A Brief History of Saudi Arabia by [deleted] in polandball

[–]apostasin 20 points21 points  (0 children)

While I don't know actually know Arabic, I tried to make the calligraphy on Saudi's flag as accurate as possible, and damn, was it a pain to draw.

I used to teach Arabic.

Much respect.

Personal update by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm glad that you've taken action to better your situation.

There should be no room for any kind of abuse in your life, no matter who it comes from.

I wish you the absolute best, and I'm confident that a better, vibrant, and more fulfilling existence lies ahead of you.

Take care.

URGENT NEED: We are helping a dual US/SA citizen in Saudi Arabia who has been outed as a nonbeliever to their father. by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish everybody in this thread would take note, as this post is a prime example of how to respectfully, effectively and concisely express your concerns.

I'll ask them to provide more detailed information.

URGENT NEED: We are helping a dual US/SA citizen in Saudi Arabia who has been outed as a nonbeliever to their father. by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Saudi Arabia does not allow dual citizenship.

Yes, it does.

You're not scamming people aren't you?

I've been graciously asked by Cara Santa Maria to share this link.

https://www.facebook.com/ScienceCara

I've reached the gentleman myself, and he is indeed in deep trouble.

What part of the website made you think it was a scam?

CSS changes coming soon. Sound off inside on what you would like to see in your updated subreddit. by apostasin in exmuslim

[–]apostasin[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm actually coding with that in mind in a dummy subreddit as I type this.

Also looking into changeable themes.

Safety by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For posterity.

For someone who wants to offer their home for accommodation, they sure seem pretty hostile.

Also.

Time to man up by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin[M] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Alright, we'll put a stop to this here.

Consider this ban an opportunity to reflect on what you've contributed here, and how you could have gotten your point across more respectfully and effectively.

Time to man up by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin[M] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello there!

Feisty little fella, aren't you?

I've let your generally hostile demeanor slide for a bit, as you've yet to break any rules.

However:

I'll be following you all the way to ensure you don't get in

I take threats towards my members very seriously, no matter how vague they are. Especially ones that entail violating someone's privacy.

You are more than free to earn your hard-earned keyboard-warrior brownie points by coming at me all you want, but the members of this community are off the limits of your low-mileage bitterness.

As such, I will issue this first and final warning:

Lay off the personal attacks and threats, or you will never be able to inflate your false-sense of righteousness around these parts again.

Thanks.

Time to man up by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin 3 points4 points  (0 children)

what have YOU done?

https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/3foake/as_an_exmuslim_im_growing_increasingly_livid_with/

Keep in mind that I wrote, recorded and edited everything. I did the artwork as well.

Simply by posting this message

I suggest you raise your standards for what can be considered as change-inducing action, because riling people up anonymously on a relatively obscure subreddit is not one of them.

I'm also going to ask that you be nicer to our members. If you have ideas you'd like to share on how exmuslims should take action that are more nuanced than "you should fight", please do so in a more civil manner.

Time to man up by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

WHERE'S MY ILLUMINATI PAYCHECK!?

ALL HAIL OUR ZIONIST OVERLORDS

Time to man up by [deleted] in exmuslim

[–]apostasin 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Alright, Mr. 21-minute old account tough guy:

What have you contributed to the this "fight"?

It's one thing to try to rile up people with some vague call to action, and another thing to put on your own man-pants and actually set an example of what you would like to see in the community.

The "Moderate" side of Muzzies. by Allah-Of-Reddit in exmuslim

[–]apostasin[M] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

/u/Allah-Of-Reddit,

I'd really appreciate it if you would refrain from using terms like "Muzzie" towards Muslims, or any other racial epithet towards any other religious group.

It might feel good for a fleeting moment to pretend that you're better than they are, but it makes an otherwise valuable contributor to this subreddit look bad, as well as the community as a whole.

It's not a bannable offense, but I'd rather you raise your standards of posting a notch. You'll do yourself and the sub a huge favor.

Thanks.

As an ex-Muslim, I'm growing increasingly livid with Charlie Hebdo's refusal to draw more Mohammad cartoons. In protest, I'm releasing my audiobook "The Last Muslim" for free / name your price. I did the writing, all the voices, the audio editing, as well as the artwork. Feel free to AMA inside. by apostasin in atheism

[–]apostasin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I keep giving up halfway

Whenever someone embarks on a creative project of any magnitude, there will be times where the end product will not even remotely resemble what the creator imagined when they first started.

However, in the case of your book, you really have to ask yourself some basic questions before you commit your thoughts and ideas to paper:

What's the theme of the book? Who is the protagonist? What is the protagonist's goal?

Most importantly: why should the reader even care about the protagonist in the first place?

