Quote:Say, don't they occasionally execute apostates in some Muslim countries?

Yes, but not in Turkey as far as I know, it's a secular country. Don't know if they have honour killings,but would not be surprised.

They probably behead the odd apostate in say Saudi Arabia. A country which has stoning to death on its books is capable of just about anything.

(May 21, 2012 at 4:20 am)padraic Wrote:

Quote:Say, don't they occasionally execute apostates in some Muslim countries?

Yes, but not in Turkey as far as I know, it's a secular country. Don't know if they have honour killings,but would not be surprised.

They probably behead the odd apostate in say Saudi Arabia. A country which has stoning to death on its books is capable of just about anything.

There's been a few articles I've read over the recent years of the Saudi government executing atheists and deconverts. Wish I could find the links. If I do, I'll fling 'em up.

It's really sad that some parents' affection for their child can be so conditional.

I guess I got off pretty easy when I "came out". My mother still forced me to attend church 3 times a week though. Eventually the pastor told my mom to stop dragging me to church because she was just making me resentful and she gave up. I was 16 by then.

Some people don't deserve children.

Ironically, many of the people who don't deserve children are quite furtile.

I wish that all closet atheist had parents like mine.. They were frankly quite happy when I announced that I had given up christianity and had become an atheist instead.

(May 21, 2012 at 8:52 am)Kayenneh Wrote: I wish that all closet atheist had parents like mine.. They were frankly quite happy when I announced that I had given up christianity and had become an atheist instead.

My wife is also an atheist, so my son hopefully has little to no chance of becoming indoctrinated. If he logically comes to the conclusion that Yahweh exists, then so be it.

I told mine on the way to church and we had a little conversation about how i didn't believe in god.
They never made me go to churdch from that point on and the subject never came up again.

(May 21, 2012 at 3:32 am)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:

(May 21, 2012 at 3:29 am)padraic Wrote: Ahem; I'm Australian.

Say, don't they occasionally execute apostates in some Muslim countries? Talk about an overreaction.

Just sayin'.

Well, depends on whom you call an apostate. Here, it's generally too difficult to differentiate a non-believer from a believer.
A non believer here simply does not go to prayers or fasts during ramazan.
But equally, a believer might not do these. Yes, he/she believes in God, but does not follow the rules of the religion she believes in. Like, I know people that come to friday prayers, but do not do daily prayers.
Really, how do you tell that someone is an atheist unless he tells you that he is one?
People don't really care unless you start being disrespectful. But converting to another religion is really something here. For you become "something else" from the rest of the people here. An atheist, is just like the moslem here. But a convert has completely alianated himself from his culture. If he were something of a native kind of christian, nobody would probably care, but converts...Well, they are truly something else here.