Religious Criticism

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Connexions Library

Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic?
Russell, Bertrand
Article
Apostasy, Blasphemy and Free Expression in the Age of ISIS
Namazie, Maryam
Article
2015
The right to religion comes with a corresponding right to be free from religion.
Ayatollah BBC and #ExMuslimBecause
Namazie, Maryam
Article
2015
Whilst we mourn our dead in Paris, we must not forget the countless others killed by ISIS and Islamists, including this very month in Lebanon, Nigeria, Mali, Iraq, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghani...
Bangladesh and the shrinking space for free thinkers: 'Don't call me Muslim, I am an atheist'
Taslima, Nasreen
Article
2015
Writer Taslima Nasreen fled Bangladesh in 1994 when extremists threatened to kill her for criticizing Islam, and has been living in exile since. Her country has, in recent times, seen many intellectua...
Connexions Library: Religion Focus
Website
2009
Selected articles, books, websites and other resources on religion.
Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
Marx, Karl
Article
1844
The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suf...
50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists
Blackford, Russell; Schuklenk, Udo (eds.)
Book
2009
A collection of essays from international figures in fields of academia, science, literature, media and politics who explain why they are atheists.
'Free speech' - as long as it doesn't offend anyone
Diemer, Ulli
Article
2009
On the issue of free speech most of the right and much of the left are in agreement, and so too are many liberals, activists, and human rights apparatchiks. They hold essentially the same position on ...
Free speech for me - you shut up
Diemer, Ulli
Article
2008
The right to express offensive views is at the very heart of the principle of free speech.
God and His Demons
Parenti, Michael
Book
2010
Parenti examines the dark side of religion, the many evils committed in the name of godly virtue throughout history. This is not a blanket condemnation of all believers. The focus is on the threat pos...
God: A Human History - a rescue attempt by Reza Aslan: Book review
Namazie, Maryam
Article
2017
Gods and religions have caused so much distress that even those who have spent a lifetime apologising for and ignoring the doctrinal foundations of their abuses must make a rescue attempt.
Hekmat, Mansoor - Writings - Index
Hekmat, Mansoor
Article
Writings of Mansoor Hekmat (1951-2002).
Here We Go Again
Malik, Kenan
Article
2012
One thing should be clear. The violence across the Muslim world in response to an American anti-Islamic film has nothing to do with that film. Yes, The Inocence of Muslims is a risibly crude diatribe ...
The Holy Family or Critique of Critical Criticism
Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich
Book
1845
In the name of GOD The abuses of religion: New Internationalist August 2004
Serial Publication (Periodical)
2004
Discusses the relationship between religion. The role of religion within political issues.
Islamophobia, Left and Right
Sparrow, Jeff
Article
2012
Should Muslims be worried about rising Islamophobia? Of course they should! Anti-Islam bigotry is becoming a key element of the revival of the far Right – a Right that doesn’t merely slander Muslims b...
The Islamophobia Myth
Malik, Kenan
Article
2005
Pretending that Muslims have never had it so bad might bolster community leaders and gain votes for politicians, but it does the rest of us, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, no favours at all. The more t...
Karl Marx and Religion
Smith, Cyril
Article
2005
For Marx, to positively assert that God does not exist is childish. “Man makes religion, religion does not make man. ... The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against th...
Marx and Engels Collected Works Volume 4: Marx and Engels 1844 - 1845
Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich
Book
1845
Includes The Holy Family, or Critique of Critical Criticism, and The Condition of the Working-Class in England.
Marx and Engels Collected Works Volume 5: Marx and Engels 1845 - 1847
Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich
Book
1847
Includes The German Ideology.
A Marxist History of the World part 36: The Reformation
Faulkner, Neil
Article
2011
The Reformation after 1521 tore apart church and state. Neil Faulkner looks at how the new social forces formed inside late medieval Europe helped undermine the thousand year domination of the Roman C...
Muslims, Jews and Christians imposing an imagined past, with disastrous results
Davidson, Lawrence
Article
2015
The truth is that there are millions of people – Muslims, Jews and Christians and others – who not only still idealise a religiously imagined past, but want, in one way or another, to import that past...
On the Second Coming of Religion
Malik, Kenan
Article
2012
The question we should ask is not just: ‘What is it about religion that makes people believe or behave in certain ways?’ It is also: ‘What is it about contemporary societies that draws many people, bo...
The Realization and Suppression of Religion
Knabb, Ken
Article
It is not enough to explain religion by its social role or historical development. The content that is expressed in religious forms must be discovered. Because revolutionaries haven't really come to t...
Rosa Luxemburg Speaks
Waters, Mary Alice
Book
1970
A selection of speeches and writings by Rosa Luxemburg.
Skeptical Inquirer: The Magazine for Science and Reason - Periodical profile
Serial Publication (Periodical)
Encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminates factual information about the results of such inquiries to t...
Taking on the Religious Right: A review of God and His Demons
Elich, Gregory
Article
2010
Michael Parenti confronts the dangers of religious fundamentalism.
Trump, Namazie, Islam, Free Speech and the Left
Malik, Kenan
Article
On the odd relationship that many on the left have with Islam. They view all Muslims as helpless victims, and regard any criticism of Islam as a form of bigotry.
Why I had to face down the bullies trying to silence my supposedly 'offensive' stance on Islam
Namazie, Maryam
Article
2016
This week marked the first anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris. The atrocity was a brutal attack not just on human life but also on the principle of free speech, one of the pillars of h...

