Help free Egyptian atheist activist jailed in Kuwait on blasphemy charges!
The least we can do for this poor man is to sign the petition, which I’ve done. If nothing else, the attention is giving him hope.
Blasphemy laws are the mark of a barbaric culture. No one should be imprisoned for questioning religious doctrine. The West has already been through its Inquisition – we will never go back.
Don’t take your freedoms for granted – help someone else regain his and sign the petition. Whether you consider yourself an atheist, agnostic, freethinker, secularist or theist, we must make a stand to protect our individual freedoms, including the liberty to think and speak according to our conscience. Thank you.
Government of Kuwait: Free humanist/atheist activist Abdel Aziz Mohamed Albaz
Abdel Aziz Mohamed Albaz was arrested recently in Kuwait on charges of blasphemy. Whether you are an Atheist or a Muslim or a Christian, nobody deserves to be jailed or punished for having atheistic views. He did not hurt anybody. He did not steal, he did not assault anyone, he did not vandalize someone’s property. He is simply a well articulated Egyptian Atheist who speaks his mind. He expressed himself in writing peacefuly a rather gentle articles. We need your help to pressure the Kuwaiti government to release him from this unjust imprisonment.
Please join us in DEFENSE of free speech and freedom of thought. Thank you!
“BenBaz asked us to pass on a heart felt BIG THANK YOU to all those supporting him! Thank YOU, Thank YOU, Thank YOU!”
Free Abdel Aziz Mohamed Albaz Facebook page
Abdel Aziz Mohamed Albaz’s website
Down with infidelophobia! Let the freethinkers go! And please pass this blog or petition around to other freedom-loving people.
30 thoughts on “Help free Egyptian atheist activist jailed in Kuwait on blasphemy charges!”
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It is frightening that these laws even exist.
He did not hurt anybody: why is he imprisoned?
Sadly in the minds of these zealots, blasphemy is a crime against their imaginary god. 😡
You are welcome – and thank you for creating the petition.
This man BenBaz looks like a real sweetheart, someone I would count among my friends. I hope he receives much positive attention and is released quickly from this criminal imprisonment by archaic barbarians whose reprehensible actions do little to rehabilitate their widely detested Stone Age religion.
Please give him my best.
Thank you!
Dear Acharya,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and post this article.
It is much appreciated. It is with help from us the people that humanity may fully come out of darkages.
Najat
Write the Amir’s office
took only seconds to express my own personal beliefs on freethinking and to ask for Ben’s release.
I challenge you to do the same. Here’s the address:
amirsoffice@da.gov.kw
Thank YOU Mike!
THANK YOU!
i am a christian vegan and all his creation has the right to express themselves!
Free Thought
Growing up believing in God I never question the existence of a god my first 50 years of my life. You must study to be free of satanic influences. People never stop to think they know nothing to free them from bondage to deceit, deception, fraud, trickery and so on.
The false beliefs and deceptions that Christianity is built on in the literary invention of a character found only in written material about the non-historical Jesus Christ is easy to prove since no historical Jesus ever lived.
Jesus was never human or divine (a god) but in discovering Jesus is a fake, it only makes sense that God was created by human imagination through a series of lies, misconceptions and deception.
Now the above is the stark naked truth I believe as absolute. Having deceived officials put this Kuwait man and freethinker in jail for believing truth while the official is madly deceived, and wrong scares me to death.
Governments that employ religious beliefs and all religious beliefs originally were build on fiction means this Kuwait man
man is getting his life wasting away in prison for no reason in the real world.
This is a huge tragedy free societies should devote time and energy to wake up officials in theocracy governments to guard against.
God doesn’t need..,
Mortals to stand up for him. Such laws should stay behind the pulpit and stay out of the streets and personal lives. They blasphemy their own God through arrogance .- peace
FREE BIN BAZ! We are now living in the modern age and, I believe, anybody is entitled to his/ her own beliefs. As Francois Marie Arouet or Voltaire — considered the Father of Enlightenment — had said: “I will defend your right to say what you wish to say whether you’re right or wrong.”
Do they really believe in God?
