Still in the Closet!

[EquALLity]

Leaving the country where you lived for a long time is something difficult on many levels...

Oh yeah, I know. I was just putting the idea out there, because I think it's something to consider. =)

There was a recent study/poll (I can't find the link) in which we ask people if religion and science contradicts each other on certain point which side will you pick. As you can imagine, the majority of people in the muslim world did choose to go with religion but the good news is that 'only' 55% of the polled people chose religion in Morocco. Compare it to over 90% in Yemen for example to understand why it is good news.

It's still pretty bad, IMO, just not as bad. If you can deal with that, though, ok.

Yes, I've heard about Kacem El Ghazzali, he is a moroccan atheist and he got asylum in Switzerland if I remember correctly.

Yup! I was just curious.

As for the apostasy, you're right it's not black and white. And even the so called fatwa you quote has led to heated political debates in Morocco. The fatwa doesn't mean anything on a political or legal level, because religion is used by politics and not the other way around. Technically there is no death penalty for apostasy in the law and freedom of religion is guaranteed by the newest constitution

Oh, I see. Well, great.

(Although is is stated that islam is the official religion of the state) and even on a practical level, people don't care what you think or do unless you start publicly proselytizing about it. In this case you will become a target of close minded, violent people and even the law/state can't protect you in that case.

The police won't protect you in Morocco for being an apostate? Is that just if the crime is inspired from religious hatred, or does is apply to all crimes?

Of course the legal system and/or some angry violent guy will punish you if you publicly show behaviors that are illicit in islam like eating in ramadan (it's not a smart thing to do as you can tell...)

Oh my. =/

[TheMuslimAtheist]

There was a recent study/poll (I can't find the link) in which we ask people if religion and science contradicts each other on certain point which side will you pick. As you can imagine, the majority of people in the muslim world did choose to go with religion but the good news is that 'only' 55% of the polled people chose religion in Morocco. Compare it to over 90% in Yemen for example to understand why it is good news.

It's still pretty bad, IMO, just not as bad. If you can deal with that, though, ok.

Let me tell you that Morocco has at least a 30% illiteracy rate. If the same question was asked 50 years ago we would be over 90% in my opinion. What I mean is that when you say that it's bad you compare it with an ideal situation and you don't take into account the history of Morocco. Change can only be incremental over time and I think that the globalization and multiculturalism has spread secular values a lot faster than any other factor or era.

Also don't forget that the battle of secularization of christianity has a 700 years head start on islam. 700 years ago, religious wars were raging in Europe and there was the inquisition etc...I understand the sense of urgency but it's better to put things in perspective to see the underlying processes/forces.

(Although is is stated that islam is the official religion of the state) and even on a practical level, people don't care what you think or do unless you start publicly proselytizing about it. In this case you will become a target of close minded, violent people and even the law/state can't protect you in that case.

The police won't protect you in Morocco for being an apostate? Is that just if the crime is inspired from religious hatred, or does is apply to all crimes?

It's more complicated than willing. On one hand, proselytization, blasphemy and hurting religious feelings is a crime punished in the law and on the other hand police protection has meaning when you life is in a danger that can be measured (or if you are a VIP), but in the case of public religious offense, you will have a lot of potential attacker and police can't be anywhere. Plus, the policemen themselves will hate you and you won't be treated well...So you have to be smart and pragmatic about these things.