Is Islamic theology relevant in the modern world?
A. Paxman's perception of religious orthodoxy:
Remembering the life and legacy of Avijit Roy
A software engineer by profession and a writer by passion Avijit Roy(1972-2015) was a leading Bangladeshi-American human rights activist, author and a pioneer in Bengali free-thought movement. In 2001, Avijit launched a virtual discussion group of freethinkers of mainly Bengali and South Asian descent. This small discussion group would eventually lead to the inception of the first secular humanist website in the Bengali language, called 'Mukto-mona.' The literal English translation of 'Mukto-Mona' is 'Free-thinker.' As an Internet congregation of freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists & humanists Mukto-Mona gave a platform for the secular ethos of Bangladeshi culture to be reinvigorated. In an interview with a daily newspaper, Avijit described his organization's aspirations by the following lines,
Hypatia comes to our town
In one of the most despicable attempts to restrict free expression to be seen in recent times, Bangla Academy has tried to impose a two-year ban on "Srabon Prokashoni," a secular publishing house.
Farcical democracy in the EU referendum
On 3rd of November 2016, three senior most judges of the British high court gave a landmark ruling that the British Parliament alone, not the government, has the ultimate authority to trigger Article 50, the formal process to exit the European Union. The government had so far insisted that it does not require any parliamentary authority as royal prerogative powers were sufficient to proceed. When government's contention was legally challenged by a handful of well intentioned public, the lord chief justice of the high court declared, "The government does not have power under the crown's prerogative to give notice pursuant to article 50 for the UK to withdraw from the EU."
We must honour our dissenters - An interview with Maryam Namazie
In a personal conversation with Maryam Namzie I shared the story of Mukto-mona, discussed on key global issues what sort of future we envisage.
History of Hajj
It is almost universally accepted by the Muslims, but not necessarily by all 100 per cent of Muslims, that every bit of Islamic teaching in the form of verses, as depicted in the Holy Quran, is the direct message from the all powerful, omnipresent, omniscient Allah through His messenger Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). As these teachings are direct revelations from Allah, they are the absolute and ultimate truth and nothing can or should be done ever to change or reform these revelations. That is why Islam remains frozen for the last 1400 years or so.
Regressive Islam
The Muslim world is now in utter chaotic and fragmented state both economically and politically after nearly 1400 years of its existence. The cause of its problem lies not so much in its disharmony with the present world but in the very modality of its existence. As the last of the three monotheistic religions (Judaism and Christianity being the other two), it came into existence as the last and final religion proclaiming the ultimate truth from the Creator, the Almighty God. The message was final and nothing could replace it. Whereas other religions kept pace with time and space and evolved (albeit reluctantly) with scientific development and knowledge, Islam steadfastly refused to reform itself. It is indeed utterly constrained by its own proclamation of finality and thereby invariant to changes.
Is America Unfair to Muslims?
Recently there has been a lot of media uproar on the claim that the United States of America was unfair to the Muslims and discriminated against them. It is also claimed that the USA hated Muslims.