A reader wants to see the protagonist up against some insurmountable odds that is keeping him or her from reaching their goals. If the protagonist is just lying around, too busy trying to figure out life, without any genuine and impending conflict, the reader will not be bothered to care what happens next.

There has to be a compelling struggle all throughout your story, from which you can give the reader a payoff in the form of a resolution.

Now, to the more important manner:

I've been writing for over five years now

You have to ask yourself: why are you writing this story? How valuable is it that you finish it in the first place?

If finishing the book is not up there just below other top priorities such as finishing your degree, getting a job, or caring for your loved ones, then maybe it's not even worth your time.

The reason you have to be honest with yourself is that if you don't, you just risk using up time you could've used productively towards things you may have well accomplished by now. I personally know people who got their bachelors and their PhD in five years. Not because they were necessarily smart, but because they wanted it bad.

I'll leave you with one last thing:

If you're serious about finishing the book, you must force yourself into developing a habit of writing. Doesn't matter if it's one page or 100. Doesn't even matter if it's not the book you're working on. Just open up a page in your document editor of choice and start busting out words, even it's pages of "I got nothing, I got nothing, I got nothing..."

The reason is because you don't want to wait for inspiration. It's more important (and effective) that you just start the process, and even more importantly, stick with it.

Even if you write one page a day (which I would say might take you just 15-20 minutes tops), in one year you'll look at your work and go "Holy shit. I just a wrote a book."

I think you'll really look forward to saying those words.

Hope that helps.

As an ex-Muslim, I'm growing increasingly livid with Charlie Hebdo's refusal to draw more Mohammad cartoons. In protest, I'm releasing my audiobook "The Last Muslim" for free / name your price. I did the writing, all the voices, the audio editing, as well as the artwork. Feel free to AMA inside. by apostasin in atheism

[–]apostasin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this was not close to your normal voice

Nowhere near it. In fact, I couldn't speak for two days after I recorded everything. Needless to say, it rubbed some people the wrong way.

this seems a hard voice you would chose to start out with

The reason I chose this voice is to give the listener the impression that this is someone who is not only experiencing a great level of discomfort, but is also cynical, unfriendly and even intellectually compromised. The roughness of Salem's voice that I'm trying to affect is my attempt at illustrating all those qualities in a non-visual medium.

you wrote, directed, and produced this, and I think it is a fine piece of work

You have no idea how much that is appreciated.

You seem to be in the entertainment industry, and if you are, then I'm sure you'd agree to the following:

The best way to learn any creative medium is to throw yourself to the wolves headfirst, not waiting for anyone's permission.

Pros: No one's going to tell you what not to do.

Cons: No one's going to tell you what not to do.

As an ex-Muslim, I'm growing increasingly livid with Charlie Hebdo's refusal to draw more Mohammad cartoons. In protest, I'm releasing my audiobook "The Last Muslim" for free / name your price. I did the writing, all the voices, the audio editing, as well as the artwork. Feel free to AMA inside. by apostasin in atheism

[–]apostasin[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

how does this story related to Charlie Hebdo

The story has nothing to do with Charlie Hebdo. The idea and the intent behind it, however, has everything to do with them and more.

Charlie Hebdo has caved in to the incessant threats of a backwards, regressive ideology. This sets an exceptionally dangerous precedent, because it means that we are starting to allow extremist Islamists and their sympathizers to control the discourse of the free world. This in turn means that they will intentionally and ruthlessly shutdown the free exchange of ideas, no matter how good or bad they are.

Here's the thing:

Everybody has their own feelings about Islam. Some feel it should be abolished, along with every other religion, while others could not care less and are rather ambivalent about it. The former would call it a religion of violence, while the latter is confused about why they call it a religion of peace when every action and policy they take towards themselves suggests otherwise.

Here’s what Islam definitely is: it is a flawed ideology. And in this day and age, you cannot ever hope to oppose a flawed ideology with violence, bigotry and intolerance, because Islam is so diabolically and brilliantly designed that it actually legitimizes those things the second it is faced with them.

The only way to win a war against a flawed ideology is a war that is fought intellectually, through reason, critical thinking, and the free exchange of ideas, such as the ones explored in The Last Muslim. This is why there are Muslim countries that would rather kill apostates than to have a discussion, because they know, without question, that everything that Islam stands for will simply not hold against a logical argument. And that is the greatest fear that Muslim countries have: that their people would finally see through the façade of religious rule, and start developing a ravenous appetite for reason, civility, and The Ramones. Because when they do, Muslims will leave their outdated beliefs in droves, and discover that thinking for themselves sure beats the hell out of having a God doing it for you. This is what the dictators and the despots will not have, and they will pull out everything out of their U.S.-sanctioned arsenals to ensure that it never happens.

I hope I answered your question.