Posted: Oct 31, 2018 10:34 pm
The International and Ethical Humanist Union has published its 7th annual report on the treatment of atheists across the globe: https://freethoughtreport.com/download-the-report/
The report focuses mostly on Muslim countries as places where atheists are most in danger, even for their lives, and it has a distinctly Islamophobic tone. One bizarre testimony is from an atheist woman living in Iran who claims atheism is punishable by death. She also claims that the majority of Iranians are atheists despite polling showing that they constitute only 3-5%.
Human rights groups do claim that certain religious and non-religious people in Iran are discriminated against, but there are no credible reports of atheists being prosecuted, let alone being put to death, for publicly admitting that they are atheists. Is this report yet another spurious attempt by humanists and atheists to claim that they are being severely repressed and persecuted in Muslim countries when this is not the case at all?
The report focuses mostly on Muslim countries as places where atheists are most in danger, even for their lives, and it has a distinctly Islamophobic tone. One bizarre testimony is from an atheist woman living in Iran who claims atheism is punishable by death. She also claims that the majority of Iranians are atheists despite polling showing that they constitute only 3-5%.
“I only came out as an atheist with my closest friends. Being an atheist and saying this in public is considered as big crime and is being sentenced to death. Nobody says that he or she is an atheist so easily in Iran, although the majority of the population is in fact. That’s the reason I never had to fear bad consequences in my family and with my friends.They all think like me. It would even be more disturbing to them if I say I am a believer. Sepideh”
Human rights groups do claim that certain religious and non-religious people in Iran are discriminated against, but there are no credible reports of atheists being prosecuted, let alone being put to death, for publicly admitting that they are atheists. Is this report yet another spurious attempt by humanists and atheists to claim that they are being severely repressed and persecuted in Muslim countries when this is not the case at all?