Accordiing to some of our more extreme critics, the San Jos\u00e9 Costa Rica Temple is intended to extract revenue from the people of that country so as to line the pockets of the plutocratic Church leadership in Salt Lake City. \u00a0 \u00a0(Photograph from LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn\u2019t actually a religion at all. \u00a0It\u2019s really, they say, a totalitarian political ideology masquerading as a religion. \u00a0Accordingly, it doesn\u2019t really deserve protection under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m told such things, I immediately think of those who deny that my<\/em> church \u2014 my \u201cso-called church,\u201d they would say \u2014 is really a religion. \u00a0Rather, they say, it\u2019s a business \u2014 \u201cLD$ Inc.\u201d \u2014 run for the financial benefit of its greedy and power-hungry leaders. \u00a0We who loyally \u201cpay, pray, and obey\u201d are merely \u201csheeple,\u201d \u201cMor(m)ons,\u201d and, in many cases, \u201cUtards.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s all about malls and farms and land-holdings, not about anything spiritual. \u00a0Even our temples, they allege, are merely \u201cprofit centers,\u201d intended as tools to induce us\u00a0dupes to fork over our tithes.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, whenever I\u2019m told such things, I\u2019m also reminded of Parson Thwackum, a character in Henry Fielding\u2019s classic 1749 novel\u00a0The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling<\/em>:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I mention religion,\u201d declares Parson Thwackum, \u201cI mean the Christian religion; and not only the Christian religion, but the Protestant religion; and not only the Protestant religion, but the Church of England.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to trot out, yet again, one of my three or four all-time favorite religious jokes. \u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0by Emo Philips, but I\u2019ve modified it very, very slightly for stylistic reasons:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cDon\u2019t do it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cNobody loves me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cGod<\/em> loves you. Do you believe in God?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cAre you a Christian or a Jew?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cA Christian.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cMe, too! Protestant or Catholic?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cProtestant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cMe, too! What denomination?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cBaptist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cMe, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cNorthern Baptist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cMe, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cNorthern Conservative Baptist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cMe, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cNorthern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cMe, too! \u00a0Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cNorthern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cDie, heretic!\u201d And I pushed him over.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn\u2019t actually a religion at all. \u00a0It\u2019s really, they say, a totalitarian political ideology masquerading as a religion. \u00a0Accordingly, it doesn\u2019t really deserve protection under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. \u00a0 When I\u2019m told such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6510,6507,66,6513,1769,6501,743,6504],"class_list":["post-80146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-emo-philips","tag-henry-fielding","tag-islam","tag-joke","tag-muslim","tag-parson-thwackum","tag-religion","tag-tom-jones"],"yoast_head":"\n
Is Islam really a religion?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn't actually a religion at all. \u00a0It's really, they say, a totalitarian political\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Islam really a religion?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn't actually a religion at all. \u00a0It's really, they say, a totalitarian political\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-13T21:53:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-14T03:42:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/04\/san-jose-costa-rica-temple-lds-1006824-gallery.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html\",\"name\":\"Is Islam really a religion?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-13T21:53:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-14T03:42:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn't actually a religion at all. \u00a0It's really, they say, a totalitarian political\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Islam really a religion?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Islam really a religion?","description":" People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn't actually a religion at all. \u00a0It's really, they say, a totalitarian political","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Islam really a religion?","og_description":" People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn't actually a religion at all. \u00a0It's really, they say, a totalitarian political","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-11-13T21:53:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-14T03:42:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/04\/san-jose-costa-rica-temple-lds-1006824-gallery.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html","name":"Is Islam really a religion?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-11-13T21:53:34+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-14T03:42:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" People write to me from time to time insisting that Islam isn't actually a religion at all. \u00a0It's really, they say, a totalitarian political","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/11\/is-islam-really-a-religion.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Islam really a religion?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Costa](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/04\/san-jose-costa-rica-temple-lds-1006824-gallery.jpg\")
<\/a>