When cases like this come to light, most people immediately go on the attack against whichever religion is the excuse used by the ruling elite in whichever country they happen to be ruling. Do you seriously believe that these same people have a faith in anything outside their own power bases and their ability to squander their fellow countymen’s resources on extravagant and often decadent lifestyles?
God is the last thing on their minds.
Wake up
Please free this man that simply expressed his opinions peacefully! We are not cavemen. I believe in God for whatever that means. I also think people should be free to think whatever they want about religion. I honor this man greatly for expressing his thoughts! We can all learn from each other. Even with those who differ from us. Please wake up. God cannot be proven anyway. It’s up to us to accept or not. Thank you
RL
Understand that “Government” is a Religion (of vio
The belief in “government” itself is the problem, never the “laws” it decrees, which aren’t laws at all, but only threats believed to be so by the duped citizenry who uncritically believe in them.
Until the Religion of “Government” is seen for what it is (the most dangerous superstition on earth), people will continue without end to petition (beg and plead to) this mythical entity, with no lasting success, while inadvertently increasing its tyranny worldwide. The thing to do is to understand this irrational superstition fully, and thus put it behind us forever. The more you merely petition it, the more you legitimize what is inherently illegitimate. The great truth is that NOBODY has the right to rule anyone else.
Blasphemy is outdated and stupid
For nearly 5000 years there have been laws against blasphemy: pushed by priests and potentates who feared people would see their evil and protest vocally before leading a revolution that would depose the tyrants of thought and expression. Denis Diderot said it best with the coming of the French Revolution (1789), declaring: “Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”
Religion has always protected the bankrupt theocracies of the day and their servile rulers who needed superstition to maintain the masses. Many of these leaders realized that it was man who invented god(s) so that the god(s) would inspire fear and strangle those who stood against them. When basic voodooism did not work, the predatory pastorates preached a gospel of hate that was canonized callousedly in books known as holy writ to buttress their banal pretenses. It is time that truth wins out and the fantasies of religion are put on shelves marked fiction.
re: Understand that "Government" is a Reli
[quote name=”Anonymous”]
Until the Religion of "Government" is seen for what it is (the most dangerous superstition on earth), people will continue without end to petition (beg and plead to) this mythical entity, with no lasting success, while inadvertently increasing its tyranny worldwide. The thing to do is to understand this irrational superstition fully, and thus put it behind us forever. The more you merely petition it, the more you legitimize what is inherently illegitimate. The great truth is that NOBODY has the right to rule anyone else.
[/quote]
PS: Thus organizing rallies and spreading the word over the internet would be much more constructive than a petition, IMO.
No man is above the other. I wonder why religion has to be decided for people.
Let’s get up off our knees
The great temples of Gobekli Tepe were not built by the slaves of religion, nor was Adam’s Calendar. The beautiful artistic renderings that adorn our ancient caves were not inspired by fear or anger. Human beings (that’s right…I’m talking about us) did all of this…and more, and we didn’t do it on our knees with our heads bowed in servitude. We reached for the stars and we sought to understand everything within the boundaries of our awareness. Our imaginations are limitless, without boundaries. We are capable of so much greatness when we elevate ourselves above the mental chains of fear and superstition and take our true place in the world we inhabit. But yet we backslide, or rather, we get back on our knees. We appear to be more comfortable there, after all if we follow someone else’s vision and someone else’s rules and we get it wrong, we can just blame them. So, we allow them to lead us, like lambs to the slaughter. We have replaced our gods with religious and political leaders and the banks have become our temples. Sad really, because long before we ascribed personalities to, and invented stories about the other planets, we had the potential to be whatever we wished to be…we still have. However, it’s not easy to see where you are going, let alone where you have been, while you are on your knees with your head bowed.
I sincerely wish that there were more people like Acharya S, with the courage to stand up and be heard above the violent clamour of the ‘faithful’.
Am with you on this.
C.P.Bhatnagar
publisher
WE, HUMAN BEINGS, HAVE CREATED GOD AND RELIGION. WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT UNDER THE SUN TO REVIEW OUR IDEAS, DENY EVERYTHING ABOUT GOD AND RELIGION OR PRACTICE ANY FAITH WE CHHOSE TO DO SO.
