1. Storm erupts over 'virginity' divorce

Comment #186476 by Strigoia on May 30, 2008 at 10:41 am

I have to agree with the people who think this isn't a big deal. My fiance has told me he was a virgin when we met, and frankly, if I found out now that he'd lied, it would completely undermine my faith in him and we probably wouldn't stay together. I wouldn't have cared so much if he hadn't been, but the lie would eat at me forever. (Perhaps that seems extreme, but honesty is extremely important to me.)

Now, mind, I think it's absurd that Islamic culture puts so much emphasis on female virginity, to the point of declaring a woman worthless if she has premarital sex. But we may be blowing this out of proportion. People in America get divorced for lesser reasons every day, and nobody bats an eye.

The real question, I think, was how much choice the woman had. Was it an arranged marriage, was she forced to lie, did she want the divorce, how will her family treat her now, will she be able to remarry someone of her own choosing, etc. I'm far more concerned for her welfare now than for the loss of what most likely would've been a troubled marriage.

2. Life after Jehovah's Witnesses: website offers help to followers who lose their faith

Comment #176008 by Strigoia on May 6, 2008 at 10:44 am

Good for her. If I could just get my two brothers out of this religion, life would be better for my whole family (especially my brother's three children, who are being indoctrinated now). Alas, my oldest brother just started going back to the meetings, and as he's mentally unstable, it's not exactly easy to talk rationally to him.

3. Atheists to celebrate at Darwin Day in Coconut Creek

Comment #121909 by Strigoia on February 4, 2008 at 10:35 am

I happen to think Darwin Day is a great idea. Rather than hiding from it, we should be trying to get others involved - educators, scientists, etc. - so that it's not just an "athiest" holiday but rather an "educated" one. Hell, let's have more of these days. Let's celebrate Galileo's and Newton's discoveries, Socrates' wisdom, the end of the Inquisition, etc. - anything that heralds the end of religious rule and the beginning of thoughtful inquiry.

4. Death Sentence for Afghan Student

Comment #115261 by Strigoia on January 23, 2008 at 8:16 pm

Beyond writing to Congress (which is a good idea, thank you Beth), does anyone have any suggestions for how to help him and his brother?

5. Gay Jesus play blasted by bishop

Comment #114115 by Strigoia on January 21, 2008 at 11:45 am

Oh noes, Jesus slash! :D Sorry to disappoint, but people have been writing this kind of stuff for a while now. And with all the subtext in the N.T., can you blame them?

6. Honour Killings

Comment #113742 by Strigoia on January 20, 2008 at 12:29 pm

The tragedy of forced marriage and honour killing could have been avoided if the poor girls were educated in a single sex state funded Muslim schools by female Muslim teachers.

Right, because anyone can see that places where boys and girls are educated together, such as Britian, have an absolute epidemic of honor killings when compared with Middle Eastern countries that follow Sharia law. (/sarcasm)

7. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #111990 by Strigoia on January 16, 2008 at 6:45 am

Galactor asked: "Can someone familiar with American politics please throw a blanket of comfort over me and assure me that the actual amendment of the constitution along the lines that Huckleberry advocates would be a very, very hard thing to do indeed?"

Well, American politicians have passed some pretty stupid laws in the past, but constitutional amendments are not exactly easy to push through. The process is briefly outlined here.

If you scroll down a bit, you'll see that in the entire history of the USA, only 27 amendments have been made to the constitution. Plenty have been proposed, but most have stalled or been defeated. So I'd say that even if Huckabee somehow manages to win the general election, this is not really something we have to be afraid of. What he might do with his veto power and ability to appoint judges, now, that's something I'd worry about....

8. Two Ex-Jehovah Witnesses to Tell Why They Became Atheists

Comment #110029 by Strigoia on January 10, 2008 at 10:43 am

Styrer: I don't mind at all. However, this is going to be a long comment, so my apologies to everyone else. :D To be honest, it was so long ago (I'm 27 now, and I left in my teens) that I really couldn't pinpoint any one thing that led up to it. I know that as I got older and my critical thinking skills developed, I couldn't justify the actions of the people around me. I was also sick of being pressured to get baptized (JWs baptize people as adults because they want them to make a conscious commitment, but I've known them to baptize people as young as 7 - at 14, I was positively old by their standards).

If you want specific things, I guess I could name a couple. For one, there was one woman who was very respected in our congregation who told me that if someone she was studying with (we called them "calls," as in to call upon someone) wasn't progressing after six months, she would drop them. I was offended by the idea that she felt someone could be written off as a waste of time. Additionally, when I was fifteen (and already more or less fed up with everything), I watched my best friend's father tell her that she should drop out of school to preach full-time. He'd convinced her two oldest brothers to do so, but thankfully failed with his three youngest children. If I recall, he told her something along the lines of: "I can't imagine what you can learn in school that will help you more than devoting this time to the ministry."

There were a lot of other things that bothered me, too, such as the assertion that homosexuality and abortion are evil, that women are inferior to men, the crusade against secular education, et cetera. I also hated the idea that we shouldn't read information others gave us when we went to their door, lest it "shake our faith in Jehovah." If our faith was the correct one, shouldn't we be able to read anything and logically refute it? (Obviously, I was still young enough to think "logic" and "faith" could play in the same pool.)

After I stopped attending meetings, it took me a long time to figure out what I actually believed in. I started calling myself an agnostic after a year or so, then finally adopted the label "atheist" in my mid-twenties (though I had actually been an atheist for several years, I was still afraid of the label).

As for doubts, well... not really. I'm a much better person now than I was as a JW. Whereas before my idea of charity was preaching, I now volunteer, give to homeless people, donate to charities, and even once ran a fundraiser to benefit AIDS victims (and plan to do so again soon). I vote in every election, now that I'm allowed, and when I die I can donate my organs without fear of some wrathful deity. As an evolutionist, I believe that human life is not magically more valuable than animal life, and have been a vegetarian for more than eight years. Instead of devoting myself to knocking on doors, I'm studying to get my MLS so I devote myself to getting kids to read. And perhaps best of all, if I ever have a child and he/she needs a blood transfusion, I won't sacrifice him/her to the whims of the Watchtower Society. If there is a god out there keeping scorecards, I feel much more confident in my chances now. I only wish I could convince more people to walk this road with me.

Sorry for the novel-length post!

9. Two Ex-Jehovah Witnesses to Tell Why They Became Atheists

Comment #109943 by Strigoia on January 10, 2008 at 5:57 am

PJG: As a former JW (I left as a teenager and became agnostic, then became an athiest some years later), I think I can safely say the only repercussions these two have to fear are social and psychological. JWs may be crazy, but at least they are pacifists. Of course, being cut off from one's family is no picnic, either. My sister and mother left the religion as well, but I have one brother who won't speak to me (I'm sure he reguarly prays for my conversion and/or destruction), and until his death in November, my father and I were always at odds with one another, though he softened in his later years.

Anyhow, I wish these two the best of luck. I can vouch for the "Orwellian" nature of this cult - it's truly scary to see as an outsider.