This self-righteous instability will eventually impoverish the entire society, both materially, as angry mobs destroy what they will, and intellectually, as dissent becomes physically dangerous. An update on this story. "Calls to Behead Indonesian Atheist Alexander Aan," by Presi Mandari for the Jakarta Globe, February 2 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
Jakarta. A defiant declaration of atheism by an Indonesian civil servant has inflamed passions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, pitting non-believers and believers against each other.The trouble began when civil servant Alexander Aan posted a message on the Facebook page of Atheist Minang, a group of Indonesians with godless beliefs. It read: “God doesn’t exist.”
The post so enraged residents in Aan’s hometown of Pulau Punjung in West Sumatra province that an angry mob of dozens stormed his office and beat up the 30-year-old.
To add insult to injury, police then arrested him and now want to press blasphemy charges that could see him locked up for five years.
Muslim extremists have called for Aan to be beheaded but fellow atheists have rallied round, and urged him to stand by his convictions despite the pressure.
“Dear Alex, stick to your beliefs. This country has no right to restrict your faith,” Fahd Singa Diwirja wrote on the same Facebook page, where Aan is one of the administrators.
“You’re facing narrow-minded people, but this is the true Indonesia, a fertile ground for the spread of fundamentalism,” Diwirja added, advising Aan to escape persecution by seeking asylum in a European country.
Jakarta. A defiant declaration of atheism by an Indonesian civil servant has inflamed passions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, pitting non-believers and believers against each other.
The trouble began when civil servant Alexander Aan posted a message on the Facebook page of Atheist Minang, a group of Indonesians with godless beliefs. It read: “God doesn’t exist.”
The post so enraged residents in Aan’s hometown of Pulau Punjung in West Sumatra province that an angry mob of dozens stormed his office and beat up the 30-year-old.
To add insult to injury, police then arrested him and now want to press blasphemy charges that could see him locked up for five years.
Muslim extremists have called for Aan to be beheaded but fellow atheists have rallied round, and urged him to stand by his convictions despite the pressure.
“Dear Alex, stick to your beliefs. This country has no right to restrict your faith,” Fahd Singa Diwirja wrote on the same Facebook page, where Aan is one of the administrators.
“You’re facing narrow-minded people, but this is the true Indonesia, a fertile ground for the spread of fundamentalism,” Diwirja added, advising Aan to escape persecution by seeking asylum in a European country.
Aan has also gained the support of the US-based International Atheist Alliance.
The group, together with Atheist Minang, has written to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, calling on him to ensure that the blasphemy allegations are dropped.
“This is a law that has been used to promote mob violence and intimidation against those who do not agree with ... vigilante groups,” said the letter, copies of which were also sent to the United Nations and Human Rights Watch.
Aan’s proclamation has been removed from the page, but the Facebook group has doubled to 2,000 since the controversy made local news reports.
Most of the postings, however, are diatribes against Aan and his supporters.
“These atheists should be beheaded, that’s what they deserve,” wrote a man who identified himself as Putra Tama, a Muslim from neighboring Jambi province. [...]
Local police chief Chairul Aziz said this week that Aan, who had written on his Facebook page that he was brought up as a Muslim, had expressed his willingness to revert to Islam but that it would not be enough to escape punishment.
“He expressed his intention to convert to Islam but he has not performed an Islamic declaration of faith. Even if he does so, he still can’t escape from justice due to his blaphemous act,” Aziz said.
He said Aan could face additional charges, including falsely declaring himself a Muslim when he applied for a civil service job years ago.
There's an interesting Catch-22, considering that atheism is not legally recognized, and openly stating his beliefs got him charged with blasphemy.
The Islamic Society Forum (FUI), an umbrella group for several hard-line groups, said that a five-year jail term for Aan would not suffice. “He deserves the death penalty, even if he decides to repent. What he has done cannot be tolerated,” said Muhammad al-Khaththath, FUI’s secretary-general....
"There is no compulsion in religion." - straight from the Qur'an.
Oh, that's right. This is a verse from the Mecca collection, when Mohammed didn't have a group of thugs to enforce his every whim. Mohammed's morality was situational. Just like Allah. Wonder if they are the same...
"What he has done cannot be tolerated,” said Muhammad al-Khaththath, FUI’s secretary-general...."
It is becoming very clear that Islam is an intolerant religion.
he exercised his opinion anf ree speech. those two and Islam do not go together. it is like fire and cotton.
M
I hope that Leftists and Atheists realise what happens to atheists in even a moderate Muslim country such as Indonesia.
Looks like the "Lefty Christian/Islam Horror Equivalency" argument is falling apart right before our very eyes!
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Where's our resident Atheist writers on this one?
You'd think they'd be all over it...
Muslims are daily acting bolder. It is time for the mother of all smack downs from the West.
I detect a hint of sarcasm here David....
'Ere we go....
It doesn't matter to the extremists. We're all targets. And yes, DP111, Atheists are aware of the unbridled-hatred, from ALL sides, we're used to it. Most Atheists have had their fill of the narrow-mindedness; we've had a long, hard look at all religions to reach our blasphemous-conclusions. Can't speak for the "Lefties", they're just as tiresome as all the other deluded socialists/fascists/evangelists out there as far as i'm concerned.My experience is that we Atheists are just as, if not more, scored-up to the threat of religious-supremacism than most. Regrettably, Atheists are very familiar with scripturally-influenced bug-eyed hatred than any other 'denomination'. Like i stated earlier, we get it from all sides but islamists are the worst for it. Thing is, and what some posters here conveniently forget, Atheists like myself would be just as ready as christians, jews et al, to fight the 'good' fight, side by side, and with the same aim. We're allies whether we like it or not! Please, take heed of this fact and stop the smug, holier-than-thou insults/sarcasm.
