The Islamic Morality Police in Iran

Written by A. M., News Team | 26 December 2012

I worked in a Iranian police office for two years, and it was common to see women being mistreated by the so-called Morality Police on Tehran's streets. The Morality Police have not been trained in any aspects of moral studies, but have have been given the authority to stop people on the street, give them advice on their outfits and ask for immediate action.  People can be arrested if they do not follow this advice, on the grounds of abusing the Islamic hijab. This has become a social phobia in Iran.

Stories from people who have dealt with the Morality Police show that there are no clear laws and rules in place; the Morality Police treat people according to their own personal wishes. A husband and wife who were arrested say that it occurred because the wife was wearing a white outfit. The Police forced the wife to sit inside a minibus in Narmak Square in Tehran, while photographers from different agencies took pictures. When the husband complained about the situation he was also arrested and taken to the police station. This is only one of the minor cases that acts to suppress dissent - treating people who wear 'different' outfits as though they are not a part of society and have to be taken away.   Sometimes activities by the Morality Police are reported in the Western media (eg here and here) but usually they are not.  

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Not joining in the silly season? You're not alone

Written by Anne, News Team | 24 December 2012

Grinch....or just different?  (image: Dr Seuss' The Grinch)

Our poor senses have been abused recently by the most prominent holiday of the year (at least in Western countries): Christmas. Even as a budding atheist last year I celebrated it. It can be quite fun. But it always feels as if those who choose not to participate in these yearly solstice-based activities, be it due to their beliefs or lack thereof, are demonised in our culture. Even the basic act of ignoring the Christmas season is seen as supremely anti-social.

For some reason, it seems to be those few social 'commentators' who think that their insightful rantings and lists on why EVERYONE should be joyful around Christmas time always receive publicity in the media. Those who write nice and simple articles about the need for some variation in holiday music for the non-religious among us and those of other religions [1] are ignored in favour of things such as one of the many over-hyped nonsense lists on "Why you need to stop being a Christmas grump". [2]

Those who come out against public collections of art only depicting nativity scenes are shown as 'grinches' or 'grumps'. Those who ask that Christmas messages are not splayed over every wall and window in shopping centers are told to be quiet and bare the brunt of the mass marketing of an over-stated holiday. And don't even start about the infamous 'war on Christmas'. [3] It makes me want to rip my hair out even more than the holiday and its consumerism itself. 

So, for those of you out there who don't need a certain date on which to give gifts to those whom you love, for those of you who don't see the significance in celebrating a conglomeration of pagan and Christian traditions, and for those of you who prefer to read a book or play games instead of listening to "important sounding dead languages" [4] during a mass, I say to you, you are not alone.

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Atheist Census on Token Skeptic

Written by administrator | 18 December 2012

AAI President Carlos A. Diaz talks to Kylie Sturgess on the Token Skeptic podcast about Atheist Census and the growth of atheism worldwide.

Atheist Census Back Online After DoS Attack

Written by administrator | 16 December 2012

MEDIA RELEASE

On 7 December Atheist Alliance International (AAI) launched Atheist Census at www.atheistcensus.com, a global project to count and capture a snapshot of the world’s atheists.  The response to Atheist Census was very positive, with 8,880 entries confirmed and another c. 2,300 pending before it was taken offline as a result of a DoS (denial of service) attack, about 17 hours after launch.   

Atheist Census is now back online with a higher level of protection, and entries have already grown to over 20,000.  The President of Atheist Alliance International, Carlos A. Diaz, said "It seems that there are people who do not want atheists to be counted, who do not want to accept that as more people question and think critically about religion atheists are a growing demographic.  It is a measure of the project's success - even at this early stage - that some people wanted to shut it down."  He added "While truth and fair public policy are not determined by popularity, demonstrating the significance of the non-religious community will assist our efforts to promote a secular world.  I encourage all atheists to be counted in Atheist Census."

Participants in Atheist Census identify their preferred non-religious title, religious (if any) background, education level level, age, gender identity and country.  Participation is free, with an option to make a financial donation to help cover development and operating costs. 

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Gay Rights' Progress Blocked by Malawi Churches

Written by Jo Stephanie, News Team | 13 December 2012

For a second it seemed that Malawi was on its way towards improved rights for its gay community. After being sworn in as President in April 2012, Joyce Banda promised to overturn the country’s anti-gay laws. Following this, in November 2012 the Malawian government announced that it was suspending anti-gay laws and ordered police to stop arresting gay people.  Malawian churches acted swiftly to strongly oppose the announcement. As reported by the Independent/Reuters, the Malawi Council of Churches, a coalition of 24 church groups, pressured the government until its backed down and reversed the decision.

While Malawi is officially a secular state, recent events show that separation of church and state does not occur in practice. In Malawi (and many other African countries) religious institutions use their positions to influence national politics and further their agendas. Gay people continue to be marginalised largely due to religious influence.  As a gay man in Malawi put it, the Council of Churches "believes that gays are not human beings and should not be allowed to be free." [1] Secularism promotes human rights for all but, as demonstrated in Malawi, religious institutions choose their particular interpretation of their particular god’s law over human rights. 

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Cape Reason Podcast

Written by administrator | 12 December 2012

AAI President Carlos Diaz talks to Han Hills on the Cape Reason podcast about AAI projects and atheist activism in Argentina - enjoy!

Secular World podcast #115 - Turkeys Talk Turkeys

Written by administrator | 11 December 2012

Turkeys, Israel, Pat Robertson and the Pope is a Grinch!  Plus Han Hills talks to Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland.

