And so too may the institutionalized rious reasons, as discharged through Anyway, that’s the music he stepped to piety of even modern science precipi- American (irrational) contrarianism, a century and a half ago, and so still do tate revolt—because, for better or for portend not simply recidivistic cultural a lot of Americans today. worse, revolt invigorates. decay but (and without gilding them If all this sounds like so much fuzzy, with any facile romantic or Neitzschean sociological impressionism, well, maybe virtue) some as yet unrecognized (and Steven Doloff is professor of humanities it is. But might there not also be, lurk- even) evolutionary function. and media studies at the Pratt Institute. ing amidst the fuzz, just a grain of (not Ralph Waldo Emerson once said of His writings on culture and education have strictly scientific) truth as well, about the perpetual fluidity of human - con appeared in , the a peculiar American-exceptionalist sciousness that every thought was a Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher gestalt? “The heart has its reasons,” “prison” and that a heartfelt, open- Education, and Free Inquiry. claimed Pascal, “of which reason knows ended guess was somehow more grati- nothing.” And perhaps those myste- fying than a logically constraining fact.

Global

The Virus of Faith Avijit Roy

Religion, a medieval form of unreason, recent experiences in this regard verify extremist by the name of Farabi Shafiur when combined with modern weaponry the horrific reality that such religious Rahman openly issued death threats becomes a real threat to our freedoms. extremism is a “virus of faith.” to me through his numerous — It all started with a book. A national statuses. In one widely circulated sta- book fair (popularly known as the tus, Rahman wrote, “Avijit Roy lives in n January 7, 2015, the world wit- Ekushey Book Fair) is held every America and so, it is not possible to kill nessed a tragic atrocity committed February in . Newly pub- him right now. But he will be murdered Oby soldiers of the so-called religion lished books are displayed in more than when he comes back.” of peace when two masked Islamists five hundred stalls. Literally thousands Let’s put Rahman aside for a moment armed with assault rifles entered the of people come to the fair every day offices of Charlie Hebdo (a French satiri- and enjoy buying new books. Publishers cal weekly newspaper) and killed twelve start preparing for this event quite early “. . . Religious extremism is like people, including two police officers, as they try to get their books ready for three cartoonists, and seven journal- the frenzy of the fair. One of my recent a highly contagious virus.” ists. The gunmen were heard shouting publishers, Jagriti Prakashani, timed the “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic) publication of my book Biswasher Virus and “We have avenged the Prophet (Bengali for The Virus of Faith) to coin- Muhammad.” A mere three weeks cide with the book fair of 2014. as I provide readers with a bit of back- before, on December 16, 2014, nine As soon as the book was released, it ground about the book. I knew there gunmen affiliated with the Pakistani rose to the top of the fair’s best-seller was a growing demand for Biswasher Taliban conducted a terrorist attack list. At the same time, it hit the cranial Virus long before it appeared in the in Peshawar, Pakistan. They entered a nerve of Islamic fundamentalists. The market. It started when I wrote a few school, opened fire, and killed 145 peo- death threats started flowing to my blogs on this particular topic on Mukto- ple, 132 of whom were schoolchildren. e-mail inbox on a regular basis. I sud- Mona (a website of freethinkers of To me, such religious extremism is denly found myself a target of militant mainly Bengali descent). Due to faith- like a highly contagious virus. My own Islamists and terrorists. A well-known based politics, a lot had happened in

