Malaysian Astronaut

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Last week Malaysia sent it's first man in space to the International Space Station.

Being a Muslim nation there was a bit of a tizzy about keeping the Ramadan fast up there as well as the matter of his daily prayers. I mean how does one face Mecca in a space shuttle hurtling around the globe through several time zones every few minutes?

All the instructions given to him by the priesthood (yes, yes, Islam is not supposed to have priests but try explaining that to the mullahs) made it stark how earth-centric the various monotheist religions tend to be.

What happens when a century from now if a muslim ( if there is an earth 100 years from now, it can only mean that monotheism is dead..but for the sake of argument..) is stationed in Mars? How would he orient his prayer carpet? I know this sounds terribly rude but it isn't. I am making a serious point about the futility of monotheism's anthrocentric and earthcentric nature.

We need to grow past such thinking and remain in awe of the glory of the Universe without the need for kow-towing to some figment of imagination charading as a supreme being. The same advice by the way holds true for Christians.

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@Adam Bing,

great thought

Christians, Jews, and Muslims all have their "Mecca"

I've always thought it was absurd, even a bit anti-semitic, that God would create a whole world and love/choose one people/place as his favorite or Chosen

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@Adam Bing,

Adam Bing;42685 wrote:

Last week Malaysia sent it's first man in space to the International Space Station.

Being a Muslim nation there was a bit of a tizzy about keeping the Ramadan fast up there as well as the matter of his daily prayers. I mean how does one face Mecca in a space shuttle hurtling around the globe through several time zones every few minutes?

All the instructions given to him by the priesthood (yes, yes, Islam is not supposed to have priests but try explaining that to the mullahs) made it stark how earth-centric the various monotheist religions tend to be.

What happens when a century from now if a muslim ( if there is an earth 100 years from now, it can only mean that monotheism is dead..but for the sake of argument..) is stationed in Mars? How would he orient his prayer carpet? I know this sounds terribly rude but it isn't. I am making a serious point about the futility of monotheism's anthrocentric and earthcentric nature.

We need to grow past such thinking and remain in awe of the glory of the Universe without the need for kow-towing to some figment of imagination charading as a supreme being. The same advice by the way holds true for Christians.

Take it to the next level, we Indeed realise our potential and are able to travel to other solar systems. This may seem far fetch, but so was a spherical earth I believe. How then do the prey to their designated holy land?

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@Numpty,

Numpty;43061 wrote:

Take it to the next level, we Indeed realise our potential and are able to travel to other solar systems. This may seem far fetch, but so was a spherical earth I believe. How then do the prey to their designated holy land?

These belief-sets are destined to die out my friend. Either that or they go down in flames and take us innocent bystanders with them.

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@Adam Bing,

I say, just respect that people do what they are programed to do and by understanding this we can develop compassion. When we attack and criticize the placing of a prayer rug, we are in fact allowing our ego to rule in the falsehood that we know better. When we begin accepting we begin practicing the long lost theory of peace.

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@Tulip cv,

Tulip;43084 wrote:

I say, just respect that people do what they are programed to do and by understanding this we can develop compassion. When we attack and criticize the placing of a prayer rug, we are in fact allowing our ego to rule in the falsehood that we know better. When we begin accepting we begin practicing the long lost theory of peace.

Tulip, that truly is how we should all behave. Truly. I was brought up in a multicultural society and taught to respect all beliefs which I did and do. My problem is with evangelizing & the position I take is simple. If you believe in something, I respect your belief. If however you try and impose your belief on others, then respectfully, I need to test your belief-set.

By evangelizing, you make it legit for the belief set to be questioned, which is what I do and encourage all thinking people to do the same.

The Hindus for example, have an elephant god in Ganesh. The whole myth is about as convincing as the virgin birth or god whispering the Koran to Mohammed.

But there is a crucial difference. The Hindus do not attempt to foster their belief in Ganesh on to others either by persuasion, bribery, fear or force. So I respect them their belief even though I may not believe it myself. I enjoy the myth because it threatens no one and is a great story.

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@Silverchild79,

Silverchild79;42707 wrote:

great thought

Christians, Jews, and Muslims all have their "Mecca"

I've always thought it was absurd, even a bit anti-semitic, that God would create a whole world and love/choose one people/place as his favorite or Chosen

Don't you have a favorite brother, uncle, aunt. I suppose if you have children the same applys.

2 Replies

@Drnaline,

Drnaline;43200 wrote:

Don't you have a favorite brother, uncle, aunt. I suppose if you have children the same applys.

An omnipotent, all-knowing god with a favourite. Scary thought. The fact is that god is used by individuals and groups as a method to establish power by claiming to be his favourite.

The reason man made god, is because he needs him.

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@Drnaline,

Drnaline;43200 wrote:

Don't you have a favorite brother, uncle, aunt. I suppose if you have children the same applys.

WHAT! you have a favourite child? how absurd, as any parent will say with out doubt, they do not choose between their children.

1 Reply

@Numpty,

Adam, I understand where you are coming from, and if you you look at my posts from say, a year ago, we would have been on the same page. However, l have had some interesting circumstances come about that made me realize that the media has really taken this war and made it into a sensationalize account that has created a huge rift between peace and a lack of peace.
I don't think the Muslim religion is great, l think it is ignorant. But l think that a lot of religion is ignorant and l think that God would be horrified at what has become of the avators words {Jesus, Buddah, and Kristna} and the saints {un-named and named} deeds and the contents of the bible, ie. what was included, what was excluded, what was warped in translation etc.
I can go on about how l don't personally agree with the Muslim belief and the Koran, and in fact l have in this forum, but the truth remains that we are in a world war. It is a world with a lack of peace. And peace translates into the opposite of ignorance, understanding.
So when l personally chose to take a look at the situation as a learning event, and l personally stood on the other side of the religious argument, i.e. from a Muslims' point of view, it was interesting to say the least.
This is where l saw that they worship God, we worship God, and we are killing each other in the name of God....HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

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Malaysian Astronaut

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