International Humanist and Ethical Union

Saudi-Arabia is primarily fighting for this primitive, backwards, disgusting trend of treating criticism of Islam (and the Saudi-Arabian government as a direct result) as a human rights violation. Normally I try to be respectful to worlds beyond my experience, but Saudi-Arabia publicly executes people, publicly chops the hands off of thieves, ... Read Morearrests people for premarital flirting, outlaws all criticism of its government, and now it wants criticism of this barbaric regime outlawed because they know damn well they couldn't possibly rationalize this disgusting form of government (Wahhabism specifically). If that's not disgusting, primitive, backwards and inexcusable to any sane human being with the slightest bit of respect for other human beings, then I don't know what is.

Sorry if that offended someone... it's not my fault that Saudi-Arabia is this primitive, and it's not because Saudi-Arabs are Islamic... Turkey for example manages to be both Islamic and civilized at the same time. Saudi-Arabia just seriously needs to crawl out of the bloody dark ages, and somebody needs to say that, by the way.

I am afraid Turkey will become even more barbaric if this imperialist economic pressure continues in the Middle East because the last governing bodies of Turkey have been all Islamic Fundamentalists, but Kemalism still arguably keeps the country a little bit modern. Turkish people, by the effect of Islamic understanding of life, in general like embracing a period in history to survive safely today and this is Ataturk's period. I disagree with this, because I believe in historical development, not historical stability, but this what happens.

I can see the future governments being fascists or Islamic fundamentalists again. These political groups have learnt how to use Kemalist propagandas as well as religion, of course with support of international capitalist groups, for the sake of their own political and economic successes over time. There is no religious freedom at all. You can not discuss your atheist or other radical believes properly in public or at universities in the country because of the risk of being attacked or arrested somehow. Everybody has to listen to the İmam's calls everyday for 5 times everywhere, etc. This is not called terrorism, but if you want to support socialism, humanism, atheism this then becomes terrorism. Anyway, the list continues...

However, you have to know that socialist people, like me, Turkish, Kurdish, etc, are there as well, thousands, but I think the global link between socialists are really weak. We really need to sort this situation out by getting together all people around the world to the same certain regions on the globe. We have to be as active as capitalists around the world. We have to be able to appear in the same country for some certain demonstrations and we have to create a strong international reaction. Just reading and writing theories or analyses or local demonstrations are not being enough today.... Read More

Regards,

Ümit (which means hope :)... )