There is a group on Facebook named The Intellectuals. It is full of atheists and/or freethinkers from the Arab world. There are 950 members currently.
I think this great, and it does quash a few misconceptions that I, and many others I'm sure, have about freedom of speech and atheism in Muslim territory.
I still don't know how much backlash an atheist in Egypt or Iraq gets from being a known atheist or how courageous, if at all, it is to be an open member of this group, knowing full well that one's Muslim friends would quickly find out that one thinks belief in Allah is full of crap.
I found out about this group because my blog happens to be one of the many GREAT atheist blogs linked on their Facebook site. They do have very good taste it seems.
I'm not courageous enough to join that group yet. What would my non atheist friends and family think? Do I need to explain myself that much to them? Besides, I'm not an Arab and I don't live in a Muslim country, so I'll use that as my excuse for now.
I stay away from my atheism on my Facebook site for the most part, though I do identify myself as a non believer and I have a few atheist bloggers as my friends.
I'm curious what the description of The Intellectuals group means. Maybe one of my readers can help me out. Here it is:
جروب لأرشفة أهم المدونات والمواقع والمنتديات الإلحادية واللادينية -والمناهضة لمظاهر الظلام الديني- على شبكة الإنترنت
Showing posts with label atheists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atheists. Show all posts
August 30, 2009
June 5, 2009
Troubling: Atheist Blogosphere Silent About Obama's Egypt Speech
I cringed at times listening to Barack Obama's speech yesterday. I'm sure many atheists did the same. Besides quoting/misquoting the Koran, Obama completely alienated atheists:
“Indeed, faith should bring us together. That is why we are forging service projects in America that bring together Christians, Muslims, and Jews.”
I did a blog search on Google and I found only a few atheists that seemed bothered about the speech.
Clemens' Blog is the only one I've read who tells it like it is in his post Obama's Sermon.
Lets look at other things that Obama said in the speech:
“And I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion, or station in life, all of us share common aspirations - to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. These things we share. This is the hope of all humanity.”
Who's God is our God? Obama is saying ALL Americans aspire to love our God. Thanks Obama, for throwing atheists under the bus.
But what is troubling is that the atheist internet community has either turned a blind eye or has put their collective heads in the sand on this speech.
Why is that? Is it that Obama, being so different than Bush in his Liberalism, and his perceived pacifier status when it comes to war and conflict, gets a free pass from atheists?, or is it that the atheist community perceives Muslims collectively as a bunch of 7 year old children, who need to be completely sucked up to if it means possible reformation and peace?
I do know that if George Bush made the exact same speech as Obama yesterday, the atheist blogosphere would have been posting about it in an enraged flurry, because the second possibility wouldn't be an option, and Bush would have been looked upon just as a religious zealot talking to other religious nuts.
Of course, Obama also completely portrayed Islam and history in a very distorted and unrealistic way, and gave Islam credit where none was due. But that is just politics.
If Obama made this speech domestically prior to the election, I wonder if he would have lost atheist votes. I hope so, but I just don't know.
I'm very disappointed in my atheist brothers and sisters right now for holding back criticism of Obama. I'm also accusing the atheist community of double standards here. Had he made this type of speech at a church, he would have been slaughtered by fellow bloggers.
Don't get me wrong, I still think Obama is going in the right direction (at least the direction he is going is worth a shot), but he could have included non believers, and he should be called out for not doing so.
“Indeed, faith should bring us together. That is why we are forging service projects in America that bring together Christians, Muslims, and Jews.”
I did a blog search on Google and I found only a few atheists that seemed bothered about the speech.
Clemens' Blog is the only one I've read who tells it like it is in his post Obama's Sermon.
Lets look at other things that Obama said in the speech:
“And I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion, or station in life, all of us share common aspirations - to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. These things we share. This is the hope of all humanity.”
Who's God is our God? Obama is saying ALL Americans aspire to love our God. Thanks Obama, for throwing atheists under the bus.
But what is troubling is that the atheist internet community has either turned a blind eye or has put their collective heads in the sand on this speech.
Why is that? Is it that Obama, being so different than Bush in his Liberalism, and his perceived pacifier status when it comes to war and conflict, gets a free pass from atheists?, or is it that the atheist community perceives Muslims collectively as a bunch of 7 year old children, who need to be completely sucked up to if it means possible reformation and peace?
I do know that if George Bush made the exact same speech as Obama yesterday, the atheist blogosphere would have been posting about it in an enraged flurry, because the second possibility wouldn't be an option, and Bush would have been looked upon just as a religious zealot talking to other religious nuts.
Of course, Obama also completely portrayed Islam and history in a very distorted and unrealistic way, and gave Islam credit where none was due. But that is just politics.
If Obama made this speech domestically prior to the election, I wonder if he would have lost atheist votes. I hope so, but I just don't know.
I'm very disappointed in my atheist brothers and sisters right now for holding back criticism of Obama. I'm also accusing the atheist community of double standards here. Had he made this type of speech at a church, he would have been slaughtered by fellow bloggers.
Don't get me wrong, I still think Obama is going in the right direction (at least the direction he is going is worth a shot), but he could have included non believers, and he should be called out for not doing so.
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