The Fast & The Furious: Atheists Fake Ramadan Hunger to Avoid Jail

[rug]

Ramadan is hard enough if you're a Muslim, but if you're a faking non-believer who sneaks food during the day, you risk serious consequences

Author: Inna Lazareva
Posted: 07/08/14 07:27 EDT
Deep Web Reporting By: Noam Binshtok

What’s worse than being unable to eat or drink for up to 20 hours a day in blisteringly hot temperatures for an entire month because of your religious beliefs? How about doing all that, not for your religious beliefs, but because you’re mimicking the religious beliefs of those around you and faking your own to avoid being sent to jail?

That’s what atheists in strictly adherent Muslim countries do to conceal their beliefs, or lack thereof, and guarantee their own safety. Threats of arrest or punishment for blasphemy force non-believers to give the impression that they’re fasting just as hard as all those around them, or in some cases, to totally adopt the Ramadan fast for fear of being found out and persecuted. The situation is nearly impossible to bear, argue a growing number of atheists in the Muslim world.

Ramadan–a holy month in Islam–prohibits eating, drinking, sex and other pleasures from dusk till dawn for a period of 30 days. The ritual is marked by the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, and the fast is broken at sundown with large communal feasts during the holy month.

But in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Muslim world, going against the grain, renouncing God and declaring oneself openly atheist can have very grave consequences. And it’s never more obvious than during Ramadan.

http://www.vocativ.com/culture/religion/atheists-ramadan-fake-hunger-avoid-jail/

[Trajan]

1. More lying and cheating by those damned atheists

Thanks for bringing this to our attention ..

Hopefully, they will meet the righteousness they so clearly deserve ...

[rug]

2. Do you think it's overstated?

While a person can abstain from taking part in prayers or certain rituals without drawing unwanted attention, declaring oneself an all-out non-believer during Ramadan is as simple as grabbing an iced coffee. Such a basic act can mean alienating family and friends at best, and attract harsh punishment in the worst cases–including threats of execution from state authorities.

[okasha]

3. Their situation is very similar

to that of Spanish cryto-Jews and -Muslims after the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition. The only thing that will get through to the theocrats is economic pressure. One more reason to break our petroleum addiction.