Bangladeshi secularist blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

Yet another blogger has been hacked to death in Bangladesh for writing for atheistic website "Mukto Mona." Ananta Bijoy Das had reportedly been on the extremists' hit list for some time.

Deutsche Welle, 12 May 2015

Machete wielders hacked blogger Ananta Bijoy Das to death in Bangladesh's northern city Sylhet on Tuesday.

"Attackers wearing masks hacked Ananta Bijoy Das with machetes in Sylhet city at around 8.30 a.m. (0230 UTC/GMT) this morning. We have learnt that he was a writer," the Sylhet police's Deputy Commissioner Faisal Mahmud told news agency AFP. The 33-year-old worked in a bank, police said.

Faid Ahmed, the Canada-based editor of website Mukto Mona, where Ananta Bijoy's writings were published, confirmed the blogger's death.

Debashish Debu, Das' friend told journalists that the blogger had been receiving threats from extremists in recent months. "He was on their hit list," Debu said.

Ananta Bijoy's murder comes just a week after Islamists of the al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed responsibility for killing Avijit Roy in February. The US-based citizen also worked for "Mukto Mona" as a moderator.

Roy was well known for his writings on philosophy and human rights issues. A 2014 nominee and a posthumous 2015 winner of DW's Best of Blogs awards, he was an atheist and government critic and had been accused by Islamists thought to have links to the militant Hefazat-e-Islam group of insulting the Prophet Muhammad and defaming Islam. He received numerous death threats prior to his killing.

Machete-wielders, possibly members of the AQIS, claimed yet another victim, Washiqur Rahman amonth later in March.

"Mukto Mona," which means "a free mind" in Bengali, publishes blogs, commentaries and reports based on science and logic that debunk conservative religious practices. 

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country, is officially secular, but right-wing groups terrorizing liberal thinkers have been on the rise in recent years.

mg/msh (AFP, Reuters)

Related Article:

"Not Your Father's New Age" - Feb 14/15, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

".. An energy that goes around the planet will eventually become how you think and will change humanity to a lighter, higher vibrating group of souls. In the process, poverty and disease will diminish, social issues will become more balanced, tolerance will be at a new higher level, and new invention will make survival much easier. None of this will have anything to do with perceived spirituality. Not yet.

So, here will sit the atheist and the agnostic who will know about longer life, peace on Earth and compassion. Yet they won't associate it with anything from the "outside". This is because, for them, it will be intellectual, intuitive and the way it is. They will call it new advanced Human nature, and they won't know where it came from. Not yet. The intellectuals will look back on history and say we had the barbaric age until 2012, when Humans started to become wiser. In 100 years, you'll look back and see a humanity that was far, far different and far more violent. Sociologists will add a new level of growth to their chart, for it will signal a change in thinking that hadn't ever been seen before. It will be seen as the end of Human immaturity and the beginning of a wiser humanity. But for a long time, there will be no consensus on "God inside". Instead, there will be more tolerance between belief systems.. ..."

Raising Kids Without God: Atheist Parents in Indonesia

A growing number of people are turning to atheism in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Marcel Thee, July 15, 2013

(JG illustration)

The members of Indonesian Atheist Parents come together to answer a simple question: How do you survive as an atheist parent in a country where such a stance is considered blasphemous?

In a place where a hint of holding an unpopular opinion — about God, no less — can land a person in jail, or at the very least make someone a social outcast, it can often feel like raising a child to think differently is impossible for both child and parent.

For too many, the social and administrative challenges will be too much. Seemingly trivial tasks such as filling out forms, visiting family and chitchat around the table become a burden wrought with personal ramifications.

Simply put, is the effort worth the trouble?

The Indonesian Atheist Parents Facebook community was established in April. As an outgrowth of Indonesia’s increasingly vocal atheist movement — showcased most visibly by Karl Karnadi’s Indonesian Atheist group — the group’s specific focus has garnered it followers with a dedicated interest toward what its founders tags as “parenting beyond belief.”

The group’s 70-plus members discuss topics ranging from specifically atheist issues (“What schools are secular?”; “What do you do when a relative asks the children about their religious studies?”; “How do you survive religious holiday gatherings?”) to more general ones about sex education, home-schooling and holiday destinations.

