April 26, 2009, 8:47 pm by dc-agape.

One of my Russian commenters reminded me that today is the 20^th anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy.  There is not much to say about this event.  It was a horrific chain of events that should not be forgotten.  Dating my age, I was sixteen and even I remember how tragic it felt in the US.  Within a year something overshadowed the events in another country: the Challenger Disaster.  I bring up the second scientific disaster, with much smaller loss of life, because both influenced my scientific education.  Chernobyl warned me of becoming overconfident (similar to many older people’s experience with 3-mile Island).  Where the Challenger disaster made me realize that no matter how many safe-guards we create accidents occur. 

Science is not perfect.  At least we can learn from our mistakes.  Does religion do the same?

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April 26, 2009, 8:12 pm by dc-agape.

Surāh 82 – Al-Infiţār: The Cleaving

I will start each post on the Qur’an with a link to M Mohammad Ali’s translation of the Qur’an with his commentaries. 

I am getting really bored of the same topic in each of these surāhs.  Obviously the Prophet was obsessed with the Day of Judgment.  M Ali believes that this surāh opens with the concept of the victory of Islam (the Truth) over all oppression and all deniers.  Whether this is accurate or not, by the fifth verse the concept has again returned to the Day of Judgment.  This concept of a metaphoric destruction of the earth, sun, and stars would at least make more sense than Allāh waiting until the end of the universe to judge one puny species on one of an infinite number of planets that have existed and will exist before the end of the entire universe. 

I particularly want to point out two verses:

82:7-8 Who created thee, then made thee complete, then made thee in a right good state – Into whatever form He pleases He cast thee.

What can I say?  Here the Prophet is suggesting that Allāh took 4.567 billion years (yes, four significant figures) just to bring humans to the pinnacle of evolution.  But is Homo Sapiens the pinnacle of “human” evolution?  Only the most arrogant fool would think that we are the top dog or the final form.  Life on earth is not stagnant!  Even the young earth creationists agree that micro-evolution occurs.  If you multiply out the “micro” to centuries, boom, you have macro-evolution.  Humans will continue to evolve.  Hopefully our brains will get larger, our cultures will become more peaceful, and historians will look back on this century as the changing point to a better society.  It is truly ironic that the religious teach humankind to be humble, yet the concept of a personal “god” and Judgment Day are the greatest form of human pride and arrogance.

The Prophet ends this surāh attempting to describe the indescribable.  Both the 17^th and 18^th verse ask the same question.  How will humankind know what the Day of Judgment is when it cannot be described with human language?  Unfortunately, the final verse does nothing for the question.  The Prophet uses the question to tell us that Allāh will be in control of that day.  Big help, that does not tell the reader anything about the Day of Judgment.

As an Atheist, the Prophet is not helping.  His preoccupation with the Judgment Day is getting boring.  And he has repeated himself in numerous surāhs without clarifying the reasons for believing that this event will occur.  I will be ending this part of the reading of Qur’an when I finish the 78^th surāh: Al-Naba’ – The Announcement.

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