http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ex-muslims-fear-atheism-v...
I found this article in a British newspaper. I wonder how many hidden atheists are trapped within the traditional religions because of family pressures, in the case of Islam, threats of physical violence.
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Encouraging and disappointing.
Islam is a peer pressure religion so it's very easy to see who are the malcontents. It's conform or get stoned.
Maybe there should be active support for Ex-Muslims just like that Iranian-born Ex-muslim woman. Everyone should print posters around Muslim communities and place them on Bus stops, traffic lights (semaphores) and many other places. They need to be reassured that they can be ostracized by the Muslim community, but they won't be ostracized by the Atheist, Secularized, Non-Muslim communities.
A highlight I got after reading the post: "She says: “I feel like when you leave Islam, your intelligence gets attacked. They make you feel like you’re stupid for making such a decision," - It's actually true, they do judge you as a stupid person if you leave Islam. I've heard my friends calling Atheists stupid for their decision, among other, senseless comments.
Endri said: A highlight I got after reading the post: "She says: “I feel like when you leave Islam, your intelligence gets attacked. They make you feel like you’re stupid for making such a decision," - It's actually true, they do judge you as a stupid person if you leave Islam.
It's much more than that. Those who don't believe are to be cast into everlasting fire:
God has cursed the unbelievers, and prepared for them a Blaze, therein to dwell for ever; they shall find neither protector nor helper.
(Koran 33.64; Arberry translation)
As for the unbelievers, I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world and the next; they shall have no helpers.
(Koran 3:49)
Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and those, and those who are with him are hard against the unbelievers, merciful to one another.
(Koran 48:29)
So Muslims are specifically told that they are to be hard against unbelievers. They are, in fact, to be the instruments of Allah's chastisement of unbelievers in this world.
The Reverent One,
That's so Old Testament.
The Brick Testament
http://www.bricktestament.com/the_law/religious_tolerance/dt13_13-15.html
Five pictures.
Yeshua said the same thing in John 15:6 (CEV) = "If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire."
Lots of people are trapped pretending to believe when they don't
There are plenty. I openly told an Arab person I was an atheist the other day & she replied "shit.. me too" lol
They are stuck pretending to be religious because of their culture as a muslim. Some of them fear honor killings, and others fear the lost of family and community.
I have tried so many times to contact Mr. Armin Nabavi through an online message to get his permission to translate his book into Persian. Each time I receive the following response in an email with no reply address:
"Hello!
Thank you for interest in meeting with me. Please let me know what are the best times that you are available for a discussion and the topic you are interested in discussing.
Best,
Armin Navabi"
I am so puzzled about this sort of meaningless response. Does anybody know how to contact Mr. Nabavi?
Perhaps a review would reveal the ironies of a (claimed) peaceful religion and why those claiming it to be peaceful do not make much (enough) noise about it -
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/violence.aspx
Its pretty obvious, its just growing every day and becoming more prevalent. I'm a regular at the exmuslim subreddit and for a year and it sprouted from 13k to almost 22 k now.
I also feel atheism is an unstoppable tide and it is happening very rapidly. Sure there are examples of number rise, and even percentage rise of certain religions.
But as knowledge and differing opinions becomes more freely available, (thank you internet!) The effect it will have on religions hold on people will be cumulative over the years.
Again it is more subtle, as I mentioned before, population % wise of people attending church every Sunday in western cultures is down A LOT in the last century or so, and is only continuing to decline especially as the numbers of the younger generations get abysmally low. (18-29) regular church attendance is below 25 percent in the US now. Everyone is a lot more interested in their social media for culture and community then going to church, and guess what that is on the internet? Where these young impressionable people can be exposed to new ideas outside of what their parents, church, (and possibly school,) taught them. It is snowballing.
I was a very passive agnostic, until the internet, then I got exposed to new information and ideas, that makes me almost a "militant" atheist. I went from, god does not make much sense, but maybe he is real, to being extremely confident that there is no god and especially so there is no god like the major religions depict them.