A.F. Simanjuntak, who agreed to speak only under his initials and clan name, founded the Indonesian Atheist Parents group. His clan name indicates that A.F. is Batak, a North Sumatran ethnicity that in general, holds strong Protestant values. He also comes from a military family, prompting him to joke that elements of his background are “not exactly a good combination” for him to be able to express progressive beliefs.

Along with his wife, A.F. hides his non-religiosity from their families, an understandable survival mechanism for the majority of Indonesian atheists.

The familial pressures of endless religious rituals — as well as the general outlook of a strongly religious family — became even more of a challenge when A.F. and his wife had children.

The Protestant religious rite Peneguhan Sidi (Sidi Confirmation), practiced as children enter their early teens, is of particular concern for the couple.

“We don’t particularly want our two children (boys in grades four and six) to partake in those rituals, but at the same time, it is a social process [in Indonesia] that is part of the child’s life,” A.F. said.

Announcing that their children will not undergo such rituals is likely to provoke family and friends, and has the potential to lead to alienation.

It could also deny their children a sense of shared experience with their peers.

“The biggest challenge is in encouraging the children’s character-building away from religious dogmas that surround them,” A.F. said. “Don’t get me wrong, we are not molding our kids into atheists — they are free to choose their own path, even as persons who believe in God — but they should be critical, free, and responsible.”

A.F.’s wife — who would only speak anonymously — said the children’s challenge as freethinkers is in making peace with themselves if they choose to continue living in the country.

“With the advantages they have [of not being subscribed into any religious dogma], our children could slip into being persons filled with hatred,” she said.

“Our task now as parents is to show them that people who believe in God can live next to someone who doesn’t; someone who is ‘smart’ can live along with someone who may not particularly be so, and so on. It is important for them to know that being able to survive in a society is much more important than basing their lives on a sense of narrow idealism.”

Group member Cherrie Petrissa, who lives in the Netherlands with her German husband, said being an atheist parent does have its drawbacks in terms of relationships, which she has come to terms with.

“I was raised in a mixed-faith family myself, with a Muslim father and a Catholic mother,” she said.

“My father is not a practicing Muslim, but my mother deals with me being an atheist raising an atheist child by being in denial. She keeps thinking that deep in my heart we’re all still believers. I let her have her peace that way.”

Another group member, a political journalist who only wishes to be identified as T.R., says he and his wife (who is not an atheist but a “very, very liberal Muslim”) have made peace with how much of their child’s life will be surrounded by religious beliefs. T.R. still commits to Muslim praying practices sometimes for the sake of familial “togetherness.”

“[My wife and I] think that shielding our daughter from religion will actually make her susceptible toward it, and vice versa,” he said.

T.R.’s only daughter, who is now in elementary school, goes to a “dangerously” religious school because of a lack of alternatives. But T.R. considers what matters most is the example that he and his wife set at home.

“If her home is filled with rational thinking, [her school and home life] creates a good balance,” T.R. said.

T.R. has little trepidation about how his daughter will cope in what he calls an “increasingly Muslim Indonesia.”

“The substance of [my daughter’s] generation of irreligious, rational thinkers will be the ones battling against [fundamentalists], and they will be prepared,” he said.

Both A.F. and T.R. accept that their children will have to live their lives — at least on paper — as religious believers. Their citizen ID card notes their religion (“Hers states Muslim, but does that really mean anything?” T.R. said of his daughter) and they both go to schools where religious studies are compulsory.

For A.F., religion benefits his children at least in familiarizing them with their ethnic roots. He said it was important for his family to be able to live a normal life despite their beliefs, or lack thereof.

His wife said it was important to prepare their children to be flexible in their idealism in order to survive.

She explained that although there “might be some great, achievable things without the presence of religion, [we’ve] gotten used to just see, take, and process the best out of all the bad things that exist in this life.”

For T.R., being a parent without the baggage of religion results in “a child who is stronger and not a crybaby, because she would not have to be dependent on something outside herself that is abstract and never concretely debated.”

