Atheists still the most hated minority

[Brian37]

I think people need to get over the idea that criticising tenets of Islam is the same as hating Muslims. Islam is an idea, like any other idea it shouldn't be above critique and perhaps even ridicule. I hate the term "Islamophobia", it's certainly not wrong to say prejudice against Middle Eastern people is a thing (and that's racism, not religious bigotry), but the way that word is used is just another trendy buzzword to kill conversations.

I feel the same way about all these different "phobias", homophobia transphobia etc. Why call someone "Xphobic" when you can destroy them with real arguments? Jumping to name-calling is weak and shows you have nothing else to work with.

I agree though, it's far braver to be an atheist in The Middle East than it is in The West. I have so much respect for these Arabs who publicly come forward to renounce Islam. It takes guts in a country where you can be sent to jail (or worse) for it.

I agree, but that does not mean there are not asshole bigots who simply hate someone's existence. Long before Trump started his Jerry Springer hate fest, the GOP said nothing as Obama's middle name, even before his first election used "Hussein" as a slur, and after he took office the GOP poored bigoted gas on the fire, which set Trump up to run, and he is playing his supporters like a fiddle.

Yes it does take guts to speak out in a place where you can be murdered by a mob or the state itself. But that isn't just atheists or former Muslims. Malala still believes and got shot by other Muslims for wanting an education.

Nor does that change the fact that even here in the states, we still have assholes who commit religiously based violence. PP shooter, Dillon Roof, abortion doctor murders. The bible is just as chalk full of justifications for violence and bigotry as the Koran is. The only thing that makes us less violent is secular law.

Religion in the west did not become civil because of religion, religion became more civil in the west in spite of religion because of secular law.