THE GOVERMENT OF KUWAIT! LET GOD SPEAK FOR HIS CAUSE IF HE CAN; IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS TO ACT ON BEHALF OF GOD.
👿 Blasphemy laws have Satan grinning from ear to ear.
Truth will out.
🙂 Why are we so afraid of someone else’s version of the truth? Why do we wrap ourselves in chains? Why on earth are the caged birds singing?
release Benbah
You people are animals — release this man and move beyond the 6th century.
Why are the caged birds singing?
Because they don’t see the bars of their cage as a prison, they see only the security it offers them from the unknown, outside the cage. They see what they choose to see, or is it because they were born in captivity? They have only ever known the illusion of freedom…like us they imagine that because they can sing, they enjoy freedom. Like us, they are unable to fly because of the cage that surrounds them.
We hold up false idols such as democracy and religion and government as though they were the answer to all our ills. Democracy is when the 51 percent get to dictate to the 49 percent. In a free and mature society, democracy would become an obsolete restriction on our freedom of thought and expression. I am a citizen of this society whether I choose to be or not. Even my parents were denied the freedom to choose for me.
Religion offered me hope and solace as a child, I have made deep emotional connections, guided by the wisdom of the ancients. However, I did not find God in the many and varied religious teachings that I studied for many years. God became a whisper that was just beyond my hearing.
Government is an abominable medieval practice that oppresses, impoverishes and cages free will and thereby suffocates our ability to make rational choices and advance emotionally as one human family. It can only survive through fear, and so it is the job of governments to instill fear and mistrust in order to maintain power. By it’s very nature it cannot survive without brutality and corruption. Dictator or Democrat? It matters not who starts the wars or for what gain, the end result is always the same.
More children have died of starvation in the last ten years, than have died in all our wars put together. Despite/because of democracy, religions and governments. Do you know where I finally found God?
In the kindness of others, in sharing their grief and their happiness. As I look around me now, I see myself walking around in other skins. That angry cab driver is just me having a bad day and that man on the soap box outside the mall is just me being scared. The guy who saved the old
lady from a fire is me too and so is that woman who abandoned her baby. When I finally realised that we are all connected through one consciousness and we are simply having different experiences…there at the bottom of the glass was God!
Kate, I am taken back by your views on democracy:
Kate “Democracy is when the 51 percent get to dictate to the 49 percent.”
I can’t agree with that – that’s not democracy. Even President Obama often says that democracy is not easy and can be quite messy. He’s right, but it’s still better than anything else in existence right now – even though most of us are very disappointed with government & Congress right now and for very good reason. Perhaps a resource based economy (RBE) would be better as Zeitgeist suggests but, hard to tell until we test it out.
Kate “…so it is the job of governments to instill fear and mistrust in order to maintain power.”
Well, that’s a bit hyperbolic isn’t it? That’s not really the job of government but, it certainly happens on occasion. Try to be more specific about who’s directly responsible though instead of making broad stroke generalizations.
Kate “…there at the bottom of the glass was God”
Now that’s what I call ‘happy horse sh*t.’ It’s not true but it makes some feel better.
Isn’t it interesting that there exists no democracy in the bible. The god of the bible is certainly no moderate either. Just more proof that the US Constitution has nothing to do with Christianity.
quotes: “Nowhere in Scripture will you find an acknowledgment that each individual has an “inalienable right” to be treated with fairness and respect, or that “We, the People” are capable of governing ourselves. There is no democracy in the “word of God.” In the bible, humans are “worms” and “sinners” deserving damnation, “slaves” who should humbly submit to all kings, heavenly and earthly.”
“American laws are based on a secular constitution, not the bible. Any scriptures that might support a good law do so only because they have met the test of human values, which long predate the ineffective Ten Commandments.”
“The God of Scripture slaughtered entire groups of people that offended his vanity, ordering young virgins to be kept alive as war booty for his priests (Numbers 31). “Happy shall be he that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones,” he advised (Psalm 137:9), threatening those with the wrong religion that “their women with child shall be ripped up” (Hosea 13:16), sending bears to attack 42 children who teased a prophet (II Kings 2:23-24), punishing innocent offspring to the fourth generation (Exodus 20:5), discriminating against the handicapped (Leviticus 21:18-23), promising that fathers and sons would eat each other (Ezekiel 5:10), and much more that we would find repugnant in a human being. In this theistic universe, morality is severed from reality and reduced to flattering the Sovereign.”
