Indonesian atheist might embrace Islam after arrest, police say

[rug]

Jan 30, 2012, 10:09 GMT

Jakarta - An Indonesian atheist who was detained after declaring God did not exist on Facebook was considering abandoning his lack of religious faith and embracing Islam, police said Monday.

Officers arrested Alexander Aan, a 31-year-old civil servant in Dharmasraya district in West Sumatra province, this month and charged him with blasphemy after he declared on his Facebook page that 'God does not exist.'

'His parents came and told us that he wanted to repent,' Dharmasraya police chief Chairul Aziz said by telephone.

Aziz said Aan was not charged because he was an atheist but because he blasphemed against Islam on the Facebook page called Minang Atheists, which Aan moderated.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1688076.php/Indonesian-atheist-might-embrace-Islam-after-arrest-police-say

[TheWraith]

1. Let me guess.

He exclaimed "Oh my God!" during his fifteenth beating.

[MADem]

3. My turn!

The punishment for blasphemy--meted out by religious busybodies, if not the state-- is death?

Look at Salman Rushdie, the Fatwah King....he is still looking over his shoulder, all these years later.

[dmallind]

2. And when they start arresting atheists here so will I

No damn point being a martyr to a lack of belief. I'll do the godbothering gibberish with the best of 'em when life, safety or freedom is on the line. After all it's not like I need to be worried about offending Lack-Of-God with my Petrine denials, even unto thrice.

[rug]

4. Are there any atheist martyrs?

[cleanhippie]

5. Define "atheist martyrs" first.

Then we will see if there are any.

[rug]

7. Ask him.

"No damn point being a martyr to a lack of belief."

Unless you want to take a crack at it.

[cleanhippie]

9. No, I just wanted to avoid confusion over the definition.

I see now it was more rhetorical than anything else.

[dmallind]

10. Fairly simple concept really. It's not incomprehensible, just pointless

It's pretty easy to postulate the analog of a bog-standard religious martyr - someone who dies rather than abjure their belief in a given god - and come up with someone willing to die rather than pretend to have a belief in a god when he lacks one in truth. That would be an atheist martyr.

The idea is a basic one I can't see as being beyond the wit of the average third grader. The carrying out of the idea would be utterly pointless and frankly suicidal. Don't recall hearing of it being put into practise, but I suppose it may have happened.

[dmallind]

8. No idea. Bloody silly idea if there are though. nt

[PassingFair]

11. Thomas Aikenhead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aikenhead

Crazy kid!

[dmallind]

13. I'll be damned (as will he if it's an option) ;). Never heard of him before!

I'm relatively well-informed on the more recently abused atheists but never really looked that far back beyond the scientific big names. Rather prescient young chap. Would be an interesting time-travel novella possibly. Thanks!

[ZombieHorde]

6. Completely understandable.

Hopefully he will be released, and then be able to move to a less hostile region.

[LAGC]

12. No, we need more voices to stay and speak up in those countries.

Nothing's ever going to change in those countries if all the infidels get ran out or cowed into silence.

Islam needs to be dragged into the 21st Century. Kicking and screaming, if necessary.

A lot of that change needs to come from within, from moderate Muslims who wake up and realize the sheer backwardness of certain religious ideas and cease to enable them any longer.

I hope he stays and organizes against this injustice.

[2ndAmForComputers]

14. Sometimes a country's SO fucked up you're better off speaking out and organizing from outside.