He added: “There is nothing sadder than seeing an 8- or 9-year-old explain everything using ‘by the grace of god,’ showcasing a formed weakness of a mind that should be thinking about things without any limits.”

Facebook group (closed membership) Indonesian Atheist Parents.

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version) 

“… Hearing the Whole Song

I wish to give you a metaphor. Consider there's a broadcast station that you wish to tune into on your radio to hear a song that is playing. However, your antennas are very short. The signal comes and goes, and you don't really get to hear the full tune. Instead, you get snippets, just enough to know there is something there, and it's a song. Because of this incomplete message, you feel the need to trust others to tell you what the snippets mean and interpret the song. Now, in this metaphor, the antennas are the sensors picking up awareness of spiritual truth, a higher consciousness and the way things work.

Suddenly, you are aware that in this new energy, your antennas are getting longer, and you are beginning to hear much more of the entire signal. You no longer have snippets, but instead you are hearing the whole song! You now hear the entire thing, including the lyrics. But it's difficult to then turn to a Human Being who has interpreted the snippets in the past and tell them the song is different from the one they have been reporting on for ages.

This new awareness is starting to change the entire planet, and some of the changes are not all spiritual. Even though the antennas are about awareness, it becomes awareness of many principles, not just the ones about the attributes of God. This awareness shift will even change an atheist who would never believe in God. So let me itemize for you some of the changes that are potentially in store for you. For, as spiritual awareness starts to shift on the planet, systems awareness will also shift. More than systems, but the actual ways of creating systems and the reasons you used to create them will shift. Awareness changes everything.

If you can hear the song and you know what it tells you through the lyrics, then you are complete. It explains why today there are those in the chairs [seminar attendees] who don't need a building and don't need a leader or an organization. Although this is a metaphor, I'll tell you, dear ones, that all over the world you're singing the same tune and you don't need anybody to tell you what it sounds like or what the lyrics are. The song is beautiful and it is sung about the love of God, respect for humanity and the potential for peace on Earth. ..”

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

The Rise of Indonesian Atheism

Jakarta Globe, December 05, 2010

Embedded within Indonesia’s constitution are the following two lines: “all persons have the right to worship according to their own religion or belief” and “the nation is based upon belief in one supreme God.”

Placed side by side, it’s almost as if those two lines take on a new meaning. Feel free to worship however you choose, but make sure you choose to worship.

However one interprets it, there is no question that inter-religious conflict is on the rise in Indonesia.

Recent confrontations over faith have been allowed to turn the ideal of tolerance on its head with violent and ugly results.

And while finding common religious ground among those of different faiths has always been a delicate dance, it seems there are some people who are interested in changing the tune entirely.

In greater numbers than ever before, they are standing up and doing the unthinkable: they are proclaiming that they no longer have any religious faith at all.

They are members of a small community of non-believers, otherwise known as atheists, and it seems that many of them are no longer content being silent.

More and more Indonesian non-believers are taking a stance against what they perceive is an archaic and repressive system.

Of course, this being Indonesia, these outspoken non-believers are still relatively few and many choose to mull their rational queries quietly in their own minds rather than submit themselves to becoming outcasts and freaks in their own neighborhoods, communities and even among their own families and friends.

Still, despite the overwhelming odds, the rank of non-believers is growing — largely thanks to the Internet which offers an anonymous meeting place where non-believers can gather without the fear of reprisal.

By utilizing social networking tools such as blogs and Facebook groups, Indonesian non-believers are discovering that there is a considerable amount of like-minded people in the country.

Some of these social networking-based collectives include Indonesian Atheists, Indonesian Freethinkers and Indonesian Atheist Community, just to name a few.

Most of the Web sites are run by outspoken, young men who do not shy away from letting it rip with some of the most lively and heated discussion boards on the Internet.

Most of the sites also have a fair share of scholarly articles on topics related to atheism and like-minded beliefs including universalism, existentialism, agnosticism, and the like.

Whatever you call it, the sheer number of people visiting these sites indicates that they have become a gathering ground for all sorts of people and opinions, most of which fall squarely into the less-than-conventional category by Indonesian standards.

