is the ‘Noosphere’.
‍
The return of Christ as the fulfillment of the Noosphere as well as the consummation of the universe. According to the Law of Time, the end of linear time begins the time of the Noosphere and the return of Christ Consciousness.

But when will the return of Christ be if this dude is claiming to be the reincarnation of Christ? According to the lady I was talking to, who was a nun for this cult, the first coming occurred when Jesus came in His original body. After He died and was resurrected, she then said that He went to India (where He also spent His early years between 12 and 30), married, and somewhere along the line, was reincarnated in various forms, which is the second coming.

If you’re confused, I am too.

I asked her how that lined up with what the Bible (which she claimed to have read) says about the return of Jesus and how everyone will see Him and every knee will bow. Her response, like with many of the other questions I asked her, was, “I’m just a student.”

Some of the other questions I asked her included:

1). “Do you believe the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the actual teachings of Jesus during His first coming?”

2). “What evidence is there that Buddha Maitreya is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ?”

3). “If karma is real,” – (they believe in karma) – “then if a woman is raped, then does she deserve it for something bad that she did in a past life?”

4). “What defines good and bad, or your concept of ‘virtue’?”

5). “What happens after we die? Do I get reincarnated or do I get to break out of that cycle?”

6). “If we’re constantly being reincarnated, then what purpose is there in repenting and following this guy if I’m still, maybe, going to get reincarnated?”

The answers to questions 4-6 could be summed up as, “I don’t know,” as she kept telling me, “I’m just a student. It’s better to hear ‘Jesus’ speak.” The other three questions, however, she did try to answer. On the first one, she said that while Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were okay about Jesus’ ministry, but it’s better to hear from Buddha Maitreya himself. Additionally, her group mainly focuses on the “Lost Gospels.” The Lost Gospels are basically a theory that Jesus, in the 18 years that we know next to nothing about between His childhood and ministry, went to India, did some stuff there, and travelled back to Israel to His thing. Of course, there’s no solid historical evidence for this, but this is what they roll with.

On my second question, her response was that some anonymous pastor/theologian in South Africa said that Buddha Maitreya was Jesus after listening to him. And with the third question, she just brushed that off entirely as absurd.

I hope y’all can detect the issues with her apologetic for this cult. If it wasn’t saying “I don’t know” or deflecting, it’s based on completely unverifiable sources or unsupported theories. It got to a point where we were both getting frustrated, her with the questions, and me with the lack of answers. Finally, she directed me to Buddha Maitreya’s YouTube channel, and I may do a deep dive post on him and his cult eventually.

Finally, the last person I’ll mention here is a dude I’m just going to call Wyatt. Originally, we thought he was a Wiccan, but actually, he was closer to a Luciferian. There are different types of Luciferians out there, but in his case, he believed that we are gods who came from some source that we later called “God,” and that we need to realize that we’re God to eventually reach our full potential as god at some point. Thus, Wyatt believed that he’s a god and that he can help other people reach their god-ness.

As we continued to question this belief, though, Wyatt started getting visibly flustered to the point where his neck was so red and splotchy that I was wondering if he was having an allergic reaction to something. Thankfully, we were able to end the conversation when my dad informed Mom and I that he had finally located a family friend who was also doing evangelism there.

So, that was my experience with the New Agers this time around. It’s honestly a depressing look at how easily people are deceived as long as they can feel like they are in control.

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – A Comparison of Claims About the Insanity of Jesus and the Insanity of Muhammad. (Part 3)

Over the last two Flippin’ Fatwa Friday posts, I’ve discussed the possibility that Muhammad and Jesus were either epileptic or insane. Jesus repeatedly proved Himself to be of sound mind and didn’t show any sign of epilepsy. Muhammad didn’t pass so cleanly, with the theory that he had epilepsy or a personality disorder still standing. However, if neither man were epileptic or insane, this leaves what’s possibly the oldest and most serious accusation against either of them: demon possession. 

Demonic possession manifests itself in different ways and can look like psychological dysfunction. (15) According to the instances of demon possession recorded in the Bible, demon possessed people can’t control themselves, exhibit new personalities and abilities, (Matt 8:29, 9:33, 12:22, Mark 1:23-24) speak in a different voice or make them mute, (Mark 5:9, Luke 11:14) have supernatural knowledge (Acts 16:16-18), and tend to be suicidal. (Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43, 17:6) (3, 15)  

In the Bible, Jesus was accused of being demon possessed numerous times. In Luke 11:15, after Jesus had driven out a demon that made a person mute, some of the members of the crowd said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Similar accusations are found in Matthew 12:24, Mark 3:21-22, John 7:20, 8:48, 8:52, and 10:20. (3) 

 However, Jesus’ responses consistently disproved these claims. (Matthew 12:22-32, Mark 2:12, 3:22-30, 5:1-20, Luke 4:33-37, 11:14-23, and John 10:21) (3) At one point, he said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. And every city or household divided against itself will not last. If Satan forces Satan out, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom last? If I force demons out of people with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That’s why they will be your judges. But if I force demons out with the help of God’s Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Matthew 12:25-28) (3) 

In Muhammad’s case, he cannot effectively fend off this accusation. In fact, the charge that he was possessed has perhaps the best evidence to support it. Throughout Muhammad’s life, he experienced periods of great spiritual oppression or delusion. (22) Ibn Saad records that during Muhammad’s childhood, Halima would see a cloud shadowing him during severe heat. (10) This so greatly scared her that it prompted her to send him back to Aaminah. (7, 10) In Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaw, page 72: “His [Muhammad’s friends] father said to me, ‘I am afraid that this child has had a stroke, so take him back to his family before the result appears. … She [Muhammad’s mother] asked me what happened and gave me no peace until I told her. When she asked if I feared a demon had possessed him, I replied that I did.” (paragraph 5) (13) 

Various accounts of Muhammad’s first revelation are also damning. According to Karen Armstrong, ““Muhammad was torn from his sleep in his mountain cave and felt himself overwhelmed by a devastating divine presence. Later he explained this ineffable experience by saying that an angel had enveloped him in a terrifying embrace so that it felt as though the breath was being forced from his body.” (paragraph 5, sentence 1-2) (22) Sahih Muslim 160a writes, ““Then the Prophet returned therewith, his heart was trembling, and he went to Khadija and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up! So, they wrapped him till the fear had left him. He then said to Khadija: O Khadija! What has happened to me? And he informed her of the happening, saying: I fear for myself.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 4951 also says, “Then Allah’s Messenger returned with that experience; and the muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, ‘Cover me!’ They covered him, and when the state of fear was over, he said to Khadija, ‘O Khadija! What is wrong with me? I was afraid that something bad might happen to me.” (1)  

