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From: Lawrence Krauss 5 To: Jeffrey Epstein [email protected]> Subject: one muslim at a time Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 01:50:29 +0000 hi.. back in the US.. let's talk... things developing slowly. Lawrence p.s. couldn't resist sending this, which came today... Ahmed Almaa • To Dr.Lawrence Krauss I would like to start off by thanking you, not only for the enlightenment I know enjoy due to my eyes now being opened to the amazing world of science, but also for your persistence on sharing your knowledge and your tenacity and convection while doing so. I've learned and enjoyed your videos and lectures tremendously, and my favorite has to be "The greatest story ever told". I am a 22 year old Middle Eastern male, born in a typical Muslim Middle Eastern family, and raised by devout Muslim parents. Ever since I was old enough to understand I was told that I was created by Allah and that the Quran is his word and law, and if I did not follow what he said, to the letter, I would burn in hell, where every day is like a thousand earthly days, and every time you burn you would grow new skin and flesh to burn again, torture that would last for eternity, but he, Allah, doesn't want to do it, because he "loves" me, and in essence its actually me forcing his hands into doing so, for willingly disobeying his commands. Thinking back at it, it truly is an act of child cruelty, not to imply that my parents meant it to be cruel, but that it is a method of unintended cruelty, one which most every Muslim parent unintentionally inflicts on their child, because they feel that it is part of their religious duty towards the child. As a child I was also told that the Quran, a book which was written over 1400 years ago, had "scientific" evidence that science was just now discovering, Surrounded by other Muslims, I had no one contradicted my beliefs, or to present an alternative arguments. Thus I never questioned what I was taught, or the claims Islam made, however I've wondered how most scientists did not embrace Islam despite it having the facts I was told it had. The scientific evidence argument is one that Muslims use to this day, and with how easy it is to disprove those using the tools available in this day and age, such as the intemet, to see what actual scientists have to say about the so called scientific facts, I am surprised that more Muslims are not questioning Islam. I was content with my life as is, sure I had a few questions about Islam, and I was told that was normal, and that thinking too much is a sin, because Allah created the universe thus man could not solve its riddles, and profusely thinking of the matter would lead to mental disorders. That was until the spring of 2012, when my father was admitted to the hospital for an unknown condition, it was thought to be malignant, but we prayed it wasn't, and I was torn, I was fairly westernized at the time, so the first thought that came to my mind was "why do bad things happen to good people", my father being the best person I know, should not suffer the way he is, however that thought was quickly abandoned, because in Islam it would be considered a sin, to question Allah on his reasons, and illness is actually a one of his tests, sure it was hard, but I tried to consolidate myself with a few prayers, I went to YouTube and proceeded to view a few prayers and from there went on to view some religious seminars, until something caught my eyes on the related videos column, it was a debate between the imam and Christopher Hitchens, and I thought to myself, I have no idea who this guy is, but he is going to get dominated, I even remember thinking to myself, who in their right mind would argue against Islam, what argument could one present. But that was not what happened; Hitchens actually had me thinking on a few points, not saying he won me over, but he got the wheels spinning. So I continued to the next debate, the more I learned the less I believed; slowly but surely I was starting to doubt what I've based my life on, and I realized that Islam wasn't actually EFTA00969953  perfect and irrefutable, a thought that overnight destroyed it to me. Having a void left from where my religion was I started filling it in with science and reason, and created my own "holy trinity" Hitchens Dawkins and yourself, knowing how things work and how the universe functions is truly comforting, and it is more magical and mystical then any middle aged book. One day me and a friend, who happens to be a master's degree holder in engineering, were watching the sun rise, and out of the blue he asked the question "Hmmm I wonder why the sky is red" and I being a management degree holder, knew the answer, my first thought was one of pride, but I did not attempt to explain as not to be seen as presumptuous, then I suddenly came to a startling realization, the journey of become an atheist has helped me evolve into a more learned being, instead of going to the default Muslim answer of everything "Allah", I actually tried to look beyond the surface, and read what science had to say on the matter, and on some cases even applied the mathematical formulas, to see it work with my own eyes. I also view the world differently, for one middle eastern politics make scene, as Muslims are extremely xenophobic, not only are they fearful of other religions but also from the other sects of Islam, however as a rational third party observer it makes perfect scene why the actions of the parties involved are irrational, not only had my scientific horizon expanded, but I also learned more about my own religion and it different sects as well as other religions, instead of the default Muslim argument of "we are right because Allah said we are", I read and listened to what others had to say and how they defined their religion and beliefs, not that it really matters when they are all defending the nonsense with non-reason. Lawrence M. Krauss Foundation Professor Director, The ASU Origins Project Co-Director, Cosmology Initiative Assoc. Dir, Beyond Center ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Liberal Arts and Sciences School of Earth and Space Exploration PO Box 871404 I Tempe AZ 85287-1404 480-965-6378 I http://krauss.faculty.asu.edu Exec. Asst (Jessica): 480-965-9825 Origins Asst (Cynthia): 480-965-0053 EFTA00969954