Connexions Directory of Groups & Websites

Apostates of Islam
An organization of former Muslims.
Secular Web
The Secular Web is owned and operated by the Internet Infidels, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to defending and promoting a naturalistic worldview on the Internet. In the words o...
Women Living Under Muslim Law
WLUML is an international solidarity network that provides information and support for those women whose lives have been shaped by the customs and/or laws of Islam. It extends to more 70 countries and...
Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime
Dem Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime geh”ren Menschen an, die entweder den muslimischen Glauben aufgegeben haben oder die niemals Muslime waren, wenngleich sie aufgrund ihrer Herkunft aus einem sog. "muslimi...

Sources Experts & Spokespersons

Sources Library

Human Rights Council resolution on blasphemy
Sources News Release
2010
Reporters Without Borders is extremely concerned by a resolution condemning #defamation of religions# which the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted on 25 March.
Making blasphemy an offence takes Europe back several centuries
Sources News Release
2010
Reporters Without Borders condemns #with the utmost firmness# a new defamation law in Ireland that establishes blasphemy as an offence punishable by a fine of up to 25,000 euros. The law took effect o...
More than 180 Rights Organisations Reject Defamation of Religions Campaign
Sources News Release
2009
More than 180 rights organisations worldwide have banded together to oppose a "defamation of religions" campaign at the UN mounted by Islamic states that would make criticising religion a crime in UN ...
Outrage at UN Human Rights Council resolution on defamation of religions
Sources News Release
2009
In the resolution it adopted yesterday on the defamation of religions, the United Nations Human Rights Council has yet again demonstrated its inability to defend the values enshrined in the Universal ...
The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters
Or, Proposals for the Establishment of the Church
Defoe, Daniel
1703
Daniel Defoe's satire of the religious establishment, originally published anonymously, which led to him being convicted of seditious libel and sentenced to prison.
23 IFEX members and other organisations raise concerns about proposed mechanisms to combat racial and religious intolerance
Sources News Release
2009
23 IFEX members and other organisations raise concerns about proposed mechanisms to combat racial and religious intolerance.
A year after Charlie, RSF warns against "religious correctness"
Sources News Release
2016
On the eve of the first anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo tragedy in Paris and amid controversy about the satirical weekly's latest cover, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) cautions against the insidious...