Ibn Ishaq and many of Muhammad’s contemporaries also agreed that he believed himself to be possessed and became suicidal afterwards. (22)  Islamic scholar al-Tabari, records that when the revelations ceased for a period of six months to three years, Muhammad became depressed and repeatedly attempted to jump off cliffs and mountain crags. (13) Guillaume’s The Life of Muhammad, page 106 contains Tabari’s record of what Muhammad said: “Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed – Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.” (Paragraph 13-paragraph 14, sentence 1-5) (13)  

When compared to the accounts of angelic encounters in the Bible, Muhammad’s initial encounter with Gabriel sounds more akin to the cases of demon possession found in the Bible. Whenever people in the Bible meet an angel, the angel always comforts them with the phrase, “Do not be afraid.” (Gen 15:1, 26:24, 46: 3; Dan 8:15-29, 10:12, 19; Matt 28:5, 10; Luke 1:13, 26-31, 2:10; Rev. 1:17) (3, 22) Then, after the visit from the angel or God Himself, while the people are understandably shaken and filled with reverent fear, they never experienced depression, much less suicidality. (13) In fact, many who were visited by God in the Bible were blessed with the opportunity to fellowship with Him. (Gen 3-4, 6, 12-18, Exodus 3-34, Isaiah 6, Luke 2, Acts 9) (13) With Muhammad’s encounter with Gabriel, none of that is present. 

Interestingly, the accusations from Muhammad’s contemporaries that he was possessed aren’t just found in the hadiths. Record of these accusations can also be found in the Quran in verses and passages such as surah 15:6, (2) 44:14, and 37:36, (2, 22), 81:22-25, 69:41-42. (2, 13) The reason for these accusations, according to Tabari, could be rooted in a superstition from the pre-Islamic Arabs who believed in the demon of poetry. (13) The pre-Islamic Arabs believed that great poets were directly inspired by demons, which, combined with the fact that early Quranic revelations were poetic in nature, may explain why Muhammad’s contemporaries and Muhammad himself believed him to be demon possessed. (13, 22) So great was this belief that Muhammad was possessed that there are numerous verses dedicated to rebutting these claims, such as surah 7:184, 23:70, 34:36 52:29, 68:2, 81:22. (2) Further evidence that Muhammad had strange experiences with spiritual entities is found in Sahih Bukhari 3421, which records that he was attacked by jinn during prayer. (1) 

Other accounts that support the claim that Muhammad was possessed is the infamous story of the Satanic Verses, which make up surah 53:19-23. (2, 11) According to accounts from Ibn Sa’d and al-Tabari in The Life of Muhammad, when Muhammad’s following was still small in Mecca, he revealed verses that pleased the Meccan leaders because it declared the existence of and endorsed the worship of three goddesses who were worshipped there. (11) When later questioned about it, Muhammad retracted it, (11) and claimed that Satan put those verses in his mouth. (13)  

Additionally, various hadiths (i.e. Sahih Bukhari 4.490, 7.660, 7.661, 7.658, 8.89, 8.400) record an incident in which Muhammad was bewitched for a year, believing that he was having sexual relations with his wives when he wasn’t (13, 22) and was also referenced by Ibn Hisham in The Life of Muhammad. (13) Aisha narrates in Sahih Bukhari 3175, “Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 6391, also records this and said, “[…] Allah’s Messenger was affected by magic, so much that he used to think that he had done something which in fact, he did not do, and he invoke his Lord (for a remedy). Then (one day) he said, ‘O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has advised me as to the problem I consulted him about?’ Aisha said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! What’s that?’ He said, ‘Two mean came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet, and one of them asked his companion, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The later replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’” (1)  It continues, saying, “Allah’s Messenger went to that well and returned to Aisha, saying, ‘By Allah, the water (of the well) was as red as the infusion of Hinna, and the date-palm trees look like the heads of devils.’” (1)  

People’s reaction to Gabriel were also telling, with as non-Muslims called Gabriel “Satan.” (Sahih Bukhari 2.225) (13) Aisha also couldn’t see Gabriel, (Sahih Bukhari 4.440) Muslims and non-Muslims thought Gabriel was a man named Dihya al-Kalbi (Sahih Bukhari 4.827), and Khadija couldn’t see him. (Life of Muhammad) (13) Gabriel also exhibited behavior that was inconsistent with a real angel of God, such as refusing to go into a house with a dog or picture, (Sahih Bukhari 4.450) didn’t understand genetics, (Sahih Bukhari 4.546), was unable to heal Muhammad when he prayed for him, and was responsible for the massacre of a Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayza. (Sahih Bukhari 5.448) (13) 

Finally, as compared to biblical prophets – specifically those who the Apostle Peter describes – Muhammad’s revelations were closer to those of a spiritist or channeler. (22) John Gilchrist, a South African Christian author and well-known authority on Islam compares Muhammad’s revelations to the epileptic boy in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 who was demon possessed. (22) His conclusion was that it’s possible that Muhammad could’ve been such a case, with occultic influences causing epilepsy-like symptoms without amnesia, which has been recorded as happening to oriental ecstatics and mystics by missionaries and others. (22) Even more damning that Muhammad was a false prophet who may have been demon possessed is that not only did Muhammad die of poisoning at the hands of a Jewish woman after the conquest of Khaybar, (11, 13) but all of his male children died when they were very young. (13) Why this is important is because in Jeremiah 23:15, 34, God says that He will punish false prophets via “bitter food” and “poisoned water,” and that He would “punish that man and his household.” (13)  

Overall, while it’s almost impossible to give a concrete diagnosis of the mental, spiritual, or neurological state of Jesus or Muhammad, from what we know of their lives, we can see if there is at least the potential that they suffered from some sort of disorder or spiritual oppression. While Jesus Christ has been repeatedly accused of having epilepsy, various personality disorders, or being demon possessed, He has repeatedly proved Himself to be completely sane. He denied being possessed, never acted as one demon possessed, and showed no symptoms of epilepsy or any personality disorders.  Muhammad, however, when faced with similar accusations, is unable to give a satisfying rebuttal. From the accounts given by the hadiths and various Islamic scholars, the belief that Muhammad had epilepsy, a personality disorder, or was demonically possessed finds ground. There are strange accounts that support each theory, leading some to even speculate that he had a combination of all three. Either way, it’s clear that while Jesus was perfectly sane and was who He said He was, Muhammad was most likely a madman. 

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – A Comparison of Claims About the Insanity of Jesus and the Insanity of Muhammad. (Part 3)

Over the last two Flippin’ Fatwa Friday posts, I’ve discussed the possibility that Muhammad and Jesus were either epileptic or insane. Jesus repeatedly proved Himself to be of sound mind and didn’t show any sign of epilepsy. Muhammad didn’t pass so cleanly, with the theory that he had epilepsy or a personality disorder still standing. However, if neither man were epileptic or insane, this leaves what’s possibly the oldest and most serious accusation against either of them: demon possession. 

