Ali A. Rizvi

The religion/ politics dichotomy is a false one. It isn't that politics has no role; it's that politics is simply inseparable from the Abrahamic religions. Religion is politics. That was the case during the Barbary confrontation in 1786, and it's the case with the Israel-Palestine conflict now. Throughout history, religion has simply been an excuse looking for a conflict.

When liberals equate criticizing Islamic doctrine with anti-Muslim bigotry, it leaves a vacuum that is too frequently filled by genuine right-wing anti-Muslim bigots who are even more disagreeable. Who gets stuck in the middle? Ex-Muslims.

But the most catastrophic display of misogyny in all religion lies at the very heart of Christianity__n the story of the Virgin Mary. That Jesus was born of a virgin is a fundamental narrative upon which all Christianity is based. It is one that is carried through to Islam, where the Quran holds Mary in great esteem.The implications of this have historically been devastating to women....Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ as a virgin, with no man ever having touched her. She is therefore described as pure, chaste, undefiled, innocent__eing the product of an __mmaculate conception_ herself (as per Catholic doctrine), and now hosting God__ immaculate son in her unblemished womb.What does this mean for women who are touched by men? Are their conceptions corrupted? Are their characters and bodies now impure or unchaste? Have they been __efiled_?...Was all of Mary__ beauty, sanctity, chastity, and innocence confined to her vagina?Fetishizing Mary__ virginity__s Christians and Muslims both do__s a sickness that directly leads to a dangerous, unnatural glamorization of celibacy and sexual repression.__xcerpt From: Ali A. Rizvi. __he Atheist Muslim._ iBooks.