About Paul Fidalgo

Paul is communications director for the Center for Inquiry, as well as an actor and musician. His personal blog is Near-Earth Object, and he tweets as @paulfidalgo. He is the author of a short (and cheap!) Kindle book on the atheist political movement, Under the Stained Glass Ceiling: Atheists' Precarious Place in Modern American Politics.

Ex-Muslims Rally for Persecuted Moroccan Atheist Imad Iddine Habib

May 9, 2013 By 11 Comments

In an earlier post, I told you about Imad Iddine Habib, a Moroccan atheist now in hiding as authorities seek him out for the crime of “shaking religious faith.” His case is gaining more attention, as the threat to his life grows. Among the strikes against him, Imad is the founder (at 22 years old) of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco, and to rally support to Imad’s cause, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain has declared May 15 “International Imad Day.” From their website:

We, the undersigned, are extremely concerned about Imad’s safety and life and call on the Moroccan government to guarantee his security and respect freedom of expression and thought. Rather than prosecute freethinkers, the government should prosecute those who issue fatwas and death threats.

On 15 May we call for an International Imad Day in order to stand with and defend Imad.

He is all of us.

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Filed Under: General 11 Comments

Moroccan Atheist in Hiding, Pursued for ‘Shaking Faith’

May 2, 2013 By 35 Comments

Imad Eddin Habib of Morocco is no shrinking violet. At 22, he is a very outspoken and active atheist who seems to delight in ruffling feathers by the mere mention of his nonbelief. On Facebook, he posted a smiling photo of himself holding a sign that reads:

In my country people are jailed and harassed for being atheist.
This photo may cost my life, or my freedom.
But I insist to tell you:
I AM PROUD TO BE AN ATHEIST!

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Filed Under: General, Politics Tagged With: 35 Comments

Tomorrow, Atheists Will Protest for Free Expression: We Have to Make Them Care

May 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Tomorrow, a coalition of atheist and secularist groups will hold (mostly) coordinated protests on behalf of the jailed atheist bloggers in Bangladesh. My employer, the Center for Inquiry, is among those leading the effort. I’m writing so that I can convince you to attend one, if you’re near enough to do so, and to share the fact of the protests with everyone in your social networks. Why? Because, yeah, it’s about the bloggers, but it’s not just about the bloggers.

Atheists in the U.S., in Canada, in Western Europe — we are by no means everyone’s favorite ideological/”religious” minority. But we, for the most part, enjoy the same liberties and freedoms that everyone else does in our respective countries. Folks might complain about us, write pointed op-eds, rail against our evil secularist incursion into government, or troll us with angry comments and blog posts (oh wait, that last one we do to each other), but we’re okay. We’re still at it. We’re, for the most part, safe.

The fellas in Bangladesh, they do what we do, they think similarly to the way we think, and they’re in jail because of it. More who are like them have been threatened with arrest. A newspaper editor who has been an opponent of the government’s was arrested, and they cited his reprinting of quotes from the bloggers as one of his crimes.

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Filed Under: Center for Inquiry, General, Politics Tagged With: , Leave a Comment

Bill from Louie Gohmert is Literally the Opposite of Church-State Separation

April 24, 2013 By 22 Comments

Perhaps the most shamelessly dopey Member of Congress, Republican Louie Gohmert of Texas, doesn’t think it’s bad enough that the U.S. Capitol has been (ab)used several times over history as a stand-in for a Christian church. No, he’d actually like to see the government honor the fact. Like, as though we should be proud of it!

Here’s the summary for Gohmert’s HR 1586:

To direct the Architect of the Capitol to acquire and place a historical plaque to be permanently displayed in National Statuary Hall recognizing the seven decades of Christian church services being held in the Capitol from 1800 to 1868, which included attendees James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

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Filed Under: General, Politics 22 Comments