Saudi Arabia Doubles Down on Atheism; New Laws Declares It Equivalent to Terrorism

[n2doc]

We’ve seen before how Saudi pundits find it easy to conflate atheism and terrorism, but now it’s official: Saudi Arabia’s new terrorism laws say outright that nonbelievers and others who commit thought crime are the same as violent terrorists.

According to Human Rights Watch:

The interior ministry regulations [introduced over the last three months] include … sweeping provisions that authorities can use to criminalize virtually any expression or association critical of the government and its understanding of Islam. These “terrorism” provisions include the following:
Article 1: “Calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based.”

In Saudi Arabia, you’re asking for severe punishment even if you’re not an atheist or a dissident, but merely think that people must be allowed to state their piece. In fact, expressing any sympathy or support for freethinkers is now a crime in the kingdom:

Article 4: “Anyone who aids [“terrorist”] organizations, groups, currents [of thought], associations, or parties, or demonstrates affiliation with them, or sympathy with them, or promotes them, or holds meetings under their umbrella, either inside or outside the kingdom; this includes participation in audio, written, or visual media; social media in its audio, written, or visual forms; internet websites; or circulating their contents in any form, or using slogans of these groups and currents [of thought], or any symbols which point to support or sympathy with them.”

more
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/03/31/saudi-arabia-doubles-down-on-atheism-new-laws-declares-it-equivalent-to-terrorism/

[Warpy]

1. Well, it's not like it's on my list of vacation spots.

I'd already turned them down for making a ridiculous amount of money as a nurse there.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. In 2005....

I was offered $100k a year, tax free, to work on flight simulators there. Hmmmm, no bacon or beer? A country that makes our religious nutcases seem sane? No thank you.

[onager]

7. I worked there for 2 years...

We made our own beer, wine, bourbon and even a pretty decent cognac.

There was a butcher shop in the neighborhood where we could ask for "white steak" and get beautiful thick pork chops.

Funny story I heard about the booze, which may even be true. The Saudi govt. figured out why the infidels bought so much yeast in grocery stores. So the govt. decreed that henceforth, yeast would only be sold in small packs suitable for cooking and sales would be monitored.

Then they took tons of yeast out into the desert and buried it. But the infidels knew where it was buried, and just went out and dug it up. So now it was not only available, but free!

Religious nutcases - they never came onto the foreign living compounds. So we only had to put up with the Religious Police and their bullshit when we went out in town. And they usually didn't mess with Americans much. Too many of us worked on projects tied directly to the govt., which in that country means the royal family. They would occasionally harass us a little, but in general screwing with us could cause them a lot more trouble than it was worth.

I should also note that I worked in Jeddah, right on the Red Sea. I don't think I would have taken a job in Riyadh.

Once I went roaming around Jeddah looking for a house formerly occupied by T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia!). Finally found it, but I had to slog thru some mud flats, and the place was being used as a municipal bus park. The house itself looked on the verge of collapse. Lawrence is not a hero to the al-Saud gang. As far as they're concerned, he backed the wrong tribe.

[Iggo]

2. Our brave allies in the fight against international terrorism!!!

Last edited Tue Apr 1, 2014, 01:24 AM - Edit history (1)

And I heard that one or two 9/11 terrorist weren't even from there!

[TxDemChem]

3. Articles like these remind me that while it can be hard

To be an atheist in the Bible Belt, it is nothing when compared to Islamic nations. Xtians here talk about their faux-persecution, but they have no idea.

[edhopper]

4. This has nothing to do with their religion or beliefs.

It's just social and cultural factors and the abuse of power by rulers.

Or so i have been told in "another forum".

[AngryDem001]

6. I would never go to Saudi Arabia for ANYTHING!

Remind me again why our government is such buddy-buddies with them?

[AlbertCat]

9. Remind me again why our government is such buddy-buddies with them?

oil

[AlbertCat]

8. Saudi Arabia is not a country

It's a family owned business.



(What a certain family would like the USA to be!)