Demonic possession manifests itself in different ways and can look like psychological dysfunction. (15) According to the instances of demon possession recorded in the Bible, demon possessed people can’t control themselves, exhibit new personalities and abilities, (Matt 8:29, 9:33, 12:22, Mark 1:23-24) speak in a different voice or make them mute, (Mark 5:9, Luke 11:14) have supernatural knowledge (Acts 16:16-18), and tend to be suicidal. (Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43, 17:6) (3, 15)  

In the Bible, Jesus was accused of being demon possessed numerous times. In Luke 11:15, after Jesus had driven out a demon that made a person mute, some of the members of the crowd said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Similar accusations are found in Matthew 12:24, Mark 3:21-22, John 7:20, 8:48, 8:52, and 10:20. (3) 

 However, Jesus’ responses consistently disproved these claims. (Matthew 12:22-32, Mark 2:12, 3:22-30, 5:1-20, Luke 4:33-37, 11:14-23, and John 10:21) (3) At one point, he said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. And every city or household divided against itself will not last. If Satan forces Satan out, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom last? If I force demons out of people with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That’s why they will be your judges. But if I force demons out with the help of God’s Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Matthew 12:25-28) (3) 

In Muhammad’s case, he cannot effectively fend off this accusation. In fact, the charge that he was possessed has perhaps the best evidence to support it. Throughout Muhammad’s life, he experienced periods of great spiritual oppression or delusion. (22) Ibn Saad records that during Muhammad’s childhood, Halima would see a cloud shadowing him during severe heat. (10) This so greatly scared her that it prompted her to send him back to Aaminah. (7, 10) In Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaw, page 72: “His [Muhammad’s friends] father said to me, ‘I am afraid that this child has had a stroke, so take him back to his family before the result appears. … She [Muhammad’s mother] asked me what happened and gave me no peace until I told her. When she asked if I feared a demon had possessed him, I replied that I did.” (paragraph 5) (13) 

Various accounts of Muhammad’s first revelation are also damning. According to Karen Armstrong, ““Muhammad was torn from his sleep in his mountain cave and felt himself overwhelmed by a devastating divine presence. Later he explained this ineffable experience by saying that an angel had enveloped him in a terrifying embrace so that it felt as though the breath was being forced from his body.” (paragraph 5, sentence 1-2) (22) Sahih Muslim 160a writes, ““Then the Prophet returned therewith, his heart was trembling, and he went to Khadija and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up! So, they wrapped him till the fear had left him. He then said to Khadija: O Khadija! What has happened to me? And he informed her of the happening, saying: I fear for myself.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 4951 also says, “Then Allah’s Messenger returned with that experience; and the muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, ‘Cover me!’ They covered him, and when the state of fear was over, he said to Khadija, ‘O Khadija! What is wrong with me? I was afraid that something bad might happen to me.” (1)  

Ibn Ishaq and many of Muhammad’s contemporaries also agreed that he believed himself to be possessed and became suicidal afterwards. (22)  Islamic scholar al-Tabari, records that when the revelations ceased for a period of six months to three years, Muhammad became depressed and repeatedly attempted to jump off cliffs and mountain crags. (13) Guillaume’s The Life of Muhammad, page 106 contains Tabari’s record of what Muhammad said: “Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed – Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.” (Paragraph 13-paragraph 14, sentence 1-5) (13)  

When compared to the accounts of angelic encounters in the Bible, Muhammad’s initial encounter with Gabriel sounds more akin to the cases of demon possession found in the Bible. Whenever people in the Bible meet an angel, the angel always comforts them with the phrase, “Do not be afraid.” (Gen 15:1, 26:24, 46: 3; Dan 8:15-29, 10:12, 19; Matt 28:5, 10; Luke 1:13, 26-31, 2:10; Rev. 1:17) (3, 22) Then, after the visit from the angel or God Himself, while the people are understandably shaken and filled with reverent fear, they never experienced depression, much less suicidality. (13) In fact, many who were visited by God in the Bible were blessed with the opportunity to fellowship with Him. (Gen 3-4, 6, 12-18, Exodus 3-34, Isaiah 6, Luke 2, Acts 9) (13) With Muhammad’s encounter with Gabriel, none of that is present. 

Interestingly, the accusations from Muhammad’s contemporaries that he was possessed aren’t just found in the hadiths. Record of these accusations can also be found in the Quran in verses and passages such as surah 15:6, (2) 44:14, and 37:36, (2, 22), 81:22-25, 69:41-42. (2, 13) The reason for these accusations, according to Tabari, could be rooted in a superstition from the pre-Islamic Arabs who believed in the demon of poetry. (13) The pre-Islamic Arabs believed that great poets were directly inspired by demons, which, combined with the fact that early Quranic revelations were poetic in nature, may explain why Muhammad’s contemporaries and Muhammad himself believed him to be demon possessed. (13, 22) So great was this belief that Muhammad was possessed that there are numerous verses dedicated to rebutting these claims, such as surah 7:184, 23:70, 34:36 52:29, 68:2, 81:22. (2) Further evidence that Muhammad had strange experiences with spiritual entities is found in Sahih Bukhari 3421, which records that he was attacked by jinn during prayer. (1) 

Other accounts that support the claim that Muhammad was possessed is the infamous story of the Satanic Verses, which make up surah 53:19-23. (2, 11) According to accounts from Ibn Sa’d and al-Tabari in The Life of Muhammad, when Muhammad’s following was still small in Mecca, he revealed verses that pleased the Meccan leaders because it declared the existence of and endorsed the worship of three goddesses who were worshipped there. (11) When later questioned about it, Muhammad retracted it, (11) and claimed that Satan put those verses in his mouth. (13)  

Additionally, various hadiths (i.e. Sahih Bukhari 4.490, 7.660, 7.661, 7.658, 8.89, 8.400) record an incident in which Muhammad was bewitched for a year, believing that he was having sexual relations with his wives when he wasn’t (13, 22) and was also referenced by Ibn Hisham in The Life of Muhammad. (13) Aisha narrates in Sahih Bukhari 3175, “Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 6391, also records this and said, “[…] Allah’s Messenger was affected by magic, so much that he used to think that he had done something which in fact, he did not do, and he invoke his Lord (for a remedy). Then (one day) he said, ‘O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has advised me as to the problem I consulted him about?’ Aisha said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! What’s that?’ He said, ‘Two mean came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet, and one of them asked his companion, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The later replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’” (1)  It continues, saying, “Allah’s Messenger went to that well and returned to Aisha, saying, ‘By Allah, the water (of the well) was as red as the infusion of Hinna, and the date-palm trees look like the heads of devils.’” (1)  

People’s reaction to Gabriel were also telling, with as non-Muslims called Gabriel “Satan.” (Sahih Bukhari 2.225) (13) Aisha also couldn’t see Gabriel, (Sahih Bukhari 4.440) Muslims and non-Muslims thought Gabriel was a man named Dihya al-Kalbi (Sahih Bukhari 4.827), and Khadija couldn’t see him. (Life of Muhammad) (13) Gabriel also exhibited behavior that was inconsistent with a real angel of God, such as refusing to go into a house with a dog or picture, (Sahih Bukhari 4.450) didn’t understand genetics, (Sahih Bukhari 4.546), was unable to heal Muhammad when he prayed for him, and was responsible for the massacre of a Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayza. (Sahih Bukhari 5.448) (13) 

