Atheism On The Rise In The Mideast

by Bangalore 3 Replies latest jw friends

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  Bangalore

  Atheism On The Rise In The Mideast.

  http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=527543&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26

  Bangalore
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  Satanus

  Can you do a summery of a paragraph or two? Thanks.

  S
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  rather be in hades

  it's his fault he's falling out of favor. if only he would show himself and set the record straight...
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  Bangalore

  Atheism on the rise in the Mideast

  By Reem al-Harmi/Washington

  Lately there have been reports on the rise of atheism in the Arab world. According to a survey, the largest number of people who consider themselves religious are in Africa (89%) followed by Latin America (84%). As for the Arab world, 77% of the people surveyed considered themselves to be religious and in the Islamic countries the figure was 73%.

  Many in the Middle East would be shocked at these numbers, because of all places in the world, religion, it has been thought, is a crucial element in everyone's life in the region. It's an element that is taught from pre-school. In some cases it gets ugly and bloody too, as in what's happening in Iraq with its sectarian divide and violence.

  You would be more surprised to find (to some extent, I was) that the most conservative Muslim country, in which they follow strict rules of Sharia, also has the highest number of atheists, according to the same poll.

  The survey found that in Saudi Arabia, 5% of the people claimed to be "convinced atheists".
  If we look around us and see how Islam is practised in various cultures and countries we would spot differences because everyone has a different interpretation of things. Countries themselves view Islam differently, some of them one can define as moderate, others too extreme; in other words what is viewed to be Islamic in Afghanistan, may not be viewed the same way in Malaysia, for instance.
  From my own observation, many who are forced into certain way of practicing religion are the ones who are going to distant themselves from religion and probably over time become atheists, unlike those who have some sort of freedom to practise religion as they see right.

  In the Middle East, especially in conservative countries, no one would dare come out and speak about how they were convinced about the Big Bang and the Evolution theory or how all the religions out there are just delusion and go against science and rationality. That's why you would see many of them, along with other believers in God, are doing everything they are supposed to do in terms of religious rituals and practices.
  This is simply because of the fear of the "religious police", or the social and family backlashes and the rejection of society.

  One of the reasons many could argue about the rise of atheism in the Arab world, "aside from the conspiracy theorists lovers", is that the way the religious institutions and religious clerics want to force their interpretation of religion.
  This, in itself, has an adverse reaction, in which it is distancing people away from religion and away from God. Whether this is right or wrong, I don't tend to judge, but many see many Muslim clerics going way too far with their religious callings "fatwa".

  For example, when the first Bluetooth mobile phone was sold in the market, a few clerics said it's forbidden to own one, others argued that it's sinful to greet people for Eid before the Eid prayer.
  There are many other examples that created an atmosphere of discomfort for many believers, who think that their life is being intruded upon and the religion they love and practise is being manipulated and hijacked by a few: that's a total turn off from religion.

  Additionally, after the Arab Spring, many religious countries have been afraid that the wave of protest will sweep their countries too. Therefore, many Muslim clerics have called for ban on protesting and speaking out and disagreeing with the ruler.
  Just recently we've seen a picture of Bashar al-Assad attending the Eid prayer and Muslim clerics shaking hands with him, greeting him with smiling faces. That image of someone who kills his own people, yet being greeted by a religious person is one of the reasons why people might lose interest in religion. Instead of hating politics and the leadership, they would hate religion, and lately we have seen when politics mixes with religion things can get very ugly.

  Lastly, instead of burying our heads in the sand and admitting there is no such thing as atheism, we should be able to talk and initiate dialogues for better understanding and to define what has gone wrong.
  My personal opinion is that extremism will always generate another form of extremism; therefore moderation and not taking sides one way or the other is the first step to help build a tolerant community.

  Bangalore