#nonreligious

If god is not willing to prevent evil, then he is not all-good.

If god is both willing and able to prevent evil, then why does evil exist?

Me: I don't know why it finally occured to me, but it's not exactly that women shouldn't be educated - but that they should stay in their place. Grandma had a degree but the degree kept her in the kitchen. Aunt didn't do anything with her (master's) degree. Cousin has a degree but she works as a preschool teacher so she is also still in her place as a woman.

Brother: So education is fine as long as it keeps you where you are supposed to be?

Me: Yep, as long as it keeps you from getting ideas and disrupting status quo

Remember. It's not about maintaining the patriarchy for them - it's about "furthering the gospel". Having theology that maintains the patriarchy is beside the point for them, and completely the point for us.

MY DAD REFUSES TO VOUCH FOR THE FACT THAT I TOOK FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR MY UNIVERSITY.

Pros:

No more feeling pressure to live life by religious principles

No more paranoia about the supernatural/pseudoscientific things (can’t believe the paranormal is out there if you don’t believe in that stuff lol)

No more attempting to rely on a god to “fix” my life situations, but rather taking control and doing things to work on myself

No more worrying about good or bad “luck,” just believing that sometimes shit happens and there’s a logical reason why

Cons:

Christians asking me pseudo-intellectual “deep” rhetorical questions to try to intimidate me

Published: Nov 16, 2021

Apostasy is punishable with death in nearly a dozen countries, according to a new report from Humanists International.

The Freedom of Thought Report 2021 found that "apostasy" is punishable with death in at least ten countries; Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Pakistan does not have a death sentence for "apostasy", but it does for "blasphemy", and the threshold for blasphemy is low. So in effect, there is a death penalty for expressing atheism or converting religion in at least 11 countries, of which all are Muslim-majority.

This year's edition of the report, released today, also found that apostasy is a criminal offence in 17 countries. Blasphemy remains punishable in 83 countries, of which the death penalty may be applied in six.

Worst performing countries

The report, which focuses on the rights, legal status and discrimination against humanists, atheists, and the non-religious, has a key countries section whereby some of the best and worst performing countries are analysed. Afghanistan, now wholly governed by a Sunni Islamist fundamentalist group, the Taliban, was the worst on the list.

The report concluded that small communities of religious minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, and Baha'is experienced egregious human rights violations and remained endangered, without the ability to observe their faith publicly. It also mentioned the killings of nine ethnic Hazara (who are predominately Shia Muslims) men and the unconfirmed killing of two atheists, with a further four missing.

Women in Afghanistan have also faced the brunt of the new Taliban regime according to the findings, with beatings imposed on those who fail to wear hijab 'correctly'. Unmarried and widowed women from the ages of 15 and 45 are also threatened with forced marriages and sexual enslavement to Taliban fighters. The Taliban regime also announced that women would not be able to work or attend university until it was it was possible to ensure the segregation of the sexes in an "Islamic environment".

Watch List

Other notable countries on a Watch List that Humanists International was closely monitoring include:

• Iran, which executes dozens of individuals on charges of "enmity against God" (moharebeh). Soheil Arabi, who the National Secular Society has campaigned for to be released, has been imprisoned for long periods on these grounds.

• Pakistan, which has suffered chronic violence against religious and non-religious minorities, with Shia Muslims subjected to most of it. Extremely serious incidents against the Ahmadi Muslim and Christian community have also been reported.

• Saudi Arabia, which mostly does not allow religious expression in the country other than their fundamentalist brand of Sunni Islam. Moreover, the country has notably spent over $1bn in hosting and investing in sports events ('sportswashing') to mask its extremely poor human rights issues.

Other key findings

The report also concludes that 39 countries across the globe have state religions, of which 35 derive legislation (wholly or partly) from religious law. In addition, the use of religious courts on family or moral matters exists in 19 countries.

The provision of mandatory religious instruction in state-funded schools without a secular or humanist alternative exists in 33 countries.

Comments

National Secular Society chief executive, Stephen Evans, said: "This report again highlights the grave implications for human rights when states are governed along religious lines.

"Wherever religion dominates political and public life, the rights of women, LGBT people, apostates, nonreligious people and religious minorities are threatened. As the report demonstrates, this situation is still all too common in the modern world."

President of Humanists International, Andrew Copson, said the "discrimination which humanists and other non-religious people continue to face as a result of daring to express their beliefs and to try to live according to their conscience" made for "grim reading".

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, welcomed the publication for recording the experiences of "not just humanists and the non-religious globally, but also those are deeply religious yet are dissenters".

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Christmas is a religious holiday, celebrating a part of the Christian religion. I (and other people I know) celebrate Christmas, even though they aren’t religious, which is a little weird, but I mean - presents are really great, and some of the traditions are fun.

So here’s my suggestion: For those who aren’t religious, or just don’t want to celebrate Christmas for whatever reason, celebrating the Winter Solstice instead. It’s the first day of winter (according to science), and its only four days before Christmas. It’s in the winter (obviously), and it can still be centered around being grateful and celebrating light and warmth during the cold of winter. Personally, I think that blue, white, and purple would be nice colors to represent the holiday, but that’s just my opinion. (and it’s slightly biased, as I really like those colors)

@queersatanic is non-theist, not anti-theist We don't talk about negatively about "religion" because the problems we have with particular religions are not located in their beliefs in the supernatural or their rituals. We oppose harmful superstitions, like gender essentialism and white supremacy, that people believe in and act on to hurt others. We oppose hierarchies, like patriarchy and capitalism, like ableism that says some people's comforts are inherently worth more than others' needs. But we don't oppose religion absent those things, and we do oppose those things absent religion. Communities with shared beliefs and traditions that help them navigate the world now or have continuity with their ancestors are not the enemy or worth us being The Adversary toward. Materialism has space for how people really feel and what helps them achieve the ends they want, from mnemonic devices to prayer. When someone says, "I hate religion" they agree with Dominionists about all religions except the last one. This is why figures like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris can be so popular among white nationalists who hate Muslim refugees or Mexican Catholic immigrants. It's why animus toward "Abrahamic faiths" in societies that are overwhelmingly Christian does not threaten Christians but does help target already marginalized Jews and Muslims. If we were Satanists in Saudi Arabia, we'd be the Adversary of Sunnis and Wahhabism, not the Christian Filipino workers. If we were Satanists in Iran, we'd be the Adversary of Shias, not Armenian Christians or Kurdish Yarsans. "I hate religion" stated universally or even "Abrahamic religions are bad because you just have to accept things on faith" is not only a statement of profound ignorance (e.g. "the Torah is not in heaven"), it makes you a tool of oppression rather than an enemy of it. Do better than agreeing with Mike Pence about every religion but the last one

There Should Not Be A Word For Atheism Ricky Gervais

A fairy, god, or unicorn, they are all non-existent and unproven. Is there a word for anti-fairy, or anti-unicorn? This is the reason why I don’t consider myself an atheist because I am not validating theism or a theist by labeling myself an atheist. However, I consider myself non-religious because religions in the world do exist and were created by humans.