Category archives: Religion

4 november 2019 The Feast of Sacrifice is one of the two most important Islamic feasts. It relates to the story in the Qur’an according to which Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Ismael at the request of God. But at the moment that Abraham was to sacrifice his son, God sent a sheep […]

19 september 2019 In religious debates, there always exist people on the one hand who want to stay close to the source texts, be it the Quran, the Thora or the Bible, and others, who believe these sacred texts require a “smart” reading. According to these people the sacred texts were written in a very […]

17 september 2019 In English the word “respect” can be used in two different meanings. It can be used to refer to “accept/tolerate” ( as in “I respect their choice” ) but it can also be used to refer to a more positive feeling of admiration (as in “I have a great respect for their […]

17 september 2019 In “The Red-haired Woman” (p.219) it comes to a confrontation between a father and his son with the following dialogue as a result. I dare to assume that for Pamuk this dialogue does not only reflect on father-son  relations but also, if not mostly, on the relation between the believer and his […]

17 september 2019 Here some clarifications why I am an atheist. These clarifications may be useful in further discussions on religion. I was raised in the Catholic culture and initially the Catholic belief had even an important emotional value for me. However, over time, I could not make it connect with my strong rational mindset. […]

17 september 2019 Sometimes the question is raised whether there exists a need for a European Islam. Hereafter I defend that at its core there is no need for such a thing and that it certainly is not up to atheists like myself to create something like a European Islam. I do believe that in […]