Algerian Protester Arrested Over Ripped Qur'an Page
Algerian Protester Arrested Over Ripped Qur'an Page
He may have to spend a decade behind bars.
It would mean so much to us at Friendly Atheist if you would click the subscribe button above or below this post and welcome our newsletter into your inbox (we promise not to spam you). For now, all newsletters are free! But if you value our content and can afford to contribute to our work, we would be grateful if you would subscribe for just $6 a month.
Evangelist MAGA cultist Sean Feucht continues his COVID super spreader tour across the country, stopping in Nashville, Tennessee last night where he performed a worship service to an estimated crowd of 9,000-10,000 (so he says) on the steps of the courthouse. As you can see in his own posts of the event, social distancing and masks were basically non-existent. Feucht claims to be protesting COVID restrictions, as if he’s had his right to worship taken away. It’s actually quite transparent he’s using persecution as a guise to feed his wannabe-rockstar ego, not caring whose granny he kills along the way.
A police officer escorting me out tonight said he estimated 9000-10,000 worshippers filled the courthouse steps in downtown Nashville! We had THREE venue changes and so much resistance BUT THE CHURCH WILL NOT BE SILENCED! 🔥🔥🔥 #LetUsWorshipNashville officials stepped in a day late, likely because of public outcry, announcing that no permits were pulled for the event and they’d be pursuing legal actions against Feucht and other organizers. Somehow the city failed to notice in real time that thousands of un-masked people were crowding around speakers, lights, and instruments which were juicing off a city building.
Yacine Mebarki, an Algerian anti-government protester, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $77,400 for “inciting atheism and offending Islam” after his home was raided and police found a copy of the Qur’an with a page ripped out. There’s no evidence Mebarki is either an atheist or that he had knowledge of the missing book page. Even if either accusation were true, the real outrage here is that blasphemy laws persist in the 21st century — or, at the very least, that blasphemy can be used as cover for political persecution.
After months of Republicans crying mail-in ballot fraud, look who’s being shady AF with voters’ ballots. Illegal ballot drop boxes, labeled “official ballot drop off,” are popping up across the state and are being promoted by Republican figures, such as regional field director for the California Republican Party Jordan Tygh, and Pastor Jerry Cook, who has since deleted his Facebook post announcing the drop box outside Freedom’s Way Baptist Church in Santa Clarita. California election officials have sent out cease and desist letters to the state’s GOP, who has claimed ownership of the boxes. It seems Republicans don’t have much faith in Russia this election.
Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert ripped a hole in the fabric of spacetime with his stupidity at a GOP rally over the weekend.
“The problem with socialism isn’t just economic, It’s atheism. The government has to be the God. We’re in a fight for the future of this country.”
We get that Gohmert and other conservatives recoil at the word “socialism.” They equate socialism with taking care of people they don’t believe deserve to be taken care of. This moral bankruptcy is not something we’ve been able to persuade conservatives to ditch. But his claim that socialism is atheism (when his own Jesus was arguably a socialist), because atheists need to fill a God-shape void in their hearts, is laughable nonsense. (If atheists believed in the God of Socialism, we wouldn’t exactly be athe—oh, never mind.)
He seems to think using scary words, regardless of how senseless their composition, is all it’ll take to get re-elected in Texas. Then again, in 2018, he won with 72% of the votes. (Come on, Texas…)Watching this Supreme Court confirmation hearing is bound to take a toll on you, so get some rest while you can before the hypocrisy overwhelms you.
The senators celebrating Barrett's faith would be doing everything in their power to block a Muslim nominee.When a Christian mom goes cruising for things to be offended by, she will find it somewhere stupid—like a hot sauce commercial that’s been around for years. Monica Cole of the conservative group “One Million Moms” wants Frank’s RedHot to pull its ad because it uses an implied expletive in the slogan, “I put that ‘bleep’ on everything.” No, we’re not censoring it for you in this newsletter— the commercial actually bleeps out the word. That’s how much of a stretch this is.
“The bleeped-out word creates an unnecessary curiosity in children, and there is nothing funny about swearing or kids mimicking this behavior. The commercial is extremely destructive and damaging to impressionable children,” One Million Moms wrote.
Somehow, while One Million Moms has a petition against this ad, there’s nothing you can sign on their website to oppose a “"p*ssy grabbing” president. Because cancel culture only goes so far.
We get weird letters sometimes:
If you’re reading this, you probably know plenty of bad reasons to believe in God. But in preparation for your conservative uncle joining the family Zoom Thankgiving, here are more for your mental toolkit:
