Indonesian Atheist Sentenced to Two and a Half Years in Prison
An Indonesian civil servant was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on charges of blaspheming and violating Indonesian Internet laws when he professed his atheism on Facebook.Alexander Aan, an Indonesian civil servant, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and fined more than $10,000 for posting “there is no God” on Facebook. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of three and a half years, charging him with violation of the country’s Internet laws and blasphemy. According to the chief editor of The Jakarta Post, the Indonesian constitution guarantees freedom of religion but also mandates that Indonesians have a religion, making atheism illegal.— CN
Wait, before you go…Al Jazeera: An Indonesian man has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail and fined $10,598 for professing his atheism on the internet, Al Jazeera has reported.
Alexander Aan, a West Sumatran civil servant, was sentenced in court on Thursday with blasphemy and violating internet laws.
Read more from Al Jazeera or the Jakarta Globe.
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Support Truthdig
Americans’ discomfort with other peoples' religious faiths goes hand in hand with Islamophobia. Americans’ discomfort with other peoples' religious faiths goes hand in hand with Islamophobia.
"The majority of Americans identify technically as Christians,” writes Amanda Marcotte at AlterNet, “but a deeper look at how our people act, believe, and think shows that we’re not at all a ‘Christian nation,’ but a largely secular nation that suffers a small but vocal minority of theocracy-minded conservatives.”
People who knew the man accused of gunning down three Muslim American students in North Carolina -- an act many suspect to be a hate crime motivated by cultural differences -- describe him as angry and lacking compassion.
Primatologist Frans de Waal pays religion the ultimate atheist compliment: Religion is so great that we humans acquired it through the natural process of evolution.Primatologist Frans de Waal pays religion the ultimate atheist compliment in his book: Religion is so great that we humans acquired it through the natural process of evolution.
"The appearance of atheists, a growing wariness of religious controls on society, as well as the continuing lure of jihad and ultraconservatism signal a breakdown in the conformity and consensus that has marked the Saudi religious field in the recent past," Caryle Murphy writes at GlobalPost.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.