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Atheism Punishable By Death In 13 Countries


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Atheism Punishable By Death In These 13 Countries

Atheists living in 13 countries risk being condemned to death, just for the beliefs (or non-belief) according to a new, comprehensive report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union out on Tuesday. All 13 countries identified by the study are Muslim majority.

The countries that impose these penalties are Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. With the exception of Pakistan, those countries all allow for capital punishment against apostasy, i.e., the renunciation of a particular religion. Pakistan, meanwhile, imposes the death penalty for blasphemy, which can obviously include disbelief in God.

The study's interactive map gives a good, broad, overview of which countries punish apostasy and blasphemy by death (black), with prison time (red), or place legal restrictions on (non-)religious speech and thought (yellow):

http://www.thewire.com/global/2013/12/13-countries-where-atheism-punishable-death/355961/#ixzz2nGMfbN8P

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Whilst I try not to get into religious discussions... surely there can only be one God for any believer, but many interpretations of who that God is..

That should be good enough for everyone concerned, One God, one love, no matter how 'its interpreted by the individual'...end of.

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This sort of data speaks for itself about Islam and does not need interpretation.

It still won't convince those that refuse to be convinced!

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I wonder how long it will be before, in this country, choosing to NOT believe in any scripture or doctrine will earn you a life sentence behind bars. The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised.

This sort of data speaks for itself about Islam and does not need interpretation.

True but it is not necessarily always about Islam either, I don't think. Some of these countries think that you MUST belong to a religion. Remember that article about a guy (or more) that faced imprisonment for being non-believers? According to the country they wer in, they had to be one of a particular set of religions.

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True but it is not necessarily always about Islam either, I don't think. Some of these countries think that you MUST belong to a religion. Remember that article about a guy (or more) that faced imprisonment for being non-believers? According to the country they wer in, they had to be one of a particular set of religions.

I rest my case.....

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I wonder how long it will be before, in this country, choosing to NOT believe in any scripture or doctrine will earn you a life sentence behind bars. The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised.

True but it is not necessarily always about Islam either, I don't think. Some of these countries think that you MUST belong to a religion. Remember that article about a guy (or more) that faced imprisonment for being non-believers? According to the country they wer in, they had to be one of a particular set of religions.

There is no religious test for anything in Vietnam except maybe party membership (I'm not sure about that since a lot of party members are Buddhists or Catholics I doubt it).

The point wasn't, at least as I read it, quite that you have to be a Muslim, only that you cannot be an atheist. Still, it is only Muslim countries that have such a draconian law.

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The idea that there are millions of people who are perfectly content to live with a law that kills someone for not believing aka: having proof in their life of a God, leaves me weeping for the state of humanity. *shudders*

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Well now that it seems I am going to be retiring soon, I figure I will do some traveling. There are some countries however that are off my tourism list, great hotels or not.

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Just shows you how backward some societies are to let a religion run their country like this. I will never set foot in any of these countries until they stop living in the stone age.

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Well now that it seems I am going to be retiring soon, I figure I will do some traveling. There are some countries however that are off my tourism list, great hotels or not.

Come to Florida great beaches without the non-sense.

Many of those who have death penalty for Atheist also have death penalty for being Pagan or for witchcraft. I know there are a lot of places I crossed off my list to ever visit. To bad too as they are places with great archaeological sites.

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Atheism Punishable By Death In These 13 Countries

Atheists living in 13 countries risk being condemned to death, just for the beliefs (or non-belief) according to a new, comprehensive report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union out on Tuesday. All 13 countries identified by the study are Muslim majority.

The countries that impose these penalties are Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. With the exception of Pakistan, those countries all allow for capital punishment against apostasy, i.e., the renunciation of a particular religion. Pakistan, meanwhile, imposes the death penalty for blasphemy, which can obviously include disbelief in God.

The study's interactive map gives a good, broad, overview of which countries punish apostasy and blasphemy by death (black), with prison time (red), or place legal restrictions on (non-)religious speech and thought (yellow):

http://www.thewire.c.../#ixzz2nGMfbN8P

Just shows you how backward some societies are to let a religion run their country like this. I will never set foot in any of these countries until they stop living in the stone age.

