“Dear Atheists, We Ex-Muslims Are Waiting For You”

from Friendly Atheist by Ericka M. Johnson

Reddit user zulaikha_idris makes a good point:

Dear Atheists, we ex-muslims are waiting for you guys to get over Christianity and start waging war against Islam for a change. Yeah, sure it’s really fun and all bashing the Bible, fundies, priests, young earthers, the pope, etc, but really don’t you guys think that it’s time to shift at least some attention to Islam?

We ex-muslims are a very small minority, and there’s really nothing we can we really do to change anything. We can’t form orgnaizations or voice our thoughts in most Muslim countries. We practically have no rights whatsoever besides the right to go to jail or be hanged or beheaded for our blasphemy.

But the voice of millions of atheists like all of you would significantly help us. It brings into world attention our plight, and all the horrible things Islam is responsible for, and how it has oppressed and destroyed many of our lives. It would at least help change some laws that would benefit us ex-muslims.

I heard that Ayaan Hirsi Ali (an exmuslim) has replaced Hitchens as the one of the Four Horsemen of New Atheism. Maybe this is a cue that we need to concentrate more against the Religion of Peace?

To be fair, many atheist activists have spent time bashing Islam but it’s not nearly enough. While Christianity still deserves our attention since it’s the dominant faith in America, the role of Islam around the world demands our action.

As it is practiced around the world, Islam is a consummation of all the worst that religion has to offer:

Cult-like isolation from other world views means generation after generation is born into ignorance.

Circumcision of boys and girls because healthy children aren’t born perfect; they must have a knife taken to their genitals.

Leaving the faith means death. Apostasy is considered one of the worst crimes.

Treating women as sub-human pieces of property that must be beaten into obedience means at least half the population is silenced before they can speak.

Personalized angel duo watches you at every moment, keeping a tally of all the good and bad you do so that you can be judged when you die.

Reward of heaven is used as an incentive to kill and maim innocent people.

Unyielding dogma leaves no room for thoughtful criticism nor humor.

Islam means Submission. They want to be slaves to their god; it’s right there in the name.

This is not a religion of peace and we need to be more vocal about calling Muslims out when they perpetuate this lie. Moderate Muslims are softer on some of these points but still adhere to them enough to represent a very broken belief system.

At a recent street fair, I found myself debating Muslims in the booth next to the Seattle Atheists’ booth. They seemed like nice people but one of the men wouldn’t even shake my hand — out of “respect,” he said.

Is there a way to call out these “minor” episodes of dogmatic thinking to moderate Muslims in a way that fosters dialogue with them?