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Petition – Free Mubarak Bala

Please sign this Change.org petition –

Mubarak Bala is a highly educated chemical engineer. He was about to continue his studies in petroleum engineering in London, England, before he was abruptly committed to a secure psychiatric ward.

He has been beaten by his family, drugged and confined to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, in the Shariah state of Kano in Nigeria. This has been done because he renounced Islam and has openly declared himself to be an atheist.

His father, a politically powerful figure has declared atheism to be a mental illness and is holding Mubarak in a secure ward behind tight security.

A human Rights lawyer has tried to gain access to Mubarak, but has been denied entry.

We need to get the Human Rights Organisations to take action and free Mubarak Bala from false imprisonment and forced medication.

The situation is beyond dire, as Mubarak’s family has already threatened to move him to a secret location which Mubarak feels could indicate the possibility of an honour killing. The doctor also indicated that his condition is worsening, due to the drug treatments and not being able to eat.

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Don’t Believe It? Don’t Tick It! – The Campaign Continues

The 2011 National Census is over!

The bunting is down, the paper forms have been sent off, the online versions have been clicked on, and all of the campaigns urging people to tick the “No Religion” box have ended…..haven’t they?

Well, no! Although Atheism UK’s Don’t Believe It? Don’t Tick It Campaign, was initially inspired by the National Census it was always intended to have a wider purpose, just look at the opening lines of the campaign description:

Have you ever had a form to fill in, part of which asks “What is your religion?” Then, as a result of being asked that question, you tick the box marked “Christian” or “Church of England” or whatever, simply because you were once christened, or think that is simply what you should put, even if you don’t believe a word of it?

Many people have and still do.

This is the point we want to make. Many people still tick the “Christian” box when they aren’t actually Christian. Some people think that they have to call themselves Christian because of some of the reasons mentioned above. What we are trying to achieve with this campaign is to change attitudes. Get people to realise that they don’t have to call themselves Christians, or get to realise that they actually aren’t Christains and that it is OK not to have a religion. We would also encourage those that don’t have a religion and don’t believe in gods or supernatural powers that oversee their lives to come out and call themselves atheists.

So while surveys and questionnaires keep coming out and asking people what their religion is, and whilst non-believers keep ticking the Christian/Muslim/Jewish boxes, we at Atheism UK will keep urging people…

Don’t Believe it? Don’t Tick It!

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MP Calls to End Prayers

Jo Johnson, Conservative MP for Orpington has called for Parliament to end prayers at the start of sessions of the House of Commons because Britain is no longer “an overwhelmingly Christian country.”

Whilst he hasn’t called for disestablishement of the Church of England (he was quite adamant about that), as we at Atheism most certainly do, this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Full story here.

…and don’t forget our current project to collate the religious views of all of our MPs which can be found here. If your MP has not replied to our survey, why not write to him/her as a constituent and ask them to respond. Suggested wording and copies of the questionnaire are also available from our site.