There you go, best regards from a proud contrarian Atheist.
"We're allies whether we like it or not!"
That's the spirit! :)
Although, it would be good if eventually we would like it. :)
Your Theravada Buddhist (and BTW: therein non-theist), ethnically Jewish, ally,
Daniel
danielbielak.blogspot.com
"Please, take heed of this fact and stop the smug, holier-than-thou insults/sarcasm."
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You didn't address the "Horror equivalency" argument. And apparently, you've fallen into the "supremacist" trap again, by insisting on a cessation of "sarcasm", and implying hostility on my part (insults). Please point out the "insult".
As I've said many times here before - neither do I give a rat's ass what faith anyone is - nor do I care if a person is an Atheist. More power to you, but I still am going to mock and deride to my heart's content.
Yep. I'm gonna' do it, if only to exercise my satirical skills.
And "holier than thou"?
I don't think I or my faith are "holier" than anybody. That's not the point.
Daniel wrote in reply, quoting another poster:
"We're allies whether we like it or not!"
That's the spirit! :)"
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Maybe. But maybe not. I can tell you with almost certainty that in Islamic countries, the Atheists are reviled above all others. People of the Book are, at least, in my experience, given token preference over "avowed" Atheists.
If that is the case, then the Atheist is not and should not be my "ally" (whether I like it or not), because if he were, I would stand a greater chance of invoking the wrath of the Mohammedan Supremacists in their lands and would be (outside of Dar al Islam) involving myself in a sort of uselesss, de facto "alliance", if only for intellectual purposes, that would not have any effect against "the enemy" except to confirm that I am willfully accepting shirk in my "allies".
To the Mohammedist, it doesn't matter. They cannot see that it might be possible for Atheists and Other-than-Islam-Followers-of-Faith to be allies, willingly or forceably.
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Alliances ought to be predicated on something stronger than a weak expression of "odd-bedfellows" against Islamic Supremacism, or supremacism of any stripe - national, ethnic, gender-based, etc., etc. What it should be is anyone's guess, though. I certainly don't know.
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Put simply, there is nothing more horrifying to a Wahabbist, for example, than when one announces that one is an Atheist.
It's worse than telling 'em you're a Jew.
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If we take Islam out of the equation, however, I'm happy to report that I call several Atheists my good friends whom I love and count as allies in the battle against any number of other evils in the world - too numerous to mention - and beyond the scope of this site and thread.
Hell, one of 'em (Lesbian Atheist) even agreed to go to Mass with me last Sunday. She hated every second of it, but deigned to accompany me when I said I would buy her lunch afterward! LOL!
Best Regards to Daniel and tindrum,
DD
DP111
"I hope that Leftists and Atheists realise what happens to atheists in even a moderate Muslim country such as Indonesia."
As the story indicates, atheists are aware of this case and are taking action to oppose the Indonesian blasphemy law. This story has been widely publicized at atheist sites.
The perception that atheists in particular do not know much about Islam is not correct. In my experience as an atheist and in participating in atheist discussion groups in recent years, atheists on average are currently are more knowledgeable and more opposed to Islam than are any other group. The small percentage of right-wing Christians you see on this site (JihadWatch) are not representative of Christians generally (or even of right-wing Christians), most of whom have quite a favourable view of Islam, while having an unfavourable view of atheists.
As for Leftists (as distinguished from those who are merely leftish or left of center), that's another story. Certainly there is more opposition to Islam on the right than on the left in the West.
DD,
"Where's our resident Atheist writers on this one?
You'd think they'd be all over it..."
Some of them are on it, though they do post also on other sites where this case is being addressed. I've noticed, and my anecdotal impression here could be incorrect, that over the past year or two atheist commenters have been leaving the site or reducing their presence in the comment section. One of the reasons for this is that some atheist sites in recent years are dealing with Islam more than they did previously.
...still, while there a many small sites run by atheists that focus on Islam, I'm not aware of any major atheist site, with the popularity of Jihadwatch, that focuses on Islam. Dawkins' site is more popular, but it doesn't deal exclusively or even primarily with Islam. There are a variety of reasons for there not being a major atheist site like Jihadwatch, one being that the atheist population size is smaller than the population size of Christians, who are the largest group, perhaps the majority, at JihadWatch.
The "no compulsion in deen" verse was from the Medinan period, not the Meccan period. Most Muslims today who address this issue insist that the verse is not abrogated. The verse, in the initial putative context of revelation, indicates that parents should not force their children into a religion, including Judaism, Islam, etc. On the other hand, the Quran also commands Muslim parents to save their children from hell-fire by teaching them Islam, and by commanding the right and forbidding the wrong, etc.
The whole "no compulsion" issue is largely a red herring, because Islamic jihad policy and Islamic law are what they are, regardless of what Muslim apologists want to convey about this verse. It is a tasty morsel of propaganda for the apologists, but in real life it has no significant policy implications, except, perhaps, post hoc justifications for imposing the dhimma after warfare has taken place instead of just slaughtering the non-Muslim captives.
(It does have major implications for moderate secular Muslim reformers, but that is another matter; my above comments refer to mainstream Islam).
Anyways, this must be about the hundredth time, or seems like it, that I've had to correct someone that the "no compulsion" verse is Medinan, not Meccan.