Do not believe…
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” – Buddha
Sometimes I just think about some of the feats achieved by other atheists and it amazes me. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Salman Rushdie, and so forth. I realized that atheism is something that can be followed by just about anyone in virtually any place.
Take, for example, Yasser George.
Yasser George is the pseudonym an Arab atheist originally from Saudi Arabia, but has since fled (last time I checked, it was to Egypt, I don’t know where he is at the moment). For those who didn’t know, atheists are subject to execution in Saudi Arabia. In the following video, Yasser George makes a bold move: he narrates a video on the absurdity of religion in (of all places) the holy city of Mecca (in Saudi Arabia).
While it may not seem like much to some people, just think for a moment. Here is Yasser George, an ex-Muslim and an atheist in Saudi Arabia, a place where one can be executed for being an atheist, standing in the holy city of Mecca. Think about the paradox of it all. Here is a man who is, more or less, risking his life for his (dis)beliefs.
When I see people perform such brave feats, it makes me wonder, why is it that I am so worried about people knowing that I am an atheist? I live in the United States and, last time I checked, I don’t think I can get executed for being an atheist. If people can risk their lives for their convictions, why is it so difficult for me just to be able to admit such a thing to anyone else? Pure cowardice, on my part. Nevertheless, here I will remain, a closet atheist cloaked under a shroud of mystery.
