Report: Atheists around world suffer persecution, discrimination

[pwaldo]

http://news.yahoo.com/atheists-aroun...29yZQ--;_ylv=3

Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven nations can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued on Monday.

The study, from the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), showed that "unbelievers" in Islamic countries face the most severe - sometimes brutal - treatment at the hands of the state and adherents of the official religion.

But it also points to policies in some European countries and the United States which favor the religious and their organizations and treat atheists and humanists as outsiders.

According to its survey of some 60 countries, the seven where expression of atheist views or defection from the official religion can bring capital punishment are Afghanistan, Iran, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

The 70-page report lists no recent cases of actual execution for "atheism" -- but researchers say the offence is often subsumed into other charges.

In a range of other countries - such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait and Jordan - publication of atheist or humanist views on religion are totally banned or strictly limited under laws prohibiting "blasphemy".

In many of these countries, and others like Malaysia, citizens have to register as adherents of a small number officially-recognized religions -- which normally include no more than Christianity and Judaism as well as Islam.

Atheists and humanists are thereby forced to lie to obtain their official documents without which it is impossible to go to university, receive medical treatment, travel abroad or drive.

In at least seven U.S. states, constitutional provisions are in place that bar atheists from public office and one state, Arkansas, has a law that bars an atheist from testifying as a witness at a trial, the report said.

[centrehice]

I've spent years in Central and Southeast Asia. Nobody cares about an atheist, they really don't,.... people are just trying to survive, day by day.

[JustAlex]

And yet it is Christians who believe they are persecuted in a country where 70% believe what they believe.

Funny but sad.

[Wickabee]

And yet it is Christians who believe they are persecuted in a country where 70% believe what they believe.

Funny but sad.

Old laws still being on the books is meaningless. Sure, they should be taken off, but do you really think anyone in the US is being denied as a witness due to atheism?

Face it, atheists in the US are no more persecuted than Christians are.

[duane1969]

Old laws still being on the books is meaningless. Sure, they should be taken off, but do you really think anyone in the US is being denied as a witness due to atheism?

Face it, atheists in the US are no more persecuted than Christians are.

Beat me to it. As soon as I read that my first thought was that it was some law from the 1700's and I highly doubt that anyone in Arkansas even knows it exists or would try to enforce it.

[JustAlex]

Face it, atheists in the US are no more persecuted than Christians are.

Right, is that why Atheists were named the least distrusted minority in the U.S?

http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releas..._MIG_2816.html

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2009/09/19...sted-minority/

Atheists are hated and persecuted in America a lot more than Christians, and to deny that is akin to believing that gays are no more persecuted than straights.

[Wickabee]

Right, is that why Atheists were named the least distrusted minority in the U.S?

http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releas..._MIG_2816.html

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2009/09/19...sted-minority/

Atheists are hated and persecuted in America a lot more than Christians, and to deny that is akin to believing that gays are no more persecuted than straights.

No, it's not the same. That's a horrible example. A poll says you're distrusted? Oh no! So are politicians, car salesmen and most people in the media. Are they persecuted.
No, and neither are you. To say otherwise is a slap to people who actually are persecuted. Quit your whining and grow up.

[JustAlex]

Do you think that I'm free to tell anyone that I'm an atheist?

Do you think it was easy for me to tell my friends and loved ones that I'm a person who some of them consider immoral and evil just for not believing what they believe?

Fine, maybe persecuted isn't the best word.

But hated and distrusted are.

You think being called distrusted is something to simply shrug off?

[Wickabee]

If you tell someone you're an atheist, do you go to jail?
That's persecution.
If you publish atheist material, will you be killed?
That's persecution.
Does the US have a law against atheism?
That's persecution.

Either you don't know what the word means, are the biggest whiner I've ever met, or you're excercizing hyperbole.
Whichever it is, you are not persecuted and your posts in this thread are a scathing insult to anyone who ever has been or ever will be persecuted.

[JustAlex]

I think I already conceded that the word persecuted isn't the best word.

Hated and distrusted are viable though.