‘Fighting Reality’: Life as an atheist in Saudi Arabia

[rug]

Posted by Max Fisher on November 21, 2012 at 9:00 am

Atheism in Saudi Arabia is considered an extremely sensitive taboo and a serious crime, so atheists can be hard to come by in the theocratic Middle Eastern kingdom. But, according to an interview that one professed Saudi atheist gave to William Bauer, a reporter with an outlet called Your Middle East, they do exist. But they live in secret, the Saudi man says, quietly making connections with other atheists and reading outside literature he had to smuggle into the country — yes, including Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins — while they maintain a facade of Muslim observance.

Here are some of the fascinating quotes from the Saudi atheist, whom Bauer calls Jabir. His journey to atheism seems to have been a lonely one:

“I found some religious teachings and rules didn’t make any sense. So, I started asking questions about small things like why music is Haram (forbidden) or why women have to cover their faces. Then I started reading about the way Islam scripts and Hadith were gathered … I had a group of people and we would discuss books in regular meetings…After a while I came to believe that the whole of religion is nothing but man’s invention to fight reality and impose order.”

Jabir explains how the smuggled books and social media allowed him to quietly and safely connect with other atheists. He expresses surprise at meeting older atheists, who credit technology with allowing them to meet one another in ways that they hadn’t been able to before.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/21/fighting-reality-life-as-an-atheist-in-saudi-arabia/

[onager]

1. That's encouraging.

Those are some incredibly brave people.

"... I had to cover “God is not Great” with a bag as I went through customs, that was too obvious…”

I'm surprised he got away with that.

When I worked there, everyone getting off the plane had their bags searched by Customs, right in front of everybody else, before you could even move into the Terminal building. Yes, EVERYTHING in your bags, including any used underwear.

There was a long list of banned books that would be instantly seized by Customs, including Robert Lacey's The Kingdom. And anything else even mildly critical of the Saudi ruling family etc.

My worst encounter with Saudi Customs was when I entered the country with a copy of Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

It took about an hour of explaining to various officials that it was a history book, not a how-to book. They finally let me keep it.

[rug]

2. Here's the full interview.

http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/columns/article/interview-with-a-saudi-atheist_11146

The internet has been liberating.

[msongs]

3. Islam and Christianity, 2 peas in the same pod nt

[rug]

4. Aside from the fact that's wrong, do you realize this is about a state enforcing religion?