How Can an Atheist Be Moral? For Goodness Sake ([url]http://ffrf.org/legacy/about/bybarker/goodness.php[/url])
There is no need for biblical quotes. I’ve read the entire book many times in search of answers. It’s just a book. If I need quotes from the Bible, i’ll go find a church. I’ve also read lots of other books, searching for the same answers. Although it is not relevant to this discussion, I am not a Christian and I am surprised that you would immediately assume that any mention of God is a reference to the Christian God of the scriptures. Please note that you are the one who is quoting the God of the scriptures and not I. I do not believe in the God of the scriptures. I thought that I had adequately expressed my perception of God, but I am an artist and not a writer. Please bear with me as I am new to expressing myself in words, I find symbols and colours easier tools of communication and this keyboard is quite limiting.
Where there are serious divisions within any society, whether they are based on opposing religious ideologies or tribal or political ideologies, they cannot be reconciled through violence. It is a fact that where the dividing line between each co-existing culture is close, say 51percent to 49 percent, there is a danger that the 51percent will seek to cement their power through oppression of the 49percent. It is the job of government to cement their power or they wouldn’t stay in government for very long, would they?
Forgive me if my knowledge of American laws is limited to what I read and see on the media. I am not American. I grew up in Belfast which is a city in the north of Ireland. I currently live in London.
So what if you find my perception of God to be “happy horse sh’t”. The rest of the world sh’t their pants laughing in disbelief when your president got the Nobel prize for peace. The United Nations is a farce. Worse, it is a toothless dog and the big powerful nations with the biggest guns and lust for oil are holding the leash. Name me even one government in this world that is ‘off’ the people and ‘for’ the people. Nope, they wouldn’t stand a snowballs chance in hell. Besides, from what I read in the media and Internet sources, your president bows to the big boys. You know…the multinational corporations and the banks.
“American laws are based on a secular constitution, not the bible”. To use your expression…”happy horse sh’t”, it’s not true but it makes some feel better”. Most of your presidents have been practising Christians and Freemasons, as were your founding fathers.
My response to Keith that has apparently upset you was not intended to. Like Keith, I have asked myself the same questions, I simply wished to tell him how I personally found the answer and wish him success in finding his own answers.
“Perhaps a resourced based economy (RBE) would be better as Zeitgeist suggests but, hard to tell until we test it out”. FTL, I am taken aback by your views on humanity’s crisis. No sense of urgency here. Perhaps if the media were showing daily pictures of Americans starving to death in their millions and running in terror from the falling bombs, you would see the world and your government’s place in it, as billions of others do.
It is my opinion that Zeitgeist doesn’t have all the answers, they don’t claim to, but isn’t it urgent that we try? Capitalism is killing us. It is at best a primitive pyramid scheme, or I believe you call it a ponsy scheme, is that the correct term? By the way, can you tell me exactly how many people in America even bother to vote, let alone how many voted for president Obama? Democracy perpetuates the illusion of freedom and as they said so eloquently in South Park…” it’s basically a choice between a douche-bag and a turd sandwich”.
Perhaps I don’t know much about your laws and your constitution but I know a lot about your various cultures, thanks to the saturation of your media and I know what happens to those who dare to expose the truth. Bradley Manning is a brave young man.
In conclusion, it is probably best not to make assumptions about another’s belief system based solely on your own belief system. At the end of the glass I found God because once the glass had been emptied, I realised that there was nothing left but me…and my awareness of consciousness. And yes, that makes me as happy as horse sh’t!
Kate, I didn’t quote the bible I quoted an article from a former Pastor of 20 years turned atheist discussing the fact that there exists no democracy in the bible. Had you clicked on the link and read it you would already know that.
Your rants against government and democracy are irresponsible – at least make some attempt to be specific and factual rather than an endless stream of vague broad brush generalizations that paint a false picture. Your completely off-topic rants tell us (far too much) about you and your cynicism rather than the issues you bring up.
