You may say I'm a dreamer...
With surveys showing atheists as the least trusted group in the U.S., atheists can't be blamed for feeling like exiles in their own country. Fortunately, it's still a free country and we're empowered to stand up and be counted; no matter how unpopular a minority we might be.
Ever since the historic and horrific Terrorist Tuesday, on September 11, 2001, right-minded people around the world have taken a second look at religion in general and Islam in particular. To those who say Islam had nothing to do with the World Trade Center tragedy, consider these 3 quotes from the preeminent ex-Muslim, Ibn Warraq:
"To pretend that Islam has nothing to do with Terrorist Tuesday is to willfully ignore the obvious and to forever misinterpret events." ~Ibn Warraq
"Not all Muslims or all Arabs are terrorists. Nor are they implicated in the horrendous events of Tuesday." ~Ibn Warraq
"There may be moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate. There is no difference between Islam and Islamic fundamentalism: at most there is a difference of degree but not of kind." ~Ibn Warraq
If you've read the Qur'an, then you know that Jihad is an integral part of Islam. The thing is: as terrible as Jihad is, it's no worse than the crusades from Christianity's past. I won't even get into other atrocities like the Inquisition and persecution of heretics and witches [sic]. Of the 3 major Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity have undergone reformations that have reversed their worst tendencies considerably. Perhaps Islam will experience similar reforms some day but it doesn't look promising.
Until all religions emphatically reject violence - and police their own ranks - websites like AtheistExile.com will, unfortunately, be necessary. In the words of Voltaire:
"As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities." ~Voltaire
AtheistExile is NOT against Islam, specifically: we are against religious fundamentalism in particular and religion in general. Dogma is the real enemy here. Our position . . . our opinion . . . is that people are basically the same everywhere. They're peaceful human beings who want only to live their lives in the pursuit of happiness. But people can be misled and their thoughts poisoned: fundamentalism and intolerance always go hand in hand and both are empowered by dogma.
Intolerance is anathema to peace and happiness. We are alarmed by the grievous woe intolerance heaps on our world. To the uncommitted seekers and vacillating religious adherents out there: we are dedicated to providing persuasive, hard-hitting and rational reasons to reject religion. We do this out of human compassion and the desire to see a better world.
You love his song - now recall John Lennon's lyrics:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for todayImagine there's no country
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peaceYou may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Many of those we hope to persuade might take offense at the notion that all religions, including theirs, are harmful to human society and progress. But if they'll leave their minds open and digest the ideas and arguments presented here, we believe common sense and reason can prevail. We want to shine a light on the dark side of religions and expose them for what they are: the ancient relics of worldviews formed during civilization's darkest age of ignorance.
Jim Ashby, AtheistExile.com
P.S.
I've started an open-minded study of the Qur'an in the AtheistExile blog. We'll tackle the Qur'an in chronological order of Muhammad's revelations. There's a 114 suwar (plural of sura) in the Qur'an: the first 86 in Mecca and the last 28 in Medina. I'm hoping for your participation and look forward to your observations and critiques.
This is a descriptive and exploratory survey on "coming out" and living as an atheist. I hope you will take time to participate and help spread the word by forwarding the survey to your friends and family members who are atheist. If you have a website, please post a link to it. Once the data has been analyzed we will seek to publish it not only in a trade journal, but in a magazine the general public would read. It is our goal to use the information gathered to encourage others to come out of the religious closet and to destigmatize atheism.
P.S.
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