In September, 2012, we posted this cartoon of Mohammed, illustrated by Jeff Swenson. We received nearly 1,000 comments on that image, including a massive number of hateful, threatening ones.
In the cartoon, Muhammad is looking at himself in a mirror, but since depicting Muhammad's image is a huge no-no in Islam, he yells "blasphemy" at his own reflection which itself is not offensive at all, but you'd never know that by reading the ridiculous, hateful backlash.
Most of the strongest language involved the fucking of a variety of people, including Jews and various female family members. In Muslim culture, honor is connected to the reputation of their women, which is why insults tend to be directed at female family members for maximum effect.
One of our favorites sounded like an insult from a Monty Python sketch, "Fuck u all of u ur son of pigs mixtures I,m gonna kill u all stop this fuck". Another favorite doesn't make any sense at all which makes it even more hilarious, "i will slep you fucking guy!"
Many of the comments seem to think Atheist Republic is a Jewish or American group even though it is a Canadian organization with an international community.
The image ban on Muhammad may on the surface appear to be a religious rule for Muslims. However, in reality, it is an attempt to control all people by generating fear of backlash.
Consider this scenario: Meet John and Sarah. John says to Sarah, "I have a deep respect for Dwayne and even the mention of his name by others offends me so much that I will kill people if they say it." Even if Sarah doesn't have personal affection for Dwayne, she will eventually start to respect his name - either out of fear or out of respect for John. Fear of John's reaction starts dictating Sarah's behavior, even though she doesn't share the same beliefs. John is able to use this as the thin edge of the wedge to gain other control over Sarah and everyone else around him. So next, John will state that Dwayne makes specific demands on him and he fears Dwayne's wrath so he has to do these things, and because he has to do these things, so does everyone else in the interest of harmony....and on and on it goes.
We later posted an image to showcase several of the hateful reactions, an image which garnered both support and additional angry comments.
We have shared over 600 images in the past year - mostly images with quotes, as well as cartoons. The designs catalyze discussions, inspire and encourage, and allow you to share your views in a creative way. But they also tend to spur a lot of heated debate, offend and infuriate a wide range of people.
Many Atheist Republic images have been picked up and shared by prominent atheist networks like The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and have been noticed by popular atheist celebrities.
Our designers spend countless hours scouring reliable sources for quotes and references that address some of the most common views and ideas about atheism and secularism. They then use photographs, typography and effects to create visually dynamic and shareable images. One very popular example is this quote from Ricky Gervais. Another is this image using a quote from James Randi.
Citizens of the Republic are committed to sharing our views and values, even in the face of hateful comments. It is important to us not to be ashamed of who we are and what we do and do not believe in.
We have a regularly updated and extensive gallery on the AR website with images that are easy to share across social platforms.
Using graphic design skills to create inspiring and challenging images for the Atheist Republic community and beyond is a fun way to participate. If you enjoy this type of design and want to help in this way, apply as a graphic artist here and join the Atheist Republic team. All approved designs are posted on our Facebook page which has over 828 thousand fans. If you have quotes or ideas for images, share them with us by replying to this email.