Finally, as compared to biblical prophets – specifically those who the Apostle Peter describes – Muhammad’s revelations were closer to those of a spiritist or channeler. (22) John Gilchrist, a South African Christian author and well-known authority on Islam compares Muhammad’s revelations to the epileptic boy in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 who was demon possessed. (22) His conclusion was that it’s possible that Muhammad could’ve been such a case, with occultic influences causing epilepsy-like symptoms without amnesia, which has been recorded as happening to oriental ecstatics and mystics by missionaries and others. (22) Even more damning that Muhammad was a false prophet who may have been demon possessed is that not only did Muhammad die of poisoning at the hands of a Jewish woman after the conquest of Khaybar, (11, 13) but all of his male children died when they were very young. (13) Why this is important is because in Jeremiah 23:15, 34, God says that He will punish false prophets via “bitter food” and “poisoned water,” and that He would “punish that man and his household.” (13)  

Overall, while it’s almost impossible to give a concrete diagnosis of the mental, spiritual, or neurological state of Jesus or Muhammad, from what we know of their lives, we can see if there is at least the potential that they suffered from some sort of disorder or spiritual oppression. While Jesus Christ has been repeatedly accused of having epilepsy, various personality disorders, or being demon possessed, He has repeatedly proved Himself to be completely sane. He denied being possessed, never acted as one demon possessed, and showed no symptoms of epilepsy or any personality disorders.  Muhammad, however, when faced with similar accusations, is unable to give a satisfying rebuttal. From the accounts given by the hadiths and various Islamic scholars, the belief that Muhammad had epilepsy, a personality disorder, or was demonically possessed finds ground. There are strange accounts that support each theory, leading some to even speculate that he had a combination of all three. Either way, it’s clear that while Jesus was perfectly sane and was who He said He was, Muhammad was most likely a madman. 

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – A Comparison of Claims About the Insanity of Jesus and the Insanity of Muhammad. (Part 3)

Over the last two Flippin’ Fatwa Friday posts, I’ve discussed the possibility that Muhammad and Jesus were either epileptic or insane. Jesus repeatedly proved Himself to be of sound mind and didn’t show any sign of epilepsy. Muhammad didn’t pass so cleanly, with the theory that he had epilepsy or a personality disorder still standing. However, if neither man were epileptic or insane, this leaves what’s possibly the oldest and most serious accusation against either of them: demon possession. 

Demonic possession manifests itself in different ways and can look like psychological dysfunction. (15) According to the instances of demon possession recorded in the Bible, demon possessed people can’t control themselves, exhibit new personalities and abilities, (Matt 8:29, 9:33, 12:22, Mark 1:23-24) speak in a different voice or make them mute, (Mark 5:9, Luke 11:14) have supernatural knowledge (Acts 16:16-18), and tend to be suicidal. (Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43, 17:6) (3, 15)  

In the Bible, Jesus was accused of being demon possessed numerous times. In Luke 11:15, after Jesus had driven out a demon that made a person mute, some of the members of the crowd said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Similar accusations are found in Matthew 12:24, Mark 3:21-22, John 7:20, 8:48, 8:52, and 10:20. (3) 

 However, Jesus’ responses consistently disproved these claims. (Matthew 12:22-32, Mark 2:12, 3:22-30, 5:1-20, Luke 4:33-37, 11:14-23, and John 10:21) (3) At one point, he said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. And every city or household divided against itself will not last. If Satan forces Satan out, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom last? If I force demons out of people with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That’s why they will be your judges. But if I force demons out with the help of God’s Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Matthew 12:25-28) (3) 

In Muhammad’s case, he cannot effectively fend off this accusation. In fact, the charge that he was possessed has perhaps the best evidence to support it. Throughout Muhammad’s life, he experienced periods of great spiritual oppression or delusion. (22) Ibn Saad records that during Muhammad’s childhood, Halima would see a cloud shadowing him during severe heat. (10) This so greatly scared her that it prompted her to send him back to Aaminah. (7, 10) In Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaw, page 72: “His [Muhammad’s friends] father said to me, ‘I am afraid that this child has had a stroke, so take him back to his family before the result appears. … She [Muhammad’s mother] asked me what happened and gave me no peace until I told her. When she asked if I feared a demon had possessed him, I replied that I did.” (paragraph 5) (13) 

Various accounts of Muhammad’s first revelation are also damning. According to Karen Armstrong, ““Muhammad was torn from his sleep in his mountain cave and felt himself overwhelmed by a devastating divine presence. Later he explained this ineffable experience by saying that an angel had enveloped him in a terrifying embrace so that it felt as though the breath was being forced from his body.” (paragraph 5, sentence 1-2) (22) Sahih Muslim 160a writes, ““Then the Prophet returned therewith, his heart was trembling, and he went to Khadija and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up! So, they wrapped him till the fear had left him. He then said to Khadija: O Khadija! What has happened to me? And he informed her of the happening, saying: I fear for myself.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 4951 also says, “Then Allah’s Messenger returned with that experience; and the muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, ‘Cover me!’ They covered him, and when the state of fear was over, he said to Khadija, ‘O Khadija! What is wrong with me? I was afraid that something bad might happen to me.” (1)  

Ibn Ishaq and many of Muhammad’s contemporaries also agreed that he believed himself to be possessed and became suicidal afterwards. (22)  Islamic scholar al-Tabari, records that when the revelations ceased for a period of six months to three years, Muhammad became depressed and repeatedly attempted to jump off cliffs and mountain crags. (13) Guillaume’s The Life of Muhammad, page 106 contains Tabari’s record of what Muhammad said: “Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed – Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.” (Paragraph 13-paragraph 14, sentence 1-5) (13)  

When compared to the accounts of angelic encounters in the Bible, Muhammad’s initial encounter with Gabriel sounds more akin to the cases of demon possession found in the Bible. Whenever people in the Bible meet an angel, the angel always comforts them with the phrase, “Do not be afraid.” (Gen 15:1, 26:24, 46: 3; Dan 8:15-29, 10:12, 19; Matt 28:5, 10; Luke 1:13, 26-31, 2:10; Rev. 1:17) (3, 22) Then, after the visit from the angel or God Himself, while the people are understandably shaken and filled with reverent fear, they never experienced depression, much less suicidality. (13) In fact, many who were visited by God in the Bible were blessed with the opportunity to fellowship with Him. (Gen 3-4, 6, 12-18, Exodus 3-34, Isaiah 6, Luke 2, Acts 9) (13) With Muhammad’s encounter with Gabriel, none of that is present. 

