- Indian Ex-Muslim Attacked by Mob and Arrested for Criticizing Islam
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/indian-ex-muslim-attacked-mob-arrested-criticizing-islam
Location: India
On June 12, 2022, a youth belonging to a Muslim family in Maharashtra, India, was assaulted and arrested for making posts on social media where he criticized the Prophet Muhammad and called upon citizens of India to reject all religions. Last month Nupur Sharma, a spokesperson for the ruling BJP party, talked about the "obscene" relationship the Prophet Muhammad had with his wife, Aisha. In his posts, 19-year-old engineering Saad Ashfaq Ansari praised the remarks made by Nupur Sharma, calling her a "brave lady" for stating facts. In a series of posts on his Instagram profile, Ansari criticized the Prophet Muhammad in response to the ongoing controversy. He wrote, "A 50-year-old man marrying a 6-9-year-old kid is clear child abuse. And I don't know how you people support this. Will you give your 6-year-old daughter to a 50-year-old man? (think about it)." He further stated, "I'm not in support of any religion. I fucking hate them all. I'm just scared to live in a world where you and your family can be killed just because you spoke something about a man who died many years ago. Grow up, guys. Ditch the religions which spreads terrorism in the world. And BE A HUMAN BEING. It's just that simple. (I already know how much hate I'll get for posting this & prepared to be misunderstood because you people are still kids)." In response to his posts, a radical Muslim mob gathered at Ansari's home. His house was raided, and he was assaulted and forced to recite Islamic phrases. The police arrived due to the commotion and arrested Ansari instead of the mob. After pressure from the media, the police eventually booked over 100 people for mob violence.
- Saudi Authorities Confiscate Rainbow-Colored Toys in LGBT Crackdown
Location: Saudi Arabia
Earlier this week, officials in Saudi Arabia seized toys and clothing in the "colors of homosexuality" from stores in Riyadh. According to the authorities, rainbow-colored objects refer to the LGBT+ flag that encourages homosexuality amongst children, which is contrary to "the Islamic faith." The commerce ministry tweeted that the items were removed from the stores as they "contain symbols and signs that call for deviation and contradict common sense." Stores that are found continuing to sell these rainbow-colored objects will face legal penalties. In Saudi Arabia, where Sharia, the Islamic laws, are strictly enforced, homosexuality is seen as a severely punishable offense that can result in flogging or capital punishment. The country does not recognize, permit, or celebrate same-sex marriages and domestic partnerships. In a statement released last year, Islamic Scholar Abdelaziz Al-Sheikh, the current Grand Mufti, the most influential Muslim leader of the country, said that people belonging to the LGBT community are "a disgrace in this world." A similar crackdown on stores selling rainbow-colored toys happened in the neighboring country of Qatar in December 2021.
- ISIS Bombs Sikh Temple in Retaliation for "Insults" to the Prophet Muhammad
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/isis-bombs-sikh-temple-retaliation-insults-prophet-muhammad
Location: India
On June 18th. a Sikh temple in Kabul, Afghanistan, was attacked, leaving a Sikh devotee and a Taliban security officer dead and seven injured. ISIS-Khorasan later claimed that the attack was a retaliation for the comments made by Nupur Sharma, a now-suspended member of India's ruling party. In May, Sharma criticized the Prophet Muhammad and his marriage to a six-year-old child during a televised debate. Her comments sparked violent protests in many states across India, leaving two teenagers dead. In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, ISIS-Khorasan claimed the attack was "an act of revenge" for insulting the Prophet Mohammed. Khalid Zadran, a spokesperson for Kabul's police chief, said, "the security forces were able to act quickly to control the attack." Zadran also claimed that Taliban forces neutralized the attackers "in a short period." Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, condemned the attack on the Sikh temple and called the attackers "the enemies of the Afghan people."
- Islamists Attack Yoga Retreat in the Maldives
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/islamists-attack-yoga-retreat-maldives
Location: Maldives
On June 21st, a radical Islamist mob stormed the Maldives' national stadium to intimidate and attack the people participating in an event called the "Yoga Day." The event was organized jointly by the Indian High Commission and the Maldivian government with more than 150 participants, including officials representing the governments of India and the United Kingdom. Islamic protesters invaded Galolhu National Stadium, chased and attacked the participants, and vandalized the property. A few hours before the event, the two Islamic activists had called a "peaceful" protest in front of the stadium. After some provocative speeches, the mob broke through the police barricades, entered the stadium, and began pushing and hitting the peaceful yoga practitioners. A group of roughly 50 men, led by Sheikh Adam Nishan and Sheikh Fazloon Mohamed, two well-known Islamic scholars of the country, stormed the event waving Islamist flags and banners and running through the field shouting "Allahu Akbar."
