Atheism is Creeping into Islamic Countries


Religious people must admit, there have always been atheists. At least so far a the written record has been preserved there is evidence of those who did not believe in invisible beings.

Regardless the country or the religion, it is very common to see religious conformity enforced. Some Christians want children subjected to prayer in school and prayers before public meetings. They insist on keeping God on our money and in our pledge. When skepticism pops up efforts are made to hammer it down.

The internet has made conformity hard to maintain. People can find material to reinforce their natural skepticism. This is true even in when governments are Islamic.

An example is on-line sales of Richard Dawkins The God Delusion in Saudi Arabia. The number sold is almost breath taking. According to surveys, there are about the same percentage of atheists in Saudi Arabia as there are in the U.S. This surely is causing hand wringing among Muslim clerics.

Surveys around the world have confirmed that young Muslims are leaving the faith. Maybe the exodus will be slower than that happening to Christianity in the U.S. but the trend is the same.

I've always been wary of politicians who demonize Islam.  Yes, the criminals who carried out 9/11 were Muslims. The criminal, Timothy McVeigh, who blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 was Christian. Neither Christian nor Muslim people I know claim either were legitimate members of their faiths. Yet, we can assume these events have contributed to some believers leaving.

A few years ago Red River Freethinkers received a request from an atheist group in Nigeria for books about atheism. We mailed them a large box. Nigeria is equally split between Christians an Muslims. The request illustrates the world wide interest in atheism.

The world of belief and not belief is always changing. I don't see how anyone can predict how long each of the great world religions will last. We can predict atheism will be present long after all of these are in the dust bin of history.

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