Kate “”American laws are based on a secular constitution, not the bible”. To use your expression…”happy horse sh’t”, it’s not true but it makes some feel better”. Most of your presidents have been practising Christians and Freemasons, as were your founding fathers.”
LOL, that’s demonstrably false – there is no mention of Jesus, god or Christianity in the US Constitution and the first 6 Presidents never said “may god bless America” after every speech. In fact, the Constitution refers to religion only twice –in the First Amendment, which bars laws “respecting an establishment of religion” and in Article VI, which prohibits “religious tests” for public office. Both of these provisions are evidence that the country was not founded as officially Christian
The fact is that the words “under God” weren’t part of the original pledge either. They were added in 1954. Supporters of the new wording said it would set the United States apart from godless communism. The original Pledge was published in 1892. It was written by Francis Bellamy, a socialist, thirty-seven year old, ex-Baptist Minister. The original pledge read as:
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all”
for more ([url]http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1716[/url])
Were George Washington and Thomas Jefferson Jesus Mythicists? ([url]http://truthbeknown.com/washington-jefferson-mythicists.html[/url])
Kate “My response to Keith that has apparently upset you was not intended to”
It doesn’t upset me we just like more accurate and factual information here at ‘Freethought Nation.’ As for yet another example of inaccurate commentary:
Kate “Capitalism is killing us”
That is categorically false – it’s not capitalism itself that’s the real problem it’s corruption, fraud, abuse and waste. Capitalism has performed better than anything else thus far. I wouldn’t mind trying a far more sustainable resource based economy with a bit of capitalism mixed in but without the corruption, fraud, abuse and waste.
Kate “FTL, I am taken aback by your views on humanity’s crisis. No sense of urgency here.”
I’m tired after a couple decades of pushing the urgency issue – there are a few in government, business, banking etc. who live their lives doing all they can to ensure the status-quo remains the same i.e. the Koch brothers use their billions for exactly that and to sway elections – truly evil people.
Kate “I know what happens to those who dare to expose the truth. Bradley Manning is a brave young man.”
Agreed.
Kate
Kate, my questions were retorical. I feel that I know the answers, but don’t believe that people who persecute others for their beliefs (or the lack thereof) are aware of the evil that they are committing in the name of god–whoever or whatever that god is called or represents to them. Unfortunately, it appears that the majority of the human race has not evolved enough to quit fearing each other.
FTL, you did in fact supply several biblical quotes, unless of course the pastor was responsible for writing (Numbers 31), (Psalm 137:9), (Hosea 13:16), (Kings 2:23-24), etc, etc, etc. You would like me to be more specific, no doubt? No, you’ll just have to scroll up and read all that “ranting” from the Bible that you wrote for my apparent benefit, as it would just offend my senses to regurgitate it all again. I really wish people would stop quoting from the Bible, especially all that nasty Old Testament stuff. It’s enough to give a person nightmares.
As for the link you provided, it didn’t’t work, sorry, probably a problem with the server. I’m not very technically minded and I’m using a new iPad which seems to be having some problems.
“Your rants against government and democracy are irresponsible”..really? These inherently illegitimate and corrupt systems are repugnant to me. And please tell me…who am I responsible to? I am attempting to exercise my free will and my freedom of choice as an equal human being, not to be a citizen of any ideology that I did not choose. Thankfully, I am not legally required to be a member of any religion…or am I? Let’s see now, both governments and religions share many of the same symbols, both are fond of flag waving and swearing oaths on books, both see it as their right to make laws concerning our rights and responsibilities, I could go on at length about the similarities…but enough said. As for vagueness? Please scroll up and read my comments again, they are very specific. Did I not spell your president’s name correctly? I note that you have failed to address the more important issues which I raised, such as the culpability of your government (amongst others) in waging wars in other countries.
I did not make the claim that your country was “founded as officially Christian” and so, no rebuttal was necessary. I merely pointed out the fact that most of your presidents were Christians and Freemasons (at least publicly). Incidentally, were women and black people allowed to vote when your constitution was written? Just asking. And, do your presidents still swear an allegiance to a piece of cloth that represents your ideology, with their hand on a (non secular) book, or do they now swear an allegiance to the people they rule and control?
