Ateizm Dernegi, also known as Atheism Association, recently filed a lawsuit against Islamic scholar Nihat Hatipoglu saying he had infringed upon the rights of atheists by blaming them for revering Satan.
In a written statement, the group alleged that Hatipoglu exceeded the limits for criticizing atheists when he said, “Every atheist in fact resorts to God. I do not believe that any of them indeed deny God. Those who claim that they deny God are just lying. Whenever they are in trouble, they take refuge in God. When they feel helpless, they seek the help of God,” on a Ramadan special that was aired on the privately owned ATV channel in Turkey.
The petition was filed at the Istanbul Courthouse, where members of Ateizm Dernegi insisted that Hatipoglu had slandered atheists and thus violated their rights after a person in the audience asked him about atheism.
As the host on ATV channel, Hatipoğlu allegedly said, “Any creation or substance is evidence of the existence of God. Personally, I do not think atheists deny God. Even devils do not deny God. The devil admits that God created it [the devil]. It is aware that God is the creator. So, atheists' greatest father is the devil. In short, the devil is more pure than the atheists.”
The complainants claimed that Hatipoglu continued to insult atheists in the next day’s program on the same channel. They also alleged that the scholar’s manipulations has caused increased polarization among people in Turkey by using similar phrases to marginalize a specific section of society that believes in ideas dissimilar to his own.
However, Hatipoglu spoke to local media and clarified his statements, saying that they had been distorted.
“We love and respect atheists. My words have been distorted. Some media outlets have not taken into consideration what I really said about them. In short, atheists claim that they do not worship Allah, but they resort to Allah when they are in trouble. It indicates that they indeed believe in Allah. There are many atheists whom I know personally, and they have strong consciences, but they cannot go beyond what they think is true. We never underestimate them,” he said.
Photo Credits: AVI
