The complain in this comic is obviously that Muslim women have to cover up with hijabs or even burqas, so (Muslim) men’s lust was not provoked. Before all I want to point out that I am not at all interested in whether Muslims do claim so or whether it would be a right claim or not. This is not what this post is about.

This post is about the image Atheists, at least certain ones, have of Muslims and spread about them in comics as the above and whether or not one could call this hypocritical.

So this blog post is not against Muslims or Islam, it actually has nothing to do with it, it’s about atheist criticism of religion and in how far this criticism touches atheist demands as well.

One example of an atheist demand can be seen on my old blog. There’s a German article dealing with a picture I found on the internet. You can see the picture on the article page. On the picture there is a woman holding up a sign which reads:

Restraining Order: Your religious beliefs must stay 500 yards away from my constitutional rights at all times.

Other examples include but are not reduced to: No church bells as they disturb atheists, no public praying etc etc. Generally many atheist demands aim at pushing religion out of public space.

So while Muslim men are said being disturbed by viewing female hair, Atheists are disturbed by hearing churchbells, seeing and hearing religious people pray, seeing crosses and crucifixes in the public space etc etc etc.

As Muslim men are said to not tolerante their wives and daughters being „uncovered“ and visible in public, Atheists do not tolerate religion being „uncovered“ and visible in the public space.

Of course, the claim is that Muslims would suppress their women by making them cover up, and of course religious people are said to indoctrinate others with their religion by speaking about it openly and making it visible in the public. Suppressors are always the others!

No (new) Atheist I ever met even considered in how far their ideology of a „clean“ public would suppress others. The sign on the mentioned picture speaks of „constitutional rights“, isn’t the right to follow and practise a religion as much a constitutional right as having no religion is?

Muslims and other religious people are pictured as oppressors and indoctrinators, while atheists are the bringers of freedom, one could start thinking. But really Atheists just have their own brand of „oppression“ they seem to be blind to. They are asking not to be provoked by noticeable religion as they claim Muslim men are asking not to be provoked by female hair.

And this is either, if they know it, hypocracy, or it is thoughtless, unconsidered, which would mean that those people who claim to be sticking to reason could maybe do some more reasoning…