Sunday, January 25, 2009

Atheism 2.0 -- Indonesia's nonbelievers find refuge online

Aubrey Belford Aubrey Belford


Muslims pray at a mosque to celebrate the New Year in Jakarta. In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, atheists are increasingly using web tools such as social networking sites, mailing lists and blogs to communicate with like-minded people in a nation where declaring there is no God can turn someone into an outcast (1/24/09, AFP/File/Adek Berry).

Chain-smoking at a trendy coffee shop while studiously ignoring the mosque's evening call to prayer, Indonesian atheists Didi and Dewi have little patience for the beliefs of most of their countrymen.

The two young women are defiant unbelievers in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, but they let few people in the real world know it.

Instead, the women have joined scores of young Indonesian atheists who have found refuge on the Internet, using web tools such as social networking sites, mailing lists, blogs and wikis to communicate with like-minded people in a country where declaring there is no God can turn someone into an outcast. More>>

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