Questioning Islam on social media oh my
From Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan on Facebook:
Two men, Riffat Aziz and Hameed Kamran, have recently been arrested by the Rawalakot Police in Poonch district of Azad Kashmir, and accused of spreading religious antipathy and disrupting social order by questioning Islam on social media.
Two men, Riffat Aziz and Hameed Kamran, have recently been arrested by the Rawalakot Police in Poonch district of Azad Kashmir, and accused of spreading religious antipathy and disrupting social order by questioning Islam on social media.
Kamran has been accused of commenting controversial stuff on social media on religion [source]. Riffat Aziz has been accused of distributing pamphlets to mosques filled with questions towards Muslims [source]. Muslims should ask themselves, should it be illegal to ask questions that can put you out of your comfort zone?
Especially questions about a demanding, all-pervasive religion that tells you what to do in all aspects of your life?
A rally has been conducted by the students of the University of Poonch, in Azad Kashmir. Asking government to silence anyone who questions or critic religion.
Theocrats on parade.
It’s strange that they don’t also demand the arrest of Christians, because Christians also don’t believe in their magical fairy tales.
Actually, it’s not strange at all. They demand the arrest of Atheists, because Atheists don’t believe in any magical fairy tales. Believing in magical fairy tales, legitimising the idea of magical fairy tales, is what’s at stake, and they know it. The particular brand of magical fairy tales you believe is much less important.
Christians have been arrested and sentenced to death for insulting Islam; the Asia Bibi case is one I can think of. The mayor of Jakarta was also arrested on blasphemy charges recently. I don’t recall any cases of an atheist charged, in an Islamic country, with blasphemy for insulting Christianity; those countries seem narrowly concerned with insults to Islam, even if the laws are more general.
For insulting Islam, maybe, but not (in Pakistan, as far as I’m aware) for just saying “I believe in my magical fairy tales, not yours.”
“I don’t believe in your magical fairy tales because I believe in my own” is less controversial than “I don’t believe in your magical fairy tales because I don’t believe in any of them.”
Well Asia Bibi didn’t actually “insult Islam.” That was a fake accusation. The original quarrel was about drinking water – her neighbors refusing to drink after her because she had polluted the water with her Christianness.
And there are incidents in which Christians are attacked, without waiting for any insults.
Fair points, certainly. The main thing I was trying to get across is that Christians are not immune to blasphemy accusations, and that Islamic countries seem mostly keen on “protecting” (some specific version of) Islam, not Christianity or religion in general.
I think the point Karellen was making, which I had missed initially, is that atheism is seen as more threatening than Christianity, and I agree that’s the case.
We probably can’t really tell which is seen as more threatening. Often fights are more intense between factions of the same ideology or team or denomination than between rival ideologies etc. Sometimes there are “ecumenical” alliances to fight atheism, so the pope gets together with PR agents for Islam and the like.
And let’s not forget the Pope’s response to the Hebdo murders, when he said that it was understandable for people to be upset to the point of violence about having their deities insulted, just as it would be completely reasonable for him to punch someone who insulted his mother.