THIS is the inevitable consequence of promoting faith, the belief in something with no evidence. Especially in gods of ancient barbaric times.

The insistence and demand among society in general that religious belief and ideas, however absurd, should be automatically especially respected and protected from criticism, scrutiny, questioning, mockery, ridicule and insult if need be, is a comfortable environment for extreme beliefs to take root.

While I am in no way claiming that religious people are directly responsible for what is happening in Iraq, and in other issues where religion plays a detrimental part, but I think religious people and those who promote faith as a virtue, and something to be encouraged, often with government and societal support,  need to take a long hard look at their religions.

Moderate and benign religious people in our comfortable democratic liberal societies, who are free to pick and chose what part of religion they want to follow, who I am sure are as horrified and appalled by what is happening in Iraq, Syria etc, as we are, must now begin to accept that by promoting faith they are unwittingly and unintentionally setting the scene for such extreme groups, to blossom.

The average religious person who claims to gain comfort from their religion as they think they will go to heaven and enjoy eternal youth with all their loved ones, MUST now realise that this same religion that they insist must be respected, is also simultaneously getting people beheaded, medical assistance refused, children killed for witchcraft, mass kidnappings, terrorism, other atrocities and injustices, and all sorts of messed up dangerous thinking, in other poorer, less educated, and unstable parts of the world.

So as the lucky religious people who live in 'the west' get to enjoy meeting grandma in the afterlife and lovely fables about nativities and magic angels to make us feel all soft and fluffy, many poor sods elsewhere are getting their heads detached, genetically mutilated, denied medical treatment, beaten and ostracised, lack education, and are psychologically traumatised.

The 'benefits' of religious faith (believing things without evidence) are  unproven and minimal AT BEST, whereas the disadvantages, are tragic, real and all too measurable.

Religious people and accommodationists need to get out of the idea as a society that faith is something to be encouraged.

Rant over.

If God does exist, then he already understands why we do not believe in him. He made it that way. He must want it that way. He gave us minds that are capable of distinguishing fact from bullshit, then deliberately made his religion sound like bullshit.

He made the sacred texts of his religion sound virtually indistinguishable from fairytales, and made sure that there were plenty of scientific errors, historical inaccuracies, and examples of some of the most inhumane and brutal torture tactics ever recorded all sprinkled evenly through out.

He made evolution make perfect sense and placed all the evidence for it to fit perfectly where it would need to be were it true, from the fossil record to DNA to the geographic diversity of the species.

He chose to send his messages at a time when humanity was technologically and socially backwards, and to a part of the world that was among the most backwards, then requires us to stay backwards in order to apply his will.

And lastly, after making his religion seem completely unbelievable, he made salvation contingent upon doing the one thing that we can not choose to do: believing. We can not make a choice to believe in things that we honestly do not think are true.

Even if we were to DO all of the things that religions ask of us, if we do not BELIEVE and SUPPORT 100% of the nonsense, 100% of the errors, 100% of the atrocities, 100% of the inaccuracies, then there is no hope for us. If you do not believe in even an iota of it, then in God;s point of view, you are already screwed. He can roast your skin, beat your head, drive rods through your face, and pour molten brass down your throat, all for not believing in things you had plenty of reason to doubt. FOR EVER, by the way. That is 700 billion years, times 900 billion years, plus another 700 billion, and another, times a million, plus another hundred billion, times another, and another, and another...you get the idea. Actually, no you do not. You can not. It is insane.

I am absolutely certain that a being of this magnitude of insanity is NOT the most merciful God of the universe. He does not exist. You can stop worrying about it and get on with the rest of your life.

I can echo those here who say they would not want to wear any form of hijab, no matter how mild, because of how it blatantly associates the wearer with Islam. As I was working through my doubts before actually leaving Islam, this was one of the things I struggled with. Having been living in an Islamic country at the time, though, I could not have removed it without making serious waves at work and within my social circle.

I was still living there when I finally did leave Islam. At that point, I did not dare remove it. I feared it would have meant not only losing my social circle, but risking my freedom and possibly my life if it led to the people around me discovering the truth about my apostasy. And so I continued to wear it for the longest four months of my life until I was able to leave the country.

A few weeks before I was to leave, I was contemplating how and when, if ever, I would tell my closest Muslim friends that I could no longer believe. I decided I could do a test run to see how they would react by admitting that I had thoughts of removing the hijab. Just as I suspected, they reacted with pretty much an intervention, and begged me to reconsider. One friend hastily forwarded a few links about hijab in an attempt to convince me it was obligatory. In her haste, she did not realize one of the links she sent me actually argued against the necessity of hijab. When I pointed it out, she frantically apologized, and proceeded to fling quote after quote from Quran, hadith, and various scholars in an attempt to prove that hijab is required, and then bullied me into obeying with statements like, {{Please remember, that any hadith is sunnah.  And we must follow the sunnah also.}}

With just days left in the country, I assured them they had convinced me and I would keep the hijab. They seemed satisfied.

On the day I finally left, I was wearing a long skirt and a thin t-shirt under a flowing black abaya with a black hijab wrapped lightly but securely around my head. I boarded the plane and sat quietly, anxiously yet nervously awaiting my stop in Amsterdam. I felt fine in my abaya and hijab. I knew by then how to wear them comfortably, so I was not physically bothered. But I was acutely aware of everyone who looked at me. {{I am on the plane now, I am home free. I do not have to wear this anymore. Can they tell? Do they see the real me under these shrouds?}} Because I could feel it sharply.

As soon as I arrived in Amsterdam, I headed straight for the restroom. My palms were sweaty and my heart was racing in anticipation of what I was about to do. I was a little shaky standing in the stall as I removed each piece one at a time, folding carefully so they would take up the least amount of room in my bag. I put on the jeans and tank top I had carried with me, and then I hesitated. This was it. The end of the old me.

I was about to have full possession of my freedom.

Even more acutely aware of every glance, I stepped out of the restroom. I had gone in quiet, somber, and shrouded. I came out tall, fresh, alive. Had anyone noticed? It did not matter. The air on my skin gave me goosebumps to the core and I gained confidence with every step. Before I knew it, the hijab was behind me. And I have not looked back.