Interestingly, the accusations from Muhammad’s contemporaries that he was possessed aren’t just found in the hadiths. Record of these accusations can also be found in the Quran in verses and passages such as surah 15:6, (2) 44:14, and 37:36, (2, 22), 81:22-25, 69:41-42. (2, 13) The reason for these accusations, according to Tabari, could be rooted in a superstition from the pre-Islamic Arabs who believed in the demon of poetry. (13) The pre-Islamic Arabs believed that great poets were directly inspired by demons, which, combined with the fact that early Quranic revelations were poetic in nature, may explain why Muhammad’s contemporaries and Muhammad himself believed him to be demon possessed. (13, 22) So great was this belief that Muhammad was possessed that there are numerous verses dedicated to rebutting these claims, such as surah 7:184, 23:70, 34:36 52:29, 68:2, 81:22. (2) Further evidence that Muhammad had strange experiences with spiritual entities is found in Sahih Bukhari 3421, which records that he was attacked by jinn during prayer. (1) 

Other accounts that support the claim that Muhammad was possessed is the infamous story of the Satanic Verses, which make up surah 53:19-23. (2, 11) According to accounts from Ibn Sa’d and al-Tabari in The Life of Muhammad, when Muhammad’s following was still small in Mecca, he revealed verses that pleased the Meccan leaders because it declared the existence of and endorsed the worship of three goddesses who were worshipped there. (11) When later questioned about it, Muhammad retracted it, (11) and claimed that Satan put those verses in his mouth. (13)  

Additionally, various hadiths (i.e. Sahih Bukhari 4.490, 7.660, 7.661, 7.658, 8.89, 8.400) record an incident in which Muhammad was bewitched for a year, believing that he was having sexual relations with his wives when he wasn’t (13, 22) and was also referenced by Ibn Hisham in The Life of Muhammad. (13) Aisha narrates in Sahih Bukhari 3175, “Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 6391, also records this and said, “[…] Allah’s Messenger was affected by magic, so much that he used to think that he had done something which in fact, he did not do, and he invoke his Lord (for a remedy). Then (one day) he said, ‘O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has advised me as to the problem I consulted him about?’ Aisha said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! What’s that?’ He said, ‘Two mean came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet, and one of them asked his companion, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The later replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’” (1)  It continues, saying, “Allah’s Messenger went to that well and returned to Aisha, saying, ‘By Allah, the water (of the well) was as red as the infusion of Hinna, and the date-palm trees look like the heads of devils.’” (1)  

People’s reaction to Gabriel were also telling, with as non-Muslims called Gabriel “Satan.” (Sahih Bukhari 2.225) (13) Aisha also couldn’t see Gabriel, (Sahih Bukhari 4.440) Muslims and non-Muslims thought Gabriel was a man named Dihya al-Kalbi (Sahih Bukhari 4.827), and Khadija couldn’t see him. (Life of Muhammad) (13) Gabriel also exhibited behavior that was inconsistent with a real angel of God, such as refusing to go into a house with a dog or picture, (Sahih Bukhari 4.450) didn’t understand genetics, (Sahih Bukhari 4.546), was unable to heal Muhammad when he prayed for him, and was responsible for the massacre of a Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayza. (Sahih Bukhari 5.448) (13) 

Finally, as compared to biblical prophets – specifically those who the Apostle Peter describes – Muhammad’s revelations were closer to those of a spiritist or channeler. (22) John Gilchrist, a South African Christian author and well-known authority on Islam compares Muhammad’s revelations to the epileptic boy in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 who was demon possessed. (22) His conclusion was that it’s possible that Muhammad could’ve been such a case, with occultic influences causing epilepsy-like symptoms without amnesia, which has been recorded as happening to oriental ecstatics and mystics by missionaries and others. (22) Even more damning that Muhammad was a false prophet who may have been demon possessed is that not only did Muhammad die of poisoning at the hands of a Jewish woman after the conquest of Khaybar, (11, 13) but all of his male children died when they were very young. (13) Why this is important is because in Jeremiah 23:15, 34, God says that He will punish false prophets via “bitter food” and “poisoned water,” and that He would “punish that man and his household.” (13)  

Overall, while it’s almost impossible to give a concrete diagnosis of the mental, spiritual, or neurological state of Jesus or Muhammad, from what we know of their lives, we can see if there is at least the potential that they suffered from some sort of disorder or spiritual oppression. While Jesus Christ has been repeatedly accused of having epilepsy, various personality disorders, or being demon possessed, He has repeatedly proved Himself to be completely sane. He denied being possessed, never acted as one demon possessed, and showed no symptoms of epilepsy or any personality disorders.  Muhammad, however, when faced with similar accusations, is unable to give a satisfying rebuttal. From the accounts given by the hadiths and various Islamic scholars, the belief that Muhammad had epilepsy, a personality disorder, or was demonically possessed finds ground. There are strange accounts that support each theory, leading some to even speculate that he had a combination of all three. Either way, it’s clear that while Jesus was perfectly sane and was who He said He was, Muhammad was most likely a madman. 

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – A Comparison of Claims About the Insanity of Jesus and the Insanity of Muhammad. (Part 3)

Over the last two Flippin’ Fatwa Friday posts, I’ve discussed the possibility that Muhammad and Jesus were either epileptic or insane. Jesus repeatedly proved Himself to be of sound mind and didn’t show any sign of epilepsy. Muhammad didn’t pass so cleanly, with the theory that he had epilepsy or a personality disorder still standing. However, if neither man were epileptic or insane, this leaves what’s possibly the oldest and most serious accusation against either of them: demon possession. 

Demonic possession manifests itself in different ways and can look like psychological dysfunction. (15) According to the instances of demon possession recorded in the Bible, demon possessed people can’t control themselves, exhibit new personalities and abilities, (Matt 8:29, 9:33, 12:22, Mark 1:23-24) speak in a different voice or make them mute, (Mark 5:9, Luke 11:14) have supernatural knowledge (Acts 16:16-18), and tend to be suicidal. (Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43, 17:6) (3, 15)  

In the Bible, Jesus was accused of being demon possessed numerous times. In Luke 11:15, after Jesus had driven out a demon that made a person mute, some of the members of the crowd said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Similar accusations are found in Matthew 12:24, Mark 3:21-22, John 7:20, 8:48, 8:52, and 10:20. (3) 

 However, Jesus’ responses consistently disproved these claims. (Matthew 12:22-32, Mark 2:12, 3:22-30, 5:1-20, Luke 4:33-37, 11:14-23, and John 10:21) (3) At one point, he said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. And every city or household divided against itself will not last. If Satan forces Satan out, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom last? If I force demons out of people with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That’s why they will be your judges. But if I force demons out with the help of God’s Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Matthew 12:25-28) (3) 

