The Giordano Bruno Foundation supports the Atheist Refugee Relief with a donation of more than 10.000 euros. The money is needed to continue the social and political work.
Atheist Refugee Relief is presented to the public
The Atheist Refugee Relief was presented to the public as part of the celebrations for the 10th anniversary of the Council of Ex-Muslims on November 17th, 2017 at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne. Michael Schmidt-Salomon interviewed Rana Ahmad, Mina Ahadi and Stefan Paintner about the beginnings and goals and tasks of the newly founded organization.
Escaping from religion
Unfortunately, religion is a reason for many people to leave their homeland and apply for asylum in Germany. When it comes to religious persecution, most people think of religious minorities threatened by the majority in their countries. In the current refugee crisis, these are mainly Jesids and Christians fleeing from predominantly Islamic countries.
But one group is often completely ignored in the media: the atheists. In many religions (e. g. in Islam) apostasy is considered a punishable offence. And even those who do not belong to any religious community from birth are unfortunately all too often persecuted as “infidels”.
The right to self-determination in religious societies
Open apostasy is only the tip of the iceberg. In strictly religious societies, self-determination rights are curtailed in many ways. Thus, religious-critical expressions can lead to social ostracism, even if they do not contain any commitment to atheism.
Drastic invasions of privacy are commonplace in many Islamic countries. Although Western criticism of archaic practices such as forced marriage and forced circumcision is often fought off in a culturally relativistic manner with reference to the supposed “equivalence of all cultures”, it is regularly overlooked that there is massive resistance within the various societies to religious virtue terrorism.
Continue reading “The right to self-determination in religious societies”Secular Refugees in Germany
Atheist Refugee Relief
(Säkulare Flüchtlingshilfe e.V. – Atheisten helfen)
Atheistic refugees are a particular group of people looking for shelter. Most of them are very active, politically thinking people who oppose the dogmatic ideology of the dominant religion of their home countries. Since there are supporters of fundamental interpretations of religions worldwide, they are never really safe from persecution – even here, in Germany.
We offer these refugees appropriate care, as many people who have also fled from the religious constraints of their home countries work with us.
Continue reading “Secular Refugees in Germany”
