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Bravery: Richard Dawkins interviews Saudi Arabian atheist author Rana Ahmad

She moved to Germany and is continually threatened by refugees in that country. Her brother is trying to find someone through Darknet to kill her.

Rana's book is titled A Woman Is Not Allowed To Dream and is a best seller in Germany. The Arabic translation has been downloaded 13 million times.

I, too, feel so sorry for her and greatly admire her courage---the courage with which she is standing up to this.

The Richard Dawkins Foundation is starting a new project, offering free downloads of his book The God Delusion in various translations.

(11 minutes)

VictoriaNotes 9 Mar 3
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19 comments

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0

Allow me to share a well known quote by Dawkins...I keep it tabbed...and read it often when I'm "down"

[godlessmom.com]

0

Love this man

0

Damn! This woman is amazing!!!

0

Dawkins is brave and awesome, and so is she!

0

I saw this on FB and and, once again see an ongoing problem with trying to escape one's religion. In Germany the Turkish are the prime group that are brought in to do the work that the Germans won't (sound familiar?). Some friends of mine were Orthodox and were constantly harassed by their fellow Moslem Turks. This is a problem that goes on throughout the world. Often there is little escape.

0

She must be very brave and a person with a great mind to have gotten out of her environment.

3

Brave girl.Another who confronted the might of Islam is Aayan Hirsi Ali and her biography "Infidel" is worth reading.

0

I like Dawkins' line about how Saudis can't understand how people can refuse to believe in God. Dawkins replied that he finds it equally incomprehensible that many people are dumb enough to believe it.

1

Good post! What a sweet girl, and brave. I posted on Politics yesterday advising our members to watch the CNN special on Saudi Arabia. Great history.

Dawkins deftly brings out the power of mind control. I studied this years ago with Phil Zimbardo (check him out on Youtube) and it changed my life. The problem to my mind is that religion has strong defenses and the power of mutual reinforcement. They help convince one another that they're righteous to think the way they do.

Obviously, the ability to change has to derive from the Saudi people. They need their own Thomas Paine or Sam Adams. A rabble-rouser that's willing to upset the apple cart. In US history Sam Adams organized the Boston Tea Party to get things started. A few years later the country was in a war of liberation The repression of Saudi citizens, especially women , is far worse than what our colonists went through.

Excellent points.
Remember, however, that "the prophet" himself, once he migrated to Medina, became a charismatic rabble-rousing warlord who launched a cruel, oppressive, imperialistic, totalitarian political ideology. That ideology became the most successful and destructive social engineering movement in history.

@VictoriaNotes It was good to hear Phil's unique voice again. As I said his class changed my life. I wanted to go to graduate school for social psych and he promised to help me. I was one of his best students because I was so enthusiastic. In the year I was to graduate, 1966, the draft board eliminated the exemption for grad school. Instead I got a letter in the mail ordering me to go to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn for induction into the army so I could defend our nation against Asian villagers who still used water wheels and yaks to farm their land.

Meanwhile Phil was teaching the indoctrination process that goes on in boot camp. Very similar to the process Reverend Moon was using to induct new recruits into his church:

First: Ingratiation. At this point it's called "love bombing" "We're your new family. You'll love being part of the church."

Second: Isolation. The recruit is separated from friends and family to make him feel alone and helpless.

Third: Deindividualization. They shave your hair so you're not you anymore. They even take away your name and give you a number.

Fourth: Dehumanization. They strip you of your self dignity and shave your hair. Maggot. You've become a worm. The movie Full Metal Jacket describes this accurately.

At this point you're ready for a new set of values. Most kids were raised with "Thou shalt no kill". After boot camp it's become, "Show me your war face." You've been the victim of a centuries old process.

After Prof. Zimbardo's class there was no way I'd let them get me. I was willing to go to jail if I had to. At least I'd still be me.

3

Dawkins is a hero of mine and so now is this women.

3

I love Richard Dawkins. He's awesome! ❤

4

She is brave and I love Richard Dawkins! Can you imagine any situation where your own brother wants to kill you? This is what fanatical religion does. All this woman wants is equality and to not be forcefully guided by the invisible man. Strangely, as Muslims break away from this it is starting to crank up in America again with a different name and more suppression. Deep down our believers are different only in name and more limited action.

@VictoriaNotes They are a party of theocracy and Reagan helped in making that happen. I was once religious but never again. Gods have nothing to do with our government. The GOP uses the religion angle to crank out lies about abortion and mix belief of god and government.

2

What a brave woman. She's an inspiration that's for sure.

4

I am a big fan of Dawkins. And I applaud the courage of all the women of Saudia Arabia.

4

Yes she is brave, however lets remember that the fanatic Christians around the world, especially in the US treat their women despicably too. It will take many years for Saudi Arabia to change, just as it's taking the western world a long time to change too.

Islam needs an enlightenment like the European enlightenment greatly reduced the power of the Christian church, Can't see it happening nay time soon though

@Moravian When one looks at the US seems to me that the power has not greatly been reduced, and not only in the US either.

3

I feel the sorrow in her voice.

4

Love Richard Dawkins’ work! He’s so correct in this interview!

3

I am so happy to see Dr. Dawkins doing so well after his stroke.
Also damned glad to see that he's still doing his work, helping to
spread logic and reason, and helping others to do the same.

I did not know about the stroke...I thought he looked pale, so I guess that is why?

@Freedompath It was a while back. He looks to have recovered.

@KKGator I thought he looked ‘old’ all of a sudden! I am really sorry that he had a stroke! He is a mighty voice in the wilderness, that I want to continue!

2

Eye opening interview on religious fanatacism.

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