In what Amnesty International describes as "a serious setback for freedom of expression in Indonesia," Alexander Aan has been imprisoned for 30 months for posting "God doesn't exist" on Facebook, along with some "offensive" cartoons. Again with the cartoons! He was also fined an amount exceeding double Indonesia's average annual salary.
If you think this is just about atheism, think again. The same people who, according to the Guardian, are calling for Aan's beheading also protest every Sunday at Christian churches, yelling "Christians get out" and calling for all women not wearing jilbab to be hunted down. Even moderate Muslim groups are being attacked for the same reason. The New York Times reported that one man was stripped naked, beaten severely, and dragged through his village for being the wrong kind of Muslim.
The charge is "deliberately spreading information inciting religious hatred and animosity," according to the sentencing judge. So it's not about atheism; it's about not being Muslim.
Alexander Aan is a pacifist, a government servant, and an atheist. He was beaten by a mob, arrested, beaten again in prison by Muslim inmates, and now sentenced and fined. It's a fair bet that once released -- if he survives prison -- another mob will come after him for "justice."
For the sake of all that is good and right, please sign this White House petition asking President Obama to intercede on behalf of a man whose only crime is expressing his thoughts out loud and to call upon the Indonesian government to free Alexander Aan. The petition requires 25,000 signatures before Aug. 16.
According to Amnesty International's press release, the organisation is of the view that "the charges and sentence are in contravention of Indonesia's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) particularly Article 18, which protects an individual's right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and Article 19, which guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression." Amnesty calls Aan a "prisoner of conscience" and has called for his immediate and unconditional release.
If we're to live in a world that has an organisation called the "United Nations"; if documents with such titles as "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" are to mean anything, ever; if we're to make any progress at all against arbitrary violence inflicted upon nonviolent people, we need to stop standing by while such injustices take place. As Paul Fidalgo said in his blog, if we can't move mountains for him, let's at least see if we can nudge a White House.
Have you signed the petition yet? No? Why on Earth not?
Follow Edward Falzon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/edwardfalzon
A God exists in the mind of the human that created it.
----------------
Nice defense there! But, the real reason they reject 'secularism, liberal ideologies and tolerance', is because of Islam -- not because of 'negative memories of the west and colonialism'.
If they were consistently against colonization, they wouldn't have invaded East Timor and decimated the population.
"ndonesia is on a fast track to being 1 of the top 5 nations"
It already is #4.
But honestly: "I'll let this guy rot because I don't want spam" is a really, really bad excuse, mate. Please, dude, go sign it for Alexander. And share this story to your friends. We still have over 19,000 signatures to go.
No two people ever agree on what a "true Islamic country" is supposed to be like. So, stop dreaming about one.
Think about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_against_atheists
Atheists, or those accused of holding atheistic beliefs, may be subject to discrimination and persecution in some Islamic countries. According to popular interpretations of Islam, Muslims are not free to change religion or become an atheist: denying Islam and thus becoming an apostate is traditionally punished by death in men and by life imprisonment in women. The death penalty for apostasy is apparent in a range of Islamic states including: Bangladesh, Iran,[79][80] Egypt,[81] Pakistan,[82] Somalia,[83] United Arab Emirates,[84] Qatar,[85] Yemen,[85] and Saudi Arabia,[86] although there have been no recently reported executions in Saudi Arabia.[87] Since an apostate can be considered a Muslim whose beliefs cast doubt on the Divine, and/or Koran, claims of atheism and apostasy have been made against Muslim scholars and political opponents throughout history.
Hazrat Inayat Khan - interesting man
Islam - a diverse faith not unlike the other Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity, with common themes and allegories, various sects and denominations ranging from fundamentalist to moderate majority and several major offshoots with differing interpretations of the nature of god and his prophets. Adherents exist in every country in the world and number above a billion. Modernization of religious interpretation is an ongoing event.
The most regressive ideologies in the world today are arguably political and economic rather than religious but that is subject to personal perspectives.
Not true. The most regressive ideology in the world today is fundamentalist Islam and its Salafist and Wahhabi branches.