Atheist & Secular Bloggers Murdered in Bangladesh

StonyIron

I'm just posting this as I am glad to see that BBC News is covering this worrying, and very sad topic as atheists and the non-religious are often overlooked in coverage of religious conflicts as we are not a religious group.

BBC's Our World documentary programme covered a series of very brutal murders (by machete) carried out against atheist and secular bloggers in Bangladesh.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-34338691
(Link may disappear as it's a live blog)

If you've access to to the iPlayer : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06fy32g/our-world-the-bangladesh-blogger-murders

I just think we should be making a lot more noise about how atheists and non-religious people are being treated around the world. We are very much an under represented sector of society.

While the Bangladesh situation is extremely, even here in Ireland and in the United States, there are major disadvantages to being an 'out' atheist. In Ireland it can still cause major education access issues or employment issues if you work in certain religious bodies that the state outsources services to and in the United States it's still something that could end a political career (or that's at least the perception that people in politics seem to have).

It just shows the importance of atheist representative bodies.

Cabaal

Polls on the USA have shown that a majority of those polled won't vote for an atheist president even if the person is really qualified and suitable for the role.

Instead as reality shows, they'll instead like a sexist, racist, rich pig of a man that's Christian.

It's all about the love,

expectationlost

we're not Bangladesh or America we're Ireland

Cabaal

expectationlost wrote: »

we're not Bangladesh or America we're Ireland

Indeed we are, top marks on your geography.

However as we're seen in this country, the country is not tolorent of atheists and people that don't conform to the "main" religion.

StonyIron

Yeah, we don't attack bloggers, we just exclude atheists' children from the majority of state funded primary and secondary schools, or let them in very begrudgingly, but slip the old religion into every aspect of the day.

Because of this, Ireland probably ranks as one of the worst developed democracies to be an atheist in. It's fine if you don't have kids, but if you do, it's basically being told to "get stuffed and build your own school you heathen trouble maker!"

iguana

Cabaal wrote: »

Instead as reality shows, they'll instead like a sexist, racist, rich pig of a man that's Christian.

It's all about the love,

It's probably just my friends all sharing similar-ish ideals but all my American friends have been flooding my facebook feed with their love of a lapsed Jewish secularist rather than the be-wigged one.

Overheal

expectationlost wrote: »

we're not Bangladesh or America we're Ireland

Nobody is forcing you to stay abreast of world events.

Hotblack Desiato

I already posted this in the leftie thread:

The ex-Muslim Britons who are persecuted for being atheists - BBC News

Shunned, threatened, placed in fear of abduction/forced marriage, all for nothing more than giving up one's faith - in the "liberal" "secular" UK and the authorities don't want to know.

The BBC contacted 13 local authorities with large Muslim populations across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. None had any provision for dealing with vulnerable ex-Muslims, and many had no idea what apostasy even was.

Some said there was adequate provision in existing services for young people in trouble. Given the pressure from within Muslim communities to keep the perceived stigma of apostasy secret, it is perhaps not surprising that local authorities don't have much awareness of the issue.

However the Rotherham sexual abuse scandal exposed an institutionalised attitude of turning a blind eye to the suffering of vulnerable young people because of the overwhelmingly Pakistani Muslim ethnic and religious identity of the abusers.

A similar sensitivity around offending Muslim culture and belief could be prominent in the reluctance of local authorities and government to formulate a policy on apostasy, when that predominantly seems to affect young, vulnerable ex-Muslims who can find themselves isolated and afraid, as they struggle with their identify and their safety.