Is believing in an afterlife really so comforting?

May 27, 2020 Eli Heinaafterlife, DeathLeave a comment

It’s hard to not think about death right now.

One of the most commonly-cited criticisms of atheism is the lack of comfort it offers in the face of death and tragedy. Atheism doesn’t provide any kind of solace when loved ones and innocent people die, the reasoning goes, so why rob people of that happiness?

I can’t say that I relate to that line of thinking at all, personally.

The vice I felt tightening around my godless heart as I read through as much of the New York Times front page list as I could stand? The pain couldn’t compare in the slightest to the soul-crushing agony I used to go through upon the most minor news of tragedy when I was a Muslim. When I was a believer, that allegedly comforting belief in an afterlife was agonizing torture. Continue reading “Is believing in an afterlife really so comforting?” →

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Today Christian’s 10 Questions for Every Atheist

April 4, 2016 Eli Heinaatheism, christianity, Pascal's Wager8 Comments

Next time Today Christian poses questions for atheists, its authors and editors might consider some sort of mechanism by which said atheists might answer them rather than declare “Atheist [sic] Cannot Truly and Honestly REALLY Answer” them, lest the questions be mistaken for something that “leads to some interesting conclusions” as to their true motives for asking.

I’ll answer anyway.

Continue reading “Today Christian’s 10 Questions for Every Atheist” →

Irvine No Longer Friendly to Religious Diversity

July 15, 2015 Eli Heina7 Comments

Sometimes, with all the intercommunity issues, I forget what we’re up against as secular Americans. I was reminded of it last night.

I attended the July 14th Irvine City Council meeting in which a proposed measure to add a display of In God We Trust to the council chambers was deliberated. Irvine is my hometown, the city in which I spent most of my life and where I was educated. Although it severely lacked in economic diversity and bred some of the classist views of which I’ve had to actively divest myself, as far as ethnic and worldview-based diversity and acceptance goes, it was a great place to grow up for a young hijab-wearing Muslim like the one I was. I wanted to speak against the addition of the motto.

No more is the Irvine I knew, it seems. Between Mayor Steven Choi’s heavy-handed Christianity, Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway’s absurd insistence that Christianity was in need of tolerance from non-Christians, Councilmember Christina Shea’s rather dismal insinuations that atheism leads to child abuse, and the majority of the Councilmembers’ disingenuous insistence that “God” is a secular term (the notable exception being Councilmember Beth Krom, who showed great courage last night in standing up for church-state separation and secular inclusivity), I can’t say that I give the city quite as much credit that way anymore. Continue reading “Irvine No Longer Friendly to Religious Diversity” →

Search Term Round-Up #4: Dating & Sex + Religion & Race, Oh My~

July 14, 2015 Eli Heinadating, racismLeave a comment

Content notice for racism and sex and racist sex and sexual violence.

Inspired in no small part by the grand tradition of Captain Awkward.

racial preference is racism / dating preferences racist / are preferences racist / race preference dating / is having a preference racist

TL;DR answer to all of these: Sometimes.
Slightly longer answer: Saying “I’m attracted to [members of a particular racial/ethnic group]” is a faux-complimentary way of saying “All [members of a particular racial/ethnic group] look alike to me.”
Much longer answer: What Is Racist About Race-Based Dating Preferences

i’ve been fantasizing a bout girls in hijabs

Welp.

Between weirdos on campus and at atheist meetups, I have a lot of personal not-good feelings about men who profess veil fetishes. Continue reading “Search Term Round-Up #4: Dating & Sex + Religion & Race, Oh My~” →

Haramadan Day 1: Religion & Tragedy

June 18, 2015 Eli Heinagun violence, Haramadan, white supremacyLeave a comment

Ten years ago, I would have spent my early afternoon reciting al-Fatihah at least four times, chanting Allah hu akbar seemingly endless times to mark my transition from motion to motion. Today, instead, I say the names of people I don’t know, people whose lives were cut short: Sharonda Coleman-Singleton. Clementa Pinckney. Cynthia Hurd. Tywanza Sanders. Myra Thompson. Ethel Lee Lance. Daniel L. Simmons. Depayne Middleton. Susie Jackson.

It isn’t that I think religious believers are apathetic when it comes to justice (quite the contrary), or even that I didn’t care about tragedy when I was a believer. It’s more that, without feeling like I know that justice will eventually be served and that the victims are in a better place, my immediate reaction involves a lot more anger. There is no way to immediately soothe myself, just a rawness and a sense of loss and of being lost. Continue reading “Haramadan Day 1: Religion & Tragedy” →

#Haramadan Begins Tonight

June 17, 2015 Eli Heinaapostasy, Haramadan, ramadan3 Comments

I’ve not been as active as I had in a while, so to get myself back on track, I’m going to start the Haramadan Chronicles in this Year of Migration 1436*. I’m going to be reflecting and writing, facetiously and seriously, here and on other outlets, on my history with the Islamic month of fasting and its accompanying traditions, rituals, and routines. Dedicated self-reflection and ritual are the only aspects of Ramadan I have truly missed; now that I’m fairly comfortable with my apostasy, there is no reason for me not to give that part of it a whirl again.

Making this especially fun is the fact that my Hijri birthday is the 5th of Ramadan, my partner Danny‘s is the first of Shawwal (aka the day of Eid ul-Fitr), and he is going to be experiencing Ramadan and Eid firsthand for the first time this year.

Some reading to get you started:

* That is the year right now according to the Hijra calendar, which is a lunar calendar based on the year Muhammad reportedly migrated from Makkah to Madinah.

Why I Side-Eye St. Patrick’s Day Revelry

March 17, 2015 Eli HeinaCatholicism, holidays, St. Paddy, St. Patrick22 Comments

Why am I supposed to care about some ancient British dude converting a bunch of people to a religion I have never and will never follow, again? Continue reading “Why I Side-Eye St. Patrick’s Day Revelry” →

Is Religion Really a Choice?: An Ajar Thread

March 16, 2015 Eli Heinaagency, choice, free will9 Comments

Take the atheist who says their deconversion was due to evidence yet that it is a lack of cognitive function and/or education that makes people religious. The Christian who claims to have freely chosen to have been Born Again but thinks all Muslims are brainwashed by and enslaved to The Devil. The Muslim who openly affirms the shahada without any claims of coercion as they sigh about how many people would convert to Islam if only they knew the truth about it.

Most people, religious or not, will claim to have selected their own belief system or lack thereof without compulsion or too much in the way of influence. At the same time, many (if not most) are ready, willing, able, and even eager to point out the environmental and other external factors that lead others to their disparate religious choices. Continue reading “Is Religion Really a Choice?: An Ajar Thread” →

Some Songs for Christmas Tourists

December 22, 2014 Eli Heina2 Comments

♫ It’s the Most Othering Time of the Year ♫

Despite the vehement efforts of many atheists, some of whom I otherwise like, I’m still not fully on board with the atheist Christmas thing. Not only did I not grow up with it, I was shamed for telling the truth about one of its symbols. All the “secular Christmas”-pushing done by many atheists reeks of respectability politics and centers mainstream American culture in a way that makes me really uncomfortable.

It ends up kind of sounding very Mr. Garrison-esque, sometimes.

However, as I said back when I was a babby Skepchick, I personally consider myself a Christmas tourist. Christmas and all its surrounding traditions are exotic and sometimes interesting to me.

So how does an othered Christmas tourist enjoy Christmas music, something that even the Christmas-invested can hate? A hearty dose of irreverence and fun.

Continue reading “Some Songs for Christmas Tourists” →

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Here to disrupt your narrative.

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