Click here for the Secular World podcast.  Enjoy!

Atheist Census Website Taken Down by DoS Attack

Written by administrator | 08 December 2012

On 7 December Atheist Alliance International launched Atheist Census at www.atheistcensus.com, a global project to count and collect information on the world's atheists.  The response to Atheist Census was very positive, with 8,880 confirmed entries and another c. 2,300 pending before the site was taken offline as a result of a DoS (denial of service) attack, around 17 hours after launch.  We do not know who was behind the attack, but it's a reasonable conclusion that they do not like atheists being counted.  We are working hard to get Atheist Census online again.

Carlos A. Diaz
President, Atheist Alliance International

Huffington Post article on Atheist Census and the DoS attack.
Examiner article on Atheist Census and the DoS attack.
Christian Post article on Atheist Census and the DoS attack.

Revisiting the Vatican’s Stance on Condoms

Written by Jo Stephanie, News Team | 03 December 2012

1 December marked World AIDS Day, dedicated to raising awareness of HIV and the global AIDS pandemic. Several governments and organisations also observe the whole of December as AIDS Awareness Month. Needless to say, the situation is dire as AIDS has caused – and continues to cause - a great deal of death and suffering. However, more positively, UNAIDS (a coalition of 11 specialised UN organisations) reports that HIV infection rates are dropping throughout the world with an overall drop in new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths. [1] UNAIDS vision is “Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths” and this is the World AIDS Day theme from 2011 to 2015. UNAIDS’ vision is a highly ambitious goal and for it to be achieved proper and consistent condom use, among other things, is essential. This is a widely accepted view and there is plenty of scientific evidence regarding the importance of condoms in the fight against HIV and AIDS [2]. However, despite the evidence, the Vatican’s stance on condoms remains virtually unchanged and people’s lives continue to be damaged and risked by the Vatican’s harmful and irresponsible behaviour.

There was a slight “shift” in Vatican official policy in November 2010 allowing for condom use in a few select situations but this was not even remotely enough. The Pope stated that condom use can be acceptable in a few select situations, for instance where male prostitutes are involved, but generally the ban on condoms stands. [3, 4] Despite strong evidence to the contrary, the Vatican insists that condoms are not a solution and that they make the situation worse. [5] The Vatican continues to demonstrate that it is out of touch with science, the modern world and reality.

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Brazilian Real Can Be Free From God

Written by Alexandre F. Shimono, News Team | 03 December 2012

Brazilian Real: Deus seja louvado - "God be praised"

Public Attorney Jefferson Dias, who has declared himself Catholic, is being threatened by his fellow Christians for moving a legal action to remove the phrase “God be praised” from Brazilian Real paper money. “I received some emails threatening my life, in the name of God” he stated, in an interview with an online news website. [1]

Dias is acting following a request to the Public Attorney by an atheist who stated he was disturbed by the Brazilian State showing a preference to one religion on the currency. Investigation by Dias revealed that the phrase “God be praised” was added to Brazilian currency after a personal request by Jose Sarney, currently president of Senate, during his time as President of Brazil (1985 - 1990). Dias noted that the Central Bank did not provide information about how the inclusion of the phrase occurred: but after Minister Marco Aurelio spoke of this matter in the context of his vote to make the abortion of anencepalic fetuses legal, the Central Bank acknowledged the phrase had been included as a personal favour.

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No God, not even Allah

Written by administrator | 01 December 2012

This is the first paragraph from an article published in The Economist titled Atheists and Islam - No God, not even Allah:

A MOB attacked Alexander Aan even before an Indonesian court in June jailed him for two and a half years for “inciting religious hatred”. His crime was to write “God does not exist” on a Facebook group he had founded for atheists in Minang, a province of the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Like most non-believers in Islamic regions, he was brought up as a Muslim. And like many who profess godlessness openly, he has been punished.

Read the full article here.

Pressure on European Blasphemy Laws Threatens Freedom of Expression

Written by M.J., News Team | 26 November 2012

In Europe there is a tension between those who support freedom of expression and those who claim that their freedom of religion extends to freedom from their religion being offended.  Laws protect both freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but recent events threaten to expand the scope of freedom of religion into freedom from religious insult.

Historically, Europe has sought to protect freedom of expression to a high degree.  The European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission) issued a report  in October 2008 [1] concluding with these recommendations:

a) That incitement to hatred, including religious hatred, should be the object of criminal sanctions.
b) That it is neither necessary nor desirable to create an offence of religious insult (that is, insult to religious feelings), without the element of incitement to hatred as an essential component.
c) That the offence of blasphemy should be abolished where it still exists and should not be reintroduced. 

The report indicated that blasphemy remained an offence in some European countries (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands and San Marino – and Ireland added blasphemy as a crime in 2009), with many others instead, or in addition, making it a crime to insult religion (Andorra, Cyprus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine).  There is, however, no general definition of what counts as religious insult.

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AAI History

Atheist Alliance was established in 1991 as a democratic network of US-based atheist organizations plus one non-US organization.  Over time Atheist Alliance expanded to include more non-US members and changed its name to Atheist Alliance International (AAI) in 2001.  In 2010 AAI had 31 US-based affiliates and 18 non-US based affiliates.  At this time the board of AAI concluded that its goals could be achieved more effectively by separating into two organizations – one focused on US local and national issues and one focused on providing a supportive global network for atheist and freethought organizations around the world.  In October 2010 the separation was approved in principle by AAI’s members and in June 2011 AAI effectively separated into Atheist Alliance International and Atheist Alliance of America.

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