RAMAZAN BLUES

And so it begins...

Tomorrow I'm going to have to get up around 4 am and EAT! yes, that how ramazan is and then I'm going to starve till sunset. Come to think of it, ramazan seems like a really strange event but it turns out that starving oneself is the favorite method of atoning for ones sins in Islam and for that matter in Christianity and Judaism. All three of these religions have some sort of fasting rituals. And all 3 of these religions completely fail to make such sense to me.

I'm always torn between my desire to be tolerant and accepting of religions and their believers and my own beliefs and the dangers and irrationality I perceive in organized religions. So right now I want to point out the flaws I see in ramazan but my liberal side wants me to be accepting of others beliefs. But I see that I can express my beliefs and still accept other people's right to believe what they want.

Here's what I really think: I always get a little blue during ramazan. I never liked ramazan because the whole thing is such a charade. I see people who have been doing all kinds of stuff act all pious for a month. And it's not as if they become pious in things that really matter like lying, bribing, cruelty, crime etc. NO, they stop listening to music, watching movies and start criticizing other people on how they practice their religion. And throughout the whole month religious lectures are broadcast on TV all day long exhorting people to become even more narrow-minded and indoctrinating hate. And all entertainment dies out. I get sick of all the pseudo-religiosity and being surrounded by it makes me feel insecure as people seem to lose even the little sense of reasoning and rationality they sometimes have. And that's what makes eid (which comes at the end of ramazan) such a festive occasion!