In Muhammad’s case, he cannot effectively fend off this accusation. In fact, the charge that he was possessed has perhaps the best evidence to support it. Throughout Muhammad’s life, he experienced periods of great spiritual oppression or delusion. (22) Ibn Saad records that during Muhammad’s childhood, Halima would see a cloud shadowing him during severe heat. (10) This so greatly scared her that it prompted her to send him back to Aaminah. (7, 10) In Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaw, page 72: “His [Muhammad’s friends] father said to me, ‘I am afraid that this child has had a stroke, so take him back to his family before the result appears. … She [Muhammad’s mother] asked me what happened and gave me no peace until I told her. When she asked if I feared a demon had possessed him, I replied that I did.” (paragraph 5) (13) 

Various accounts of Muhammad’s first revelation are also damning. According to Karen Armstrong, ““Muhammad was torn from his sleep in his mountain cave and felt himself overwhelmed by a devastating divine presence. Later he explained this ineffable experience by saying that an angel had enveloped him in a terrifying embrace so that it felt as though the breath was being forced from his body.” (paragraph 5, sentence 1-2) (22) Sahih Muslim 160a writes, ““Then the Prophet returned therewith, his heart was trembling, and he went to Khadija and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up! So, they wrapped him till the fear had left him. He then said to Khadija: O Khadija! What has happened to me? And he informed her of the happening, saying: I fear for myself.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 4951 also says, “Then Allah’s Messenger returned with that experience; and the muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, ‘Cover me!’ They covered him, and when the state of fear was over, he said to Khadija, ‘O Khadija! What is wrong with me? I was afraid that something bad might happen to me.” (1)  

Ibn Ishaq and many of Muhammad’s contemporaries also agreed that he believed himself to be possessed and became suicidal afterwards. (22)  Islamic scholar al-Tabari, records that when the revelations ceased for a period of six months to three years, Muhammad became depressed and repeatedly attempted to jump off cliffs and mountain crags. (13) Guillaume’s The Life of Muhammad, page 106 contains Tabari’s record of what Muhammad said: “Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed – Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.” (Paragraph 13-paragraph 14, sentence 1-5) (13)  

When compared to the accounts of angelic encounters in the Bible, Muhammad’s initial encounter with Gabriel sounds more akin to the cases of demon possession found in the Bible. Whenever people in the Bible meet an angel, the angel always comforts them with the phrase, “Do not be afraid.” (Gen 15:1, 26:24, 46: 3; Dan 8:15-29, 10:12, 19; Matt 28:5, 10; Luke 1:13, 26-31, 2:10; Rev. 1:17) (3, 22) Then, after the visit from the angel or God Himself, while the people are understandably shaken and filled with reverent fear, they never experienced depression, much less suicidality. (13) In fact, many who were visited by God in the Bible were blessed with the opportunity to fellowship with Him. (Gen 3-4, 6, 12-18, Exodus 3-34, Isaiah 6, Luke 2, Acts 9) (13) With Muhammad’s encounter with Gabriel, none of that is present. 

Interestingly, the accusations from Muhammad’s contemporaries that he was possessed aren’t just found in the hadiths. Record of these accusations can also be found in the Quran in verses and passages such as surah 15:6, (2) 44:14, and 37:36, (2, 22), 81:22-25, 69:41-42. (2, 13) The reason for these accusations, according to Tabari, could be rooted in a superstition from the pre-Islamic Arabs who believed in the demon of poetry. (13) The pre-Islamic Arabs believed that great poets were directly inspired by demons, which, combined with the fact that early Quranic revelations were poetic in nature, may explain why Muhammad’s contemporaries and Muhammad himself believed him to be demon possessed. (13, 22) So great was this belief that Muhammad was possessed that there are numerous verses dedicated to rebutting these claims, such as surah 7:184, 23:70, 34:36 52:29, 68:2, 81:22. (2) Further evidence that Muhammad had strange experiences with spiritual entities is found in Sahih Bukhari 3421, which records that he was attacked by jinn during prayer. (1) 

Other accounts that support the claim that Muhammad was possessed is the infamous story of the Satanic Verses, which make up surah 53:19-23. (2, 11) According to accounts from Ibn Sa’d and al-Tabari in The Life of Muhammad, when Muhammad’s following was still small in Mecca, he revealed verses that pleased the Meccan leaders because it declared the existence of and endorsed the worship of three goddesses who were worshipped there. (11) When later questioned about it, Muhammad retracted it, (11) and claimed that Satan put those verses in his mouth. (13)  

Additionally, various hadiths (i.e. Sahih Bukhari 4.490, 7.660, 7.661, 7.658, 8.89, 8.400) record an incident in which Muhammad was bewitched for a year, believing that he was having sexual relations with his wives when he wasn’t (13, 22) and was also referenced by Ibn Hisham in The Life of Muhammad. (13) Aisha narrates in Sahih Bukhari 3175, “Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 6391, also records this and said, “[…] Allah’s Messenger was affected by magic, so much that he used to think that he had done something which in fact, he did not do, and he invoke his Lord (for a remedy). Then (one day) he said, ‘O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has advised me as to the problem I consulted him about?’ Aisha said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! What’s that?’ He said, ‘Two mean came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet, and one of them asked his companion, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The later replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’” (1)  It continues, saying, “Allah’s Messenger went to that well and returned to Aisha, saying, ‘By Allah, the water (of the well) was as red as the infusion of Hinna, and the date-palm trees look like the heads of devils.’” (1)  

People’s reaction to Gabriel were also telling, with as non-Muslims called Gabriel “Satan.” (Sahih Bukhari 2.225) (13) Aisha also couldn’t see Gabriel, (Sahih Bukhari 4.440) Muslims and non-Muslims thought Gabriel was a man named Dihya al-Kalbi (Sahih Bukhari 4.827), and Khadija couldn’t see him. (Life of Muhammad) (13) Gabriel also exhibited behavior that was inconsistent with a real angel of God, such as refusing to go into a house with a dog or picture, (Sahih Bukhari 4.450) didn’t understand genetics, (Sahih Bukhari 4.546), was unable to heal Muhammad when he prayed for him, and was responsible for the massacre of a Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayza. (Sahih Bukhari 5.448) (13) 

Finally, as compared to biblical prophets – specifically those who the Apostle Peter describes – Muhammad’s revelations were closer to those of a spiritist or channeler. (22) John Gilchrist, a South African Christian author and well-known authority on Islam compares Muhammad’s revelations to the epileptic boy in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 who was demon possessed. (22) His conclusion was that it’s possible that Muhammad could’ve been such a case, with occultic influences causing epilepsy-like symptoms without amnesia, which has been recorded as happening to oriental ecstatics and mystics by missionaries and others. (22) Even more damning that Muhammad was a false prophet who may have been demon possessed is that not only did Muhammad die of poisoning at the hands of a Jewish woman after the conquest of Khaybar, (11, 13) but all of his male children died when they were very young. (13) Why this is important is because in Jeremiah 23:15, 34, God says that He will punish false prophets via “bitter food” and “poisoned water,” and that He would “punish that man and his household.” (13)  

Overall, while it’s almost impossible to give a concrete diagnosis of the mental, spiritual, or neurological state of Jesus or Muhammad, from what we know of their lives, we can see if there is at least the potential that they suffered from some sort of disorder or spiritual oppression. While Jesus Christ has been repeatedly accused of having epilepsy, various personality disorders, or being demon possessed, He has repeatedly proved Himself to be completely sane. He denied being possessed, never acted as one demon possessed, and showed no symptoms of epilepsy or any personality disorders.  Muhammad, however, when faced with similar accusations, is unable to give a satisfying rebuttal. From the accounts given by the hadiths and various Islamic scholars, the belief that Muhammad had epilepsy, a personality disorder, or was demonically possessed finds ground. There are strange accounts that support each theory, leading some to even speculate that he had a combination of all three. Either way, it’s clear that while Jesus was perfectly sane and was who He said He was, Muhammad was most likely a madman. 

