17 December 2012

It's Not Just Witches

There are not many, but the states that forbid non-religiousness – typically as part of “anti-blasphemy” legislation – include seven nations where atheism is punishable by death. All seven establish Islam as the state religion. Though that list includes some dictatorships, the country that appears to most frequently condemn atheists to death for their beliefs is actually a democracy, if a frail one: Pakistan. Others include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, the West African state of Mauritania, and the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean.
 
From the Washington Post.

Egypt, Eritrea and Indonesia merely throw atheists who out themselves in prison.

"Earlier this year, a 23-year-old Saudi man named Hamza Kashgari" who made secular comments, was charged under these statutes in Saudi Arabia.  He fled for his life, but was apprehended in Malaysia and deported back to Saudi Arabia where he currently faces a potential death sentence.

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