Can Atheists and Muslims Support Freedom of Conscience Together?

[cbayer]

http://religionandpolitics.org/2013/03/05/can-atheists-and-muslims-support-freedom-of-conscience-together/

By Qasim Rashid and Chris Stedman | March 5, 2013



(Getty/Sunil Menon)
Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

For many of us, it’s easy to appreciate Jefferson’s eloquently stated advocacy of religious freedom of conscience, as well as the idea that all individuals should be able to express religious or nonreligious positions independent of others’ beliefs. Likewise, at the United Nations, both the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the binding International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” to all individuals. But, in spite of international agreements and Jefferson’s beautiful words, the reality is that these tenets are often forgotten.

Today, few corners of the world are immune from the oppression of conscience. Last year, Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai captivated the world after the Taliban viciously attacked her for promoting education for girls and women. Nearby, Pakistani Christian Rimsha Masih’s future and safety are still uncertain after she beat a blasphemy charge. In 2010, the Taliban murdered 86 Ahmadi Muslims on account of their faith. In Indonesia, Alexander Aan continues to languish in prison for the “crime” of professing his atheism, and atheist Alber Saber has been persecuted in Egypt for his lack of faith. In Iran, U.S. Pastor Saeed Abedini is serving an eight-year prison sentence for the alleged crime of preaching Christianity. And these examples are just a snapshot of what Pew reports as roughly 75 percent of the world—5.25 billion people—that live under some sort of social or governmental oppression of religious conscience.

Last year, the Center for Inquiry launched a campaign focused on promoting freedom of conscience and expression around the world—an initiative we applaud and support wholeheartedly. The Qu’ran itself champions this sentiment, emphatically declaring: “There shall be no compulsion in religion” (2:256). But in a world where oppression of conscience is inflicted on people of all different religious affiliations (or lack thereof), one fact is clear—oppression of conscience and expression is not something that impacts only one group of people. The diversity of the players who perpetuate this oppression is as widespread as the issue itself. The solution will never come from those oppressing, but must come from those who recognize this oppression for what it is—a violation of basic human rights—and are willing to work together to fight against it.

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[bowens43]

1. "it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.

It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

Not true except maybe literally.

Anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-science, religious wars, the Taliban, Israeli 'settlers' given the land by their god, trying to pass off bronze age goat herder mythology as truth......etc etc

all of these things do great harm.

[cbayer]

2. You conflate institutional dogma with an individual's beliefs and that is also harmful.

[trotsky]

3. So individual beliefs are harmless and good but institutional dogma is bad?

Is that what you're saying?

If so, from what else does institutional dogma arise other than individual beliefs???

I suspect you won't have an answer.