Until next time,

M.J.

Apologetics: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – A Comparison of Claims About the Insanity of Jesus and the Insanity of Muhammad. (Part 3)

Over the last two Flippin’ Fatwa Friday posts, I’ve discussed the possibility that Muhammad and Jesus were either epileptic or insane. Jesus repeatedly proved Himself to be of sound mind and didn’t show any sign of epilepsy. Muhammad didn’t pass so cleanly, with the theory that he had epilepsy or a personality disorder still standing. However, if neither man were epileptic or insane, this leaves what’s possibly the oldest and most serious accusation against either of them: demon possession. 

Demonic possession manifests itself in different ways and can look like psychological dysfunction. (15) According to the instances of demon possession recorded in the Bible, demon possessed people can’t control themselves, exhibit new personalities and abilities, (Matt 8:29, 9:33, 12:22, Mark 1:23-24) speak in a different voice or make them mute, (Mark 5:9, Luke 11:14) have supernatural knowledge (Acts 16:16-18), and tend to be suicidal. (Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43, 17:6) (3, 15)  

In the Bible, Jesus was accused of being demon possessed numerous times. In Luke 11:15, after Jesus had driven out a demon that made a person mute, some of the members of the crowd said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Similar accusations are found in Matthew 12:24, Mark 3:21-22, John 7:20, 8:48, 8:52, and 10:20. (3) 

 However, Jesus’ responses consistently disproved these claims. (Matthew 12:22-32, Mark 2:12, 3:22-30, 5:1-20, Luke 4:33-37, 11:14-23, and John 10:21) (3) At one point, he said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. And every city or household divided against itself will not last. If Satan forces Satan out, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom last? If I force demons out of people with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That’s why they will be your judges. But if I force demons out with the help of God’s Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Matthew 12:25-28) (3) 

In Muhammad’s case, he cannot effectively fend off this accusation. In fact, the charge that he was possessed has perhaps the best evidence to support it. Throughout Muhammad’s life, he experienced periods of great spiritual oppression or delusion. (22) Ibn Saad records that during Muhammad’s childhood, Halima would see a cloud shadowing him during severe heat. (10) This so greatly scared her that it prompted her to send him back to Aaminah. (7, 10) In Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaw, page 72: “His [Muhammad’s friends] father said to me, ‘I am afraid that this child has had a stroke, so take him back to his family before the result appears. … She [Muhammad’s mother] asked me what happened and gave me no peace until I told her. When she asked if I feared a demon had possessed him, I replied that I did.” (paragraph 5) (13) 

Various accounts of Muhammad’s first revelation are also damning. According to Karen Armstrong, ““Muhammad was torn from his sleep in his mountain cave and felt himself overwhelmed by a devastating divine presence. Later he explained this ineffable experience by saying that an angel had enveloped him in a terrifying embrace so that it felt as though the breath was being forced from his body.” (paragraph 5, sentence 1-2) (22) Sahih Muslim 160a writes, ““Then the Prophet returned therewith, his heart was trembling, and he went to Khadija and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up! So, they wrapped him till the fear had left him. He then said to Khadija: O Khadija! What has happened to me? And he informed her of the happening, saying: I fear for myself.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 4951 also says, “Then Allah’s Messenger returned with that experience; and the muscles between his neck and shoulders were trembling till he came upon Khadija (his wife) and said, ‘Cover me!’ They covered him, and when the state of fear was over, he said to Khadija, ‘O Khadija! What is wrong with me? I was afraid that something bad might happen to me.” (1)  

Ibn Ishaq and many of Muhammad’s contemporaries also agreed that he believed himself to be possessed and became suicidal afterwards. (22)  Islamic scholar al-Tabari, records that when the revelations ceased for a period of six months to three years, Muhammad became depressed and repeatedly attempted to jump off cliffs and mountain crags. (13) Guillaume’s The Life of Muhammad, page 106 contains Tabari’s record of what Muhammad said: “Now none of God’s creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed – Never shall Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest.” (Paragraph 13-paragraph 14, sentence 1-5) (13)  

When compared to the accounts of angelic encounters in the Bible, Muhammad’s initial encounter with Gabriel sounds more akin to the cases of demon possession found in the Bible. Whenever people in the Bible meet an angel, the angel always comforts them with the phrase, “Do not be afraid.” (Gen 15:1, 26:24, 46: 3; Dan 8:15-29, 10:12, 19; Matt 28:5, 10; Luke 1:13, 26-31, 2:10; Rev. 1:17) (3, 22) Then, after the visit from the angel or God Himself, while the people are understandably shaken and filled with reverent fear, they never experienced depression, much less suicidality. (13) In fact, many who were visited by God in the Bible were blessed with the opportunity to fellowship with Him. (Gen 3-4, 6, 12-18, Exodus 3-34, Isaiah 6, Luke 2, Acts 9) (13) With Muhammad’s encounter with Gabriel, none of that is present. 

Interestingly, the accusations from Muhammad’s contemporaries that he was possessed aren’t just found in the hadiths. Record of these accusations can also be found in the Quran in verses and passages such as surah 15:6, (2) 44:14, and 37:36, (2, 22), 81:22-25, 69:41-42. (2, 13) The reason for these accusations, according to Tabari, could be rooted in a superstition from the pre-Islamic Arabs who believed in the demon of poetry. (13) The pre-Islamic Arabs believed that great poets were directly inspired by demons, which, combined with the fact that early Quranic revelations were poetic in nature, may explain why Muhammad’s contemporaries and Muhammad himself believed him to be demon possessed. (13, 22) So great was this belief that Muhammad was possessed that there are numerous verses dedicated to rebutting these claims, such as surah 7:184, 23:70, 34:36 52:29, 68:2, 81:22. (2) Further evidence that Muhammad had strange experiences with spiritual entities is found in Sahih Bukhari 3421, which records that he was attacked by jinn during prayer. (1) 

