Atheists Unite! (in Turkey, not here)

Atheists Unit!

The Christian Post, an evangelical Christian news outlet, reports that Fazil Say, a renowned atheist pianist is facing jail time for “publicly insulting religious values“. His crime, he tweeted “messages that compare the Islamic vision of heaven as rivers of wine and virgins to a tavern and a brothel.

Turkey was recently placed on the “worst offenders” list by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The USCIRF is a highly politicized Congressional commission that wastes $3M annually. Its funding was recently restored thanks to a lobbying campaign by the late Chuck Colson and Frank Wolf.

Turkey is also a key U.S. ally whose military bases are used extensively in mid-East military actions. The USCIRF’s action harmed international relations and demonstrated to the world that Wolf will defy the Executive branch and national security to further his Evangelical political program. The USCIRF’s work is predominately anti-Muslim. It scans the international legal arena for statutes that grant “[Muslim] religious leaders the right to criminalize speech and activities that they deem to insult religion.

Maybe the USCIRF should start right here in Loudoun where a member our own courthouse grounds committee recently called atheists “storm troopers“. That’s how it starts, right? First brand a group a threat to the state, then, in an act that is more tyrannical than criminalization, brand their speech and activities an insult to religion, decency, tradition, the family, blah, blah, blah. Maybe the USCIRF and its backers should protect the rights of *all* atheists. No, that wouldn’t further their agenda. Atheists unite! But not here, move to Turkey.