Atheist faces jail after Facebook remark

AN Indonesian civil servant who declared himself an atheist on Facebook was arrested and is now facing jail for blasphemy after being attacked by an angry mob, police said today.

Alexander An, 30, who wrote "God doesn't exist" on his Facebook page, was beaten by a mob of dozens on Wednesday in his hometown in Pulau Punjung, West Sumatra province.

"He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam," local police chief Chairul Aziz told AFP.

"The man told police investigators that if God really exists and has absolute power, why didn't he prevent bad things from happening in this world."

An said on his Facebook page that he was brought up as a Muslim, like the vast majority in Indonesia, where blasphemy is a punishable crime carrying a maximum five-year prison term.

Dozens of locals stormed into his office after a heated debate with them on Facebook over religion, police said.

An was also an administrator of a Facebook group promoting atheism with 1243 followers. His postings no longer appeared online following his arrest.

(Source)

I am a firm believer that every country is entitled to its own set of laws, culture and customs but I just cannot understand this, it just seems so backwards. So why was this man beaten, ridiculed and is now facing jail time? Because he is an Atheist who wrote "God does not exist" on some social-networking site. Say what you want about the West, but at least we have the Freedom to post this kind of thing without fear of violence or persecution.

Say what you want about the West, but at least we have the Freedom to post this kind of thing without fear of violence or persecution.

and THAT is a beautiful thing that many MANY people take for granted...


Dark Ghost you earn a bit of respect in my book for acknowledging the fact...

As far as the poor lad in the article and his circumstances...

I wont go into much detail... but reasons such as that... is why I think Islam is an evil religion...

And I agree with the lad... I dont believe in Allah either.

Like I said in my other thread gay/homosexual execution, Islam believers killing this atheist for being an atheist is No Different. Islam is not peace.

reply to post by EvolEric


All religion is evil & he wasn't just talking about Allah.

Originally posted by PinkAndBlack
reply to post by EvolEric

 

All religion is evil & he wasn't just talking about Allah.

Yet the alleged charge is blasphemed against islam. I don't see many bible thumpers breaking down his door to bash him and have him arrested.

In Indonesia's defense, he would be facing the death penalty in a lot of Muslim countries. I still don't agree with it, but at least they're not so crazy they're talking about beheading him or something. It's still psycho and unjust; I suppose that's just me pointing out the "silver lining"...not that it's much of one :/

reply to post by mainidh


To validate your point...

I'm said Bible Thumper and by the virtues I follow...

And according to the bible... paraphrased due to my horrible word for word memory

Let the wheat and tar grow together and God will sort it out...

It is not my place... nor is it any bodies place to condemn another for what they believe in...
or in this case... lack of belief...

Even though my stances on Islam, lead me to believe it is an Evil Religion...
I make no attempts to condemn people individually... Let em do what they will...

Originally posted by Dark Ghost
Say what you want about the West, but at least we have the Freedom to post this kind of thing without fear of violence or persecution.

Truer words have never been said my brotha.

The west, for all its follys (and there is a rather extensive list), has the important stuff correct...I am able to say there is no god, santa, or alien elvis without fear of mobs attacking me (anymore..not for the last 100 or so years) nor being arrested because of it.

Originally posted by mainidh

Originally posted by PinkAndBlack
reply to post by EvolEric

 

All religion is evil & he wasn't just talking about Allah.

Yet the alleged charge is blasphemed against islam. I don't see many bible thumpers breaking down his door to bash him and have him arrested.

Not anymore...couple hundred years back however that was the norm.

Islam is stuck in their middle ages mentality.

Originally posted by SaturnFX

Originally posted by mainidh

Originally posted by PinkAndBlack
reply to post by EvolEric

 

All religion is evil & he wasn't just talking about Allah.

Yet the alleged charge is blasphemed against islam. I don't see many bible thumpers breaking down his door to bash him and have him arrested.

Not anymore...couple hundred years back however that was the norm.

Islam is stuck in their middle ages mentality.

This didn't happen a couple of hundred years ago, or perhaps we can go back 60 thousand years before any religion existed and use the barbaric tribal practices of human beings to in some way justify what was done, while simultaneously declaring it wrong in this day and age?

Not sure if your point was to shed a light on the inadequacies of christianity or use it to level the playing field allowing all religion to be treated the same? Islam fosters a very different mindset to the rest of the modern world.

Lets not dwell on things hundreds or thousands of years ago as they are irrelevant to actions today,

Originally posted by mainidh
Not sure if your point was to shed a light on the inadequacies of christianity or use it to level the playing field allowing all religion to be treated the same?

Neither.
Was responding that x-ians generally don't gather into mobs and murder blasphemers and non believers...anymore..but they did in the past.
islam is stuck in the past..needs to join modern society.

why do christians seek out persecution when there is none..as far as all religions to be treated the same..sure, they are all just as nutty. but not all cultures are the same. muslim culture is less developed than the far east and west.

At least in the US you can criticize religion and not go to jail.
Just don't criticize the government or the Army has the right to cart you away.

Are we really so much better than Indonesia?

Freedom is in deep doo-doo everywhere it seems.

This doesn't surprise me at all.

Indonesia is a den of scum and corruption.

The same country who's people absolutely hate bad publicity in the media of other countries......just prove the MSM media right by the way they act.

If the US government were serious about fighting world terrorism....they would have gone straight to Indonesia.

Another example of this type of madness is demonstrated in the following article. This time it was the following tweet that had religious fundamentalists up in arms:

On the occasion of the Muslim prophet's [Muhammad] birthday last week, 23-year-old Mr Kashgari tweeted: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you."

"I will not pray for you," he added.