When Dr. Taslima Nasrin, a scientist, was writing this article for Humanist in Canada in 1988, there was a price on her head; her government had decreed a "religious sanction" (fatwa) against her. Not only was this educated lady fighting for the rights of women but she was also fighting against fundamentalist religion wherever it may be found. "I do not believe in prayers," she says, "I believe in work. My work is that of an author. My pen is my weapon."

She was born into a Bangladeshi Muslim family. When she grew upshe was shocked to find that religion had exiled people from their homelands--that some of her neighbours were not the owners of the homes where they dwelt but that the owners were in exile because of religion, due to the India Partition in 1947.

Today she is an atheist. In her article, she covers many topics portraying the ravages of fundamentalist religion in a wide variety of religions and their sacred texts and/or myths. Some excepts from her article follow; the formating is my own.

From Dr. Nasrin's article Religious Extremism and Ethnic Rivalries:

• I could not accept anything to be unquestionable.
  
• In all countries and through all ages, the conscientious people have exposed these un- ethical aspects of religion and educated others to see religion with the eyes of reason and logic.
  
• The rise of fundamentalism all over the world shows that the battle remains urgently necessary.

• Fundamentalism is an ideology that diverts people from the path of natural development of consciousness and undermines their personal rights.
  
• [T]hough they proclaim them- selves a moral force, their language is hatred and violence.
  

Additional posts on Dr. Nasrin:

• Fundamentalist Religions in the India-Bangladesh Area
• ExMuslim Woman Speaks Out, 1988
  

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She has also called for the elimination of religion from public and PRIVATE life.

How, exactly, could a fundamentalist atheist accomplish that?

Christensen, if you reread the opening post you will see that Dr. Taslima Nasrin explains her strategy.

You refer to her as a "fundamentalist atheist." She does not identify as such. Will you please define what you mean by the term and why you use it? Thank you.

I am posting this in the Religious Studies section because it links to some first-hand information on non-Christian religions seen through the eyes of a scientist who was born into a non-Christian religion and is no longer religious.

Dr. Taslima Nasrin writes about various fundamentalist religions in the India-Bangladesh area in her article Religious Extremism and Ethnic Rivalries. As a woman born into a Muslim family in Bangladesh, this scientist speaks out against the violence of a number of fundamentalist religions. She paints a vivid picture of her homeland, Bangladesh, and the religious and ethnic rivalries. Because she was born into a Muslim family she elaborates more on Islam than on some other religions. When she was writing in 1988 there was a price on her head because she spoke out against these religions and because she was fighting for women's right.

From the New York Times article of April 3, 2005

Hirsi Ali's story is of a woman's journey out of fundamentalist Islam into the parliament of the Netherlands. Today she identifies as atheist. The story starts when her father contracted her to marry a cousin in North America. She bolted to the Netherlands and successfully sought political asylum. She worked her way up from cleaning lady, got a university education at Leiden University, and entered politics where in 2005 she was activating for the rights of Muslim women.

Speaking out against Islam is serious business according to the article as written by Christopher Caldwell.



Thus, when she as an exMuslim atheist and politician in the Netherlands spoke out against Islam, her father who remained a Muslim in England got menacing calls from fellow-Muslims in three other countries. That is enough to make most people keep their mouths shut. In this way, it might be said that liberal and moderate religion covers for fundamentalist religion.

The price Hirsi Ali pays for speaking out and activating as she does is life behind locked doors and transportation in bullet-proof cars under heavy guard, and no social life.