No revelation descends from on high, whatever rises, rises from the depth of human frustration.

--Marx (1818–1883), among the atheist philosophers of the ninteenth century, should be treated separately in his own right. To him the denial of God is not merely incidental, it is an integral component of his philosophy, with which religion is absolutely incompatible. With him, humans are like elements interacting with each other under the socio-economic laws which govern them. They must be set free from the religious interference which distracts their natural course. To Marx, revelation and inspiration lie beyond the vocabulary of philosophical thought.

Next to him is Nietzsche, with his own special domineering personality. His sabre-like pen impales God as his prime victim, until he pronounces Him dead; or, so he thought. In fact he knew no God, other than the God of the Christian dogma and it was Him that his sword of reason had murdered. Thus, Kierkegaard is proved so right in his warning to the priests to maintain a sullen silence about the divine mystery of Trinity; rather than invite trouble by venturing to defend it with instruments of reason.

Most of the atheist European philosophers of that age were, in fact, driven to the denial of God largely by the Christian Church, which had mystified God's image to the extent of absurdity. Among other atheist philosophers, Sartre (1905–1980) is perhaps the most interesting and playful. He knows how to coin simple phrases with profound ideas. At the helplessness of man in his freedom to shift for himself in a Godless universe, he exclaims:

'... man is condemned to be free.'

By this he means that the responsibility to make choices for himself, which lies on every human shoulder, is a challenge extremely difficult to meet. There is no one else to help him or guide his steps in the dreary wilderness of existence. Commenting on the episode of Abrahamas, he explains the presence of angels as a psychic phenomenon. To him, that Divine revelation which the angels brought to Abrahamas was no more than the anguish of his soul. Wrong as we may consider Sartre's explanation, we must pay homage to his fiery outburst of desperation and vengefulness. This applies far more befittingly to Sartre himself who may have suffered pangs of anguish and exasperation in the emptiness of his Godless philosophy. Revelation is the anguish of the soul, is indeed a profoundly revealing statement from the vantage point of an atheist—if atheists ever admit to possessing souls. Bernard Shaw is close to Sartre, but not quite, when he defines revelation as 'inner voices'—at best, a smart remark of a dramatist lacking the depth and force of Sartre's reflection! All said and done, Sartre fails to distinguish between inspiration and revelation, terms that simply do not exist in his philosophy; what does exist is the agony of soul—a tongue of fire that leaps out in occasional outbursts of desperation. No revelation descends from on high, whatever rises, rises from the depth of human frustration.

-- An excerpt from "Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth" by Mirza Tahir Ahmad

Year 1911- Faiz Ahmad Faiz & Ronald Reagan

Faiz and Reagan both were born in the Spring season of 1911. I have always been deeply touched by the intellectuals born in the last half of 18th and first half of 19th century. The thing which attracted me to these two personalities was the fact that American nation is celebrating the 100th birthday of President Reagan, and around the globe, followers of Faiz are holding the gatherings to mark his 100th birthday as well.

Reagan is recalled as person who defeated the communism with his pro capitalistic policies in the USA and advocating very strongly among rest of world. Where as, Faiz, had been preaching the communism through out his life. It was probably his true love of life. He has seen the jail more than once in accusation of being a red flag loyal and rebellious to green flag in Pakistan. He has spent years in exile.

The two very opposite personalities yet share common ground in showbiz. Reagan started his early career as actor in Hollywood movies, where as, Faiz has been involved in writing stories and songs for films.

I am grateful to Reagan for bringing a peaceful end to cold war & confining the Russia back to its borders. And I have absolutely no words to appreciate the services offered by Faiz to the this world.

Peace granted by the efforts of Reagan is fragile, intellectual writings of Faiz will keep serving the world for ever. Both inspires millions, just one difference, Reagan is applauded in USA among Republicans only, but the lovers of Faiz are spread over the all continents of world. That explains the difference of a ruler and scholar in the plight of history

illusion of outfits

Today, I shall be not talking about myself rather addressing the illusion I have observed around myself. The biggest dilemma I have seen others facing on this land of opportunities is the loyalty. Loyalty to their homeland, loyalty to their culture. There are very few, who can even differentiate the thick line between these two. Most of us have been confused about their culture and countries. For me, culture flows with civilizations, and civilizations were divided by their geographies. A common language knots the culture together. Countries can hold more than one culture and spread over different geographies. I have seen Hindu females covering their body and hair better any Muslim, yet, we strongly assume that its a Muslim attribute not sub-continental. I have seen people discouraging the jeans for female in opposing tone of calling it anti-islamic outfit, but they tend not to understand Shalwar Kameez is sub-continental dress not an Islamically designated outfit. Islam never defined the dressing, it has just defined the "Sattar"-cover. For me, they are living in the illusions, for those who challenge their loved ones outfits, must take the stand for their culture not religion. Love for your own culture is not going to challenge your love for your faith.

Pakistan in disguise of an Afro-Asian Saint.

I had been impressed by senatorial career of Vice President of United States of America; Mr. Joe Biden. He had been chair of very controlling senate committee on foreign relations before leading to Vice Presidency. Mr. President Obama carried him over his ticket to counter balance the deficiency of international know how. I would not expect such a pathless statement from a man of this credibility about Pakistan having the same kind of agitation as world has been observing in Tunisia and Egypt.  I will not discuss his poor judgment about Iraq dispute.

But lets face the ground realities in Pakistan to compare with other agitating nations.

Major populated province of Pakistan is Punjab. They lack in any kind of leadership, mostly we have always imported the leaders from other parts of Pakistan, e.g. Bhutto from Sindh, Ayub Khan from KPK. At the moment, I can not find any person on the map of Pakistan, who can mobilize the masses against the corrupt but defined as democratic Govt of Pakistan.

The international community has been suffering from migraine of Afghanistan for more than a decade now. The result of billions of dollars and hundreds if not thousands dead bodies have not yet given them any good but a new terminology "home grown terrorism". None of back stage players in this puppet drama is willing to pull the strings that bad which can upside down the closing show in Afghanistan.

To be continued...