Other accounts that support the claim that Muhammad was possessed is the infamous story of the Satanic Verses, which make up surah 53:19-23. (2, 11) According to accounts from Ibn Sa’d and al-Tabari in The Life of Muhammad, when Muhammad’s following was still small in Mecca, he revealed verses that pleased the Meccan leaders because it declared the existence of and endorsed the worship of three goddesses who were worshipped there. (11) When later questioned about it, Muhammad retracted it, (11) and claimed that Satan put those verses in his mouth. (13)  

Additionally, various hadiths (i.e. Sahih Bukhari 4.490, 7.660, 7.661, 7.658, 8.89, 8.400) record an incident in which Muhammad was bewitched for a year, believing that he was having sexual relations with his wives when he wasn’t (13, 22) and was also referenced by Ibn Hisham in The Life of Muhammad. (13) Aisha narrates in Sahih Bukhari 3175, “Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done.” (1) Sahih Bukhari 6391, also records this and said, “[…] Allah’s Messenger was affected by magic, so much that he used to think that he had done something which in fact, he did not do, and he invoke his Lord (for a remedy). Then (one day) he said, ‘O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has advised me as to the problem I consulted him about?’ Aisha said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! What’s that?’ He said, ‘Two mean came to me and one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet, and one of them asked his companion, ‘What is wrong with this man?’ The later replied, ‘He is under the effect of magic.’” (1)  It continues, saying, “Allah’s Messenger went to that well and returned to Aisha, saying, ‘By Allah, the water (of the well) was as red as the infusion of Hinna, and the date-palm trees look like the heads of devils.’” (1)  

People’s reaction to Gabriel were also telling, with as non-Muslims called Gabriel “Satan.” (Sahih Bukhari 2.225) (13) Aisha also couldn’t see Gabriel, (Sahih Bukhari 4.440) Muslims and non-Muslims thought Gabriel was a man named Dihya al-Kalbi (Sahih Bukhari 4.827), and Khadija couldn’t see him. (Life of Muhammad) (13) Gabriel also exhibited behavior that was inconsistent with a real angel of God, such as refusing to go into a house with a dog or picture, (Sahih Bukhari 4.450) didn’t understand genetics, (Sahih Bukhari 4.546), was unable to heal Muhammad when he prayed for him, and was responsible for the massacre of a Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayza. (Sahih Bukhari 5.448) (13) 

Finally, as compared to biblical prophets – specifically those who the Apostle Peter describes – Muhammad’s revelations were closer to those of a spiritist or channeler. (22) John Gilchrist, a South African Christian author and well-known authority on Islam compares Muhammad’s revelations to the epileptic boy in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 who was demon possessed. (22) His conclusion was that it’s possible that Muhammad could’ve been such a case, with occultic influences causing epilepsy-like symptoms without amnesia, which has been recorded as happening to oriental ecstatics and mystics by missionaries and others. (22) Even more damning that Muhammad was a false prophet who may have been demon possessed is that not only did Muhammad die of poisoning at the hands of a Jewish woman after the conquest of Khaybar, (11, 13) but all of his male children died when they were very young. (13) Why this is important is because in Jeremiah 23:15, 34, God says that He will punish false prophets via “bitter food” and “poisoned water,” and that He would “punish that man and his household.” (13)  

Overall, while it’s almost impossible to give a concrete diagnosis of the mental, spiritual, or neurological state of Jesus or Muhammad, from what we know of their lives, we can see if there is at least the potential that they suffered from some sort of disorder or spiritual oppression. While Jesus Christ has been repeatedly accused of having epilepsy, various personality disorders, or being demon possessed, He has repeatedly proved Himself to be completely sane. He denied being possessed, never acted as one demon possessed, and showed no symptoms of epilepsy or any personality disorders.  Muhammad, however, when faced with similar accusations, is unable to give a satisfying rebuttal. From the accounts given by the hadiths and various Islamic scholars, the belief that Muhammad had epilepsy, a personality disorder, or was demonically possessed finds ground. There are strange accounts that support each theory, leading some to even speculate that he had a combination of all three. Either way, it’s clear that while Jesus was perfectly sane and was who He said He was, Muhammad was most likely a madman. 

Until next time,

M.J.

Poll: Iran

Poll: Iran

Poll: Iran

Poll: Iran

Poll: Iran

Blog: I’m Suspicious About Age Verification Tech Online…

For a few years now, questions about how to verify the age of various people on the internet have been flying around, especially as it pertains to keeping pornography out of kids’ hands. Most of the time, the verification works on an honor system, where a popup appears, asks if you’re XYZ age, and you can click yes or no. Obviously, however, this isn’t a good system as people will inevitably lie about their age to access whatever they’re trying to access. It’s the same with social media sites where often, you can just lie about your age when it asks for your birthday as you’re making your account.

Thus, because of the obvious flaws with this system, tech companies, often when faced with mounting legal pressure to do so, have started looking into new, more accurate ways of figuring out the age of their users…and the way it’s going is quite invasive. Now, quite a few companies such as YouTube, Discord, Roblox, and others are demanding that users submit a government issued ID or allow the app to scan their face so AI can guess their age. If you don’t, either the app will restrict what features you can use or it will be almost completely unusable.

While on the surface, this seems like a good idea so these tech companies can prevent children from seeing adult content or being groomed, there is a big issue with allowing them to have your ID or to scan your face: where is it being stored? And how safe is your info?

Though many of these companies will say that the image of your ID will be promptly deleted and that the scan of your face is processed on your phone so it’s not being stored by a third party, we’ve found over the years that those assurances sometimes turn out to be lies. For example, in September of last year, Discord experienced a massive data breach, in which the hackers managed to access the third-party customer support services, stealing people’s IDs, names, emails, usernames, billing info, etc. And just think about how many times you get alerts that such-and-such social media site has experienced a data breach. A lot of your info is already out there – do you really want them having access to more of it, especially if your kids’ info is involved?

Additionally, when Roblox rolled their age verification system a few months ago, it soon proved to be incredibly easy to sneak around. People figured out that you could use AI platforms such as Sora to get past the facial age estimation. Pedophiles on the platform, not wanting to lose access to kids, also started buying and trading age verified accounts for whatever age bracket they wanted to prey on.

Speaking about the age verification, this method is also flawed due to the fact that AI is incapable of telling the actual age of a person. It can estimate it, but some people look younger than they are while others look much older, making these estimates inaccurate. In fact, some people have complained that the age verification on Discord thought they were teenagers when they’re adults and made it almost unusable by putting them on the teen setting.

But besides the obvious issues regarding submitting your ID to random tech companies who profit off of selling your data, or doing a face scan, we need to ask if we’re really comfortable with trading extremely sensitive information about ourselves in exchange for being able to chat with friends or play a game. Do I support the idea that certain websites should require an ID to access (i.e. porn sites.) Yes? But when it comes to other websites such as social media, then I have to question if it’s really worth it. Do they not have a better way of keeping people safe without invading our privacy?

Until next time,

M.J.