Several of them are the West's valued allies in the Fight against Extremist Terror, I notice.

:unsure2:

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Well now it looks that Burma (Myanmar) is such a place. I've been to Florida a number of times, although never with enough time to do anything more than look at the beaches.

I was in Ft. Lauderdale once when they had a nice moon eclipse and the moon turned very red. Poor embarrassed woman (in Vietnam the "Man in the moon" is a woman). I watched it sitting on a step on the beach.

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Several of them are the West's valued allies in the Fight against Extremist Terror, I notice.

:unsure2:

And some are on the other side.
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And some are on the other side.

It was just his way of taking a jab at the US - a hobby of his. Kind of like passing gas or a verbal tic...it offers relief. :w00t:
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Well now that it seems I am going to be retiring soon, I figure I will do some traveling. There are some countries however that are off my tourism list, great hotels or not.

Well, it depends if you are traveling for leisure or for exploration/personal growth. I consider my time in places like Saudi Arabia and Turkey as very enlightening. Especially, if things like government, culture, and religion interest you. If you want leisure, though, places like Rio de Janeiro, Las Vegas, or Florida are probably better.

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It was just his way of taking a jab at the US - a hobby of his. Kind of like passing gas or a verbal tic...it offers relief. :w00t:

really? I thought it was a valid point, since people were highlighting that this illustrates how dangerous and backward islamic fundamentalism is, but that the West is quite willing to be on the same side as some of these (and some, such as Saudi Arabia, are among the worst of all), if it suits their political agenda.

And i do apologise, Sen. McCarthy, for Un-American Activities, but perhaps, and this is just a thought that I realise may not have occurred to you, my jabs are directed at the activities of U.S. Governments, most of them in fact, of both parties, since at least 1945. This is not necessarily the same as Hating America, or Sympathising with Those who Wish to Destroy America.

Edited by Colonel Rhuairidh
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Purely playing devil's advocate here but a thought just occurred to me:

Isn't it strange that people will say we shouldn't change our ways to accommodate immigrants (aka if they don't like it they should leave) yet when we don't like another country's laws about beliefs, we think they should change rather than the people leave?

Any thoughts?

As I say, just an idea, not saying I think we shouldn't encourage them to change. Nevertheless, I await the outrage with baited breath :P

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Sadly hypocrisy exists everywhere.

We demand that other countries change their way of doing things and/or their government or ELSE yet we refuse to look at our own way of doing things.

We hit children for the same reasons we tell them not to hit.

We claim to love freedom of thought but when actually confronted with someone who exercises that right, we go all ape-beans over it.

We tell other countries they can't have weapons yet we have a rather sizable arsenal ourselves....hypocrisy is in all forms and we experience it everyday but it is so frequent and pervasive that we think it is normal.

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I can be whatever religion I need to be to prevent my head from being chopped off.

Educating yourself on all religions has its benefits ;)

Edited by White Crane Feather
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Purely playing devil's advocate here but a thought just occurred to me:

Isn't it strange that people will say we shouldn't change our ways to accommodate immigrants (aka if they don't like it they should leave) yet when we don't like another country's laws about beliefs, we think they should change rather than the people leave?

Any thoughts?

As I say, just an idea, not saying I think we shouldn't encourage them to change. Nevertheless, I await the outrage with baited breath :P

Not many people say that. On the contrary I think we accommodate religions quite nicely. I do think its strange that I can't immigrate ( not that I would want to) to other places without an education and money, but anyone is allowed to find ways to stay here. I don't mind so much I just don't like the double standard.

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Not many people say that. On the contrary I think we accommodate religions quite nicely. I do think its strange that I can't immigrate ( not that I would want to) to other places without an education and money, but anyone is allowed to find ways to stay here. I don't mind so much I just don't like the double standard.

So if someone wanted a law in your country stating that obese people can't wear polyester (I'm not making these up) would you expect the law to change or should that person move back to Italy?

For you to emigrate takes precisely the same amount of effort/time as it does for anyone else and you'd be just as eligible to stay as anyone else. Provided you have the same reasons for leaving.

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