Sorry but the link isn’t working again (could be my iPad).
Fact- in a democracy the majority rule whether you agree with me or not.
Almost half your citizens regularly don’t vote. In California alone 6.4 million eligible voters don’t even register and when surveyed by the CVF the two main reasons given for not voting were , 1. Didn’t have time 2. Felt the candidates don’t speak to them. (Courtesy of Robert Longley on About.comGuide). Seems to me a lot of your citizens don’t think their vote will make any difference…so why should they even bother if it’s all a waste of time?
The majority of non voters are young (40 percent are under 30yrs), poorly educated and mostly from ethnic minorities. No big surprises there!
It’s irrelevant I suppose, if the banksters and multinationals are pulling the strings. So, why hand your personal sovereignty over to them? Wouldn’t want to be accused of “ranting” off-topic again. Do you realise how many people on this site accuse others of “ranting” when their predjudices and chosen ideologies are challenged? “fanatical” gets overused too. When you get it wrong, especially when you’re wayyyyy off base, it’s a lot simpler to apologise…instead of thinking up lots of adjectives that go with “ranting”. As for “sweeping generalisations”(another common accusation on this site), I suppose someone who is so prejudiced as to make false assumptions about the belief system of others based solely on their own belief system, is likely to view the absence of personal attacks in that way.
Let me be very, very specific….we are all responsible, yes, me you and everyone else. I haven’t singled you out. I have travelled widely in the USA and was treated with kindness and friendship by the many wonderful and diverse people that I met on my travels. Your government does not truly represent your citizens or their interests from what I could garner. Bet the people living in the projects and the tent cities agree with me..and the ones who don’t think voting makes any difference.
FTL, you cannot dilute Capitalism because it is a beast that grows exponentially. It’s very existence depends on growth. Corruption, fraud, abuse and waste are all the by-products of a deeply flawed system. A resourced based economy mixed with a little bit of Capitalism would be similar to trying to maintain a vegan diet for ethical reasons, while having the odd steak. Perhaps Capitalism has been the only thing that has worked so far because you haven’t tried any other system. And before anyone gets confused…I am not proposing Communism either! They are both extremes and there are lots of other systems in between. But honestly, has it really worked?…who are the people benefitting from it? None of the people I mentioned above.
You got one thing right, I have a cynical view, but not of the world as you imagine. I reserve the same cynicism for government as I do for religion. Just as you have grown tired of pushing the urgency issue, I too have grown tired…and cynical. I almost wept for joy when Obama got elected, even got sucked in a little by the whole “time for change” speech. Silly old me (I’m 51), should’ve known he was just another glib political puppet, making promises he couldn’t/wouldn’t keep. Sorry, not being specific here…Guantanamo Bay, the invasion of Afghanistan, the whole Bin Laden debacle…lets not forget Bradley Manning. Sure you really want specifics as it tends to get lengthy and then I’ll get accused of “ranting” .again.
By the way Keith, I realised that your questions were rhetorical, but they struck a chord with me and I expressed what I was thinking at the time. We free-thinkers often have a tendency for free speech too. I know, it can get you into trouble sometimes. It can land you in prison or even get you killed. As for those who persecute others in the name of God (or any ideology), I believe you are correct, people are not inherently evil and are usually ignorant of the harm they are doing. It’s not people who have to change so much as the systems and powers which influence and control their lives. No-one has to read this either if they choose not to, feel free to scroll down or click onto something else. After all, it’s just an opinion.
If you do choose to read this though, thank you for taking the time.
religious persecution
When I was seven my father took me to an exhibit of Van Gogh’s paintings in a museum in Philadelphia. I wandered into a side room that displayed paintings that were not Van Gogh’s and soon became transfixed on a paiting that depicted a man tied to a post. On either side of him were men that were peeling the skin off of his body. When my father came to find me, I asked him what was going on. He said that the man tied to the post was being persecuted for his religious beliefs. At that time, I did not know what religious beliefs were. The seed, however, was sown and the fuse was lit. I don’t often think of dying for a cause, but I do think it would be proper and fitting for one to lay down one’s life to keep men from forcing their religious beliefs upon us. Waiting for the Light, Keith