- Egyptian Woman Murdered in Public for Rejecting Marriage Proposal
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/egyptian-woman-murdered-public-rejecting-marriage-proposal
Location: Egypt
On June 20th, in Mansoura, Egypt, Nayera Ashraf Abdel Qader was stabbed in front of her university after refusing a fellow student's marriage proposal. The murder occurred in broad daylight, in front of the university gates after she stepped off a bus. She died instantly after sustaining fatal injuries to her neck and torso. According to the victim's father, Ashraf had blocked the young man on Facebook for over a year and a half. He had informed the authorities about repeated threats against her, fearing the man would attack his daughter. According to the investigation carried out by the Egyptian police, the murderer is a student, identified only as "Mohammed A," who studies at the same university as the victim. Mohammad admitted to police to having killed Nayera because she refused to have a relationship with him and marry him. A similar incident occurred two days later in Jordan after a 21-year-old female nursing student was shot dead during the day at her university campus in Amman. Investigations have been started as the police are on a search to identify and apprehend the culprit. Attia Mabrouk, a professor in the department of Islamic studies at the world-renowned Al-Azhar University in Cairo, advised women to wear a hijab if they did not want to "meet the same fate."
- US Supreme Court Decision Compels Maine to Fund Religious Schools
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/us-supreme-court-decision-compels-maine-fund-religious-schools
Location: US
On June 21st, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the two Christian families that filed a lawsuit and subsequent appeal against the exclusion of religious institutions in Maine's tuition assistance program. Maine is a rural state that is sparsely populated in several counties. Half of its school districts do not have public high schools, so they established a school-choice program long ago. The program subsidized the average tuition cost for students admitted to a private school in districts with no public schools. Parents could use this program to send their children to a secular school or a religious school of their choice until 1981 when Maine banned "sectarian" schools from the program. Since 1981, Maine has prohibited families from using tax-payer funds from this school-choice program to study at private religious schools. In the new ruling of Carson v. Makin, the Supreme Court said the system that Maine had implemented was unconstitutional since, according to the court, the provision of the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, something that the Maine system did not adhere to by paying tuition for only the students who did not go to religious schools. The liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor stated, "Today, the court leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation."
- Rising Non-Belief: Only 81% of Americans Believe in God in Historic Low
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/news/rising-non-belief-only-81-americans-believe-god-historic-low
Location: USA
According to a newly published Gallup study, belief in God in the USA dropped from 87% in 2017 to 81% in 2022. The six percent dip is the lowest point in Gallup's trend, marking a historic low. This study was first conducted in 1944. In the initial run of the study, the lowest point was 94%, with the rest of the results consistently showing that 95% of the Americans believe in God. In Gallup's 2022 survey, conservative Americans only had a 1% change in belief in God, while belief among liberals dropped 11 percentage points. The belief in the theory of evolution also saw an unprecedented increase in the last five years. According to John Miller, the lead researcher, one of the reasons Americans do not believe in the theory of evolution is religious fundamentalism.
- Apostate Prophet Suspended From Twitter! Here’s How to Help
Apostate Prophet, the world's largest Ex-Muslim YouTuber, was recently suspended from Twitter for an absolutely ridiculous reason. He had tweeted an image of a cartoon of a frowning little girl wearing a hijab, with the caption "#NupurSharma did nothing wrong. It is Muhammad who married a child." This tweet referenced the infamously "blasphemous" incident of Nupur Sharma, a spokesperson for the ruling party of India, talking about the "obscene" relationship the Prophet Muhammad had with his child bride Aisha on a televised news panel. This comment resulted in severe threats against Sharma, violence across India, and an international diplomatic crisis for the country. Somehow, pointing out that Sharma's statement was factual according to Islamic scripture and condemning the abuse perpetrated by the Prophet Muhammad was deemed to be "promoting violence against" a protected group by Twitter, and Apostate Prophet was suspended.
We are calling upon the Atheist Republic community to help Apostate Prophet regain his account! Simply make a tweet, tag @TwitterSupport and @ApostateProphet, show your support to him, and make sure to use the hashtag #RestoreApostateProphet!
- HELP Atheist Republic SAVE Our Facebook Page!
https://www.facebook.com/AtheistRepublic
It's unfortunate news to report that Atheist Republic is at serious risk of losing our Facebook page, the world's largest atheist page with over 2.3 million followers. Our Facebook page is currently at risk of being "unpublished" due to an accumulation of several incorrect community standards violation strikes. Posts that Atheist Republic has received erroneous community standards violation strikes include memes that joke about how atheists eat babies and posts that satirize biblical homophobia. Usually, these violations disappear from the page after a few months. Still, Atheist Republic has been unfairly penalized by having these erroneous violations shown as active on our page for almost a year! Not only this, but these strikes also penalize the page by deprioritizing it in the Facebook algorithm, meaning that fewer people see our content and reach the Atheist Republic community.
Atheist Republic is looking for help! If you or anyone you know works at Facebook or Meta, please reach out to our CEO at Susanna@AtheistRepublic.com!