Graduate School student Karl Karnadi is a 27-year-old non-believer who co-founded the online community Indonesian Atheists and has become an outspoken proponent of atheism.

After two years of existence, his online group has more than 400 members.

Karl explained the process of building an online community as a means of “survival” for Indonesian non-believers, calling his site “a safe haven.”

“We share stories regarding the difficulties and discrimination we face for being non-religious and we support and console each other. The discussions, debates, sharing and learning process that we receive from our community makes us stronger and, therefore, better able to deal with discrimination we face in our daily lives,” Karl said.

For Karl, the rules set up by Indonesian establishments are senseless and forceful. He is baffled by laws that make religion a prerequisite to being a an official member of the society.

“One would wonder why we have to be a member of a religion before we can marry. We are similarly forced to choose a religion on our ID cards. By law, we cannot publicly criticize a religion or religious beliefs in general,” Karl said.

“I refuse to submit to such restrictions which I view as a clear violation of my human rights.”

Qosbil Alc, who co-founded Indonesian Atheists along with Karl, said he holds no personal disdain for religion or religious groups.

What he dreads are fundamentalist groups’ increasing hold on the country.

“I regret the existence of those fundamentalist groups who, since the Reformation Era began 12 years ago, have increased their influence on the country’s politics,” he said.

Like most Indonesian non-believers, both Karl and Qosbil had religious upbringings. Karl was raised in what he refers to as “a very religious” Christian household, while Qosbil came from an “un-harmonious” Muslim family.

“At some point in my life I began to read a lot about science, skepticism, rationality and about the many diverse types of religions in the world. What I found out was that, while there are many religions out there, they all basically consist of the same dogma and teaching that says you should not question anything that religion tells you,” Karl said.

Qosbil said that prior to the worldwide spread of social networking Internet sites like Facebook, he had to endure the baffled queries of family members and friends who considered him a Muslim but did not understand why he never went to the mosque on Fridays or took part in fasting.

Rizky Tanuwijaya, 22, is an active member of various online communities including Indonesian Atheists.

He fancies himself an existentialist, which means he does believe in a spiritual god but does not consider himself a “pure atheist.”

Raised as a Hindu, Rizky found himself unable to stop questioning his faith as he grew older.

“When I was a child, I was taught ancestral beliefs, which consisted of worshipping Bodhisattvas and the like,” Rizky said.

Once he discovered books written by the likes of Christian existentialist Soren Kierkegaard as well as Jean Paul Sartre, Nietzsche and Jacques Derrida, Rizky decided to put his religious days behind him.

To say the least, spreading the word is an uphill battle. Even a cursory glance at the message board of any of the online community shows that for every intelligent back-and-forth or urbane discussion, there are 10 posts that defame, threaten and insult.

Karl understands where such derision for atheism springs from, and he is out to face it head on. “Religion in Indonesia is definitely on the rise. There are even movements to make Indonesia a country of Sharia law,” he said.

Karl argues that those who think that religious teaching is the solution to all problems are wrong. He claims that all one needs to do is look at the recent tension between Christian and Islamic factions in Jakarta.

According to Karl, the incorporation of religious law into the government (which includes the Anti-Pornography Law and many Sharia-inspired regional laws in various provinces and cities) would “exacerbate the religious tension between Muslims and non-Muslims.”

For Karl, the issue goes back to the danger of bowing down to religion-based laws which “lead the country to a system of deluded policy making.”

Karl said his main fear is that public policy will one day be made based not on fact, but on blind obedience to holy scriptures. “That is a great danger to Indonesia that all of us have to prevent.”

For Karl, Qosbil and the other non-believers and alternative-thinkers, living in a religious country like Indonesia will never be without its challenges.

But they also all firmly believe that the benefits of being an atheist in Indonesia outweigh the hardships of being considered outcasts.

“The reality is, the more you learn and question things, the harder it becomes to believe in religious dogma,” Karl said.

“One can choose to believe in something because they were taught to believe in it. But I choose to keep questioning things because I want to progress. This is my path to a happy life.”

Related Articles:

The evidence says Muhammad existed

Morality: Created By Evolution or Religion?