a lot of her life problems stem from it—she moved to turkey and married someone she’d practically never met, because of course there’s no dating, getting to know each other, or any intersex mingling in “god’s” world. obviously that didn’t work out, though it was always her choice, in the end. she’s picking up the pieces through a divorce process, years later.

her parents became insanely hostile to her just for going out to see me, for doing what brought her happiness, even when it was simply a day out in the city, or attending a concert. she was always greeted on her return with complete silence. they completely ignored her—a 32-year-old woman, but still their child—for going against their controlling commands. she is ostracized from the family for as long as she is with me.

she defends it as her culture. she’s an afghan, so we all know how that “culture” is working out for them. the irony is she’s now in istanbul, where there are magnificent monuments made by a people who have been all but entirely displaced from their own settlement. islam didn’t just change the culture of a people—it completely removed those people from their own culture, period. i’ve heard the call to prayer over the phone, many times. it is loud, intrusive, and its musical mood is that of something very scary and wrong.

this religion ruins lives. it prevents people from truly living, from making their own choices. it makes them afraid of their own shadows. everything is a sin, everything will send you to hell—and of course, blind faith in a book where contradictions and outdated barbarities abound is the only cure prescribed. it’s a complete cancer. worse than cancer. as it transmits from parent to child, a fear and suffering.

i’m sick of religion. i am no longer tolerant of it, at all. i want it eliminated from the world. after seeing this unfold in front of my eyes, i can’t see any good in it, not anymore. the way people see the greek gods today—just some vestige of the past, that yes, countless people based their lives around, but at least it is no longer—that’s what christianity needs to be, that’s what hinduism needs to be. and judaism. and islam.

and all those figures mentioned need to be seen not for their false titles—prophets, leaders, wise men—but for their injustices. abraham’s willingness to sacrifice a separately living and helpless human child? religion was founded in cult insanity—it literally springs from ancient animal and human sacrifice, and a complete misunderstanding of how the world works. they couldn’t even understand suffering. and really, what’s changed? it’s still ignored, sacrifices are still made daily—only now they’re living ones.

in elijah, who had a whole tribe committed to slaughter for belief in a different flavor of imaginary overseer—what lived on were the wars, the bloodshed, the conquests. all to make his numbers greater than rest. when wars can’t be condoned, make it about birthrates. still the same principle. competition. because billions of people can’t be wrong, right?

and about muhammad? i place this man on the level of hitler. probably worse. and we know hitler was in fact inspired by islam. what muhammad dropped onto the world was worse than any nuclear instrument of war, more presently toxic than any atomic radiation that still lingers. there is no hell, but if we can someday make his name an equivalent to the depravity and viciousness of his own deeds, he will be eternally despised, which is close enough.

i hope more wake up to just how atrocious religions have been. it’s all there, right in their own books. you can’t get to verse four of a single surah—an-nisa—without already coming across “you may marry whichever women seem good to you, two, three, or four” and permitting the holding of slaves. this is the one women bandy about, like it must be so kind because of its title? read, people. read. it was the first delusional command muhammad heard in his cave. did he ever listen? no. he remained illiterate his entire lifetime, even when he had all the wealth and resources to learn. he preferred bedding his nine wives in a single night.

he’s no holy man. he’s wholly scum. we are all better than him, and we can all read, so there is no excuse not to. if you still believe, follow the advice muhammad never could: read, and rid yourself of the chains this perverse warlord’s cult has slapped upon your wrists. no matter how many generations before you have submitted, no matter how hard it gets to live in accordance with actual truth—if it can stop with you, you will be preventing the same agonizing oppression and suffering from spreading in a future direction. live true to the heart. no child deserves to be brought up in this. not ever.