secularhumanism.org April/May 2015 Free Inquiry 59 Bangladesh in the year before, some proportions. On September 11, 2001, that religions display behavioral control of which I attempted to cover in my Americans experienced a horrific atroc- over people in much the same way that writings. When several bloggers were ity in their own land that killed almost parasites invade organisms. For exam- put behind bars for being openly athe- three thousand people and caused at ple, the rabies virus infects very specific ist, I published articles including one in least $10 billion in property and infra- neurons in the brain of a mammalian Free Inquiry (“ Under Attack structure damage. It was, of course, the host, later inducing the host to bite in Bangladesh,” October/November virus of religion that had persuaded or otherwise attack others. The lancet 2013). I also covered other incidents sur- Mohamed Atta and eighteen others fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum), a par- rounding the Movement, such that perpetrating this bloodbath was asite, infects the brains of ants by tak- as an incident in which atheist bloggers not just a moral act but also a sacred ing control and driving them to climb including and Asif duty. In the Charlie Hebdo attack, the to the top of blades of grass, where Mohiuddin were brutally attacked by Kouachi brothers killed twelve people they can be eaten by cows. Another fundamentalists. Mohiuddin was seri- and injured several others in the name parasitic hairworm, scientifically known ously wounded but luckily survived a of Allah and their prophet. as Spinochordodes tellinii, infects grass- murder attempt in on January The cases of the Kouachi brothers, hoppers’ brains in a way that makes 14, 2014; on the other hand, Haider Nafis, and Atta are not isolated manifes- grasshoppers more likely to jump into was found hacked to death there a tations of the religion virus. Rev. Michael water and commit suicide, allowing the month later. I found a commonality in Bray, the American minister who was worm to mate. these writings: the virus of faith was convicted of a series of abortion clinic Don’t we see similar occurrences in the weapon that made these atrocities attacks in the eighties, used biblical our human society? Take the horrifying possible. verses to defend his acts of terrorism. videos of hostage beheadings by ISIS Another interesting case concerns In 1992, Hindu fanatics destroyed Babri as an example. Regardless, President Masjid, one of the largest and oldest Barack Obama has made it abundantly mosques in Uttar Pradesh of India, clear that the United States is not at war based on a religious myth called “Ram with Islam. On laying out a strategy for Janmabhoomi.” The incident ignited dealing with ISIS (or, alternatively, ISIL), “I suddenly found myself a riots in India and neighboring countries. Obama declared: “Now, let’s make two As I am writing this article, ISIS—one of things clear: ISIL is not Islamic. No reli- target of militant Islamists the most infamous extremist groups— gion condones the killing of innocents, and terrorists.” continues torturing minorities and and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims beheading people in the name of Allah. have been Muslim. . . . ISIL is a terrorist Boko Haram, a terrorist organization in organization, pure and simple.” Obama Nigeria, is not only forcing women and also remarked, “ISIL speaks for no reli- girls into prostitution but also massa- gion. Their victims are overwhelmingly cring thousands of people mercilessly in Muslim, and no faith teaches people to Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan the name of God. These are only a few massacre innocents. No just God would Nafis, a Bengali student who came to examples of the viruses of faiths, and stand for what they did yesterday, and the United States on a student visa in they’re happening all around us. for what they do every single day.” order to wage Islamic jihad. Nafis was Whatever the motivation behind arrested in 2012 by the U.S. Federal don’t claim to have come up with any President Obama’s statements— Bureau of Investigation in a sting oper- Inew or novel concept in Biswasher whether it is simple strategy or so-called ation after attempting to set off a fake Virus. Those who are familiar with political correctness—there is very lit- car bomb outside the Federal Reserve Richard Dawkins’s revolutionary idea tle doubt that ISIS speaks exactly for building in Manhattan. He was eventu- of the meme (introduced in his 1976 Islam. ISIS is what unfolds when the ally sentenced to thirty years in prison magnum opus The Selfish Gene) are virus of faith launches into action and after pleading guilty to terrorism. In acquainted with the viral metaphor the outbreak becomes an epidemic. The my book, I tried to analyze how an for religious ideas. Based on this idea, Quran clearly states, “when ye meet the afterlife-obsessed, terrorist brain such numerous authors have suggested the unbelievers (in fight), strike off their as Nafis’s could put our civilization in religion memeplex can behave like heads” (47:4), “smite ye above their immense danger. Nafis’s deep faith in a “biological virus” acting in a living necks” (8:12), and “kill them wherever a holy text and his belief in afterlife organism. Computer scientist Craig you find them” (2:191). According to rewards led to pursue his jihadi mission James (author of The Religion Virus) and the early biography of the Prophet against the “infidels”; this can easily be psychologist Darrel W. Ray (author of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad compared to the action of a virus. The God Virus) independently proposed himself sanctioned the merciless massa- Faith-based terrorisms are nothing that the “religion meme” can be viewed cre of the Banu Qurayza, a vanquished but viruses—if allowed to spread, they as a virus. Philosopher Daniel C. Dennett Jewish tribe. Some six hundred to nine will wreak havoc on society in epidemic (author of Breaking the Spell) suggested hundred Qurayza men were led on

60 Free Inquiry April/May 2015 secularhumanism.org Muhammad’s orders to the market in friends with Jews and Christians” (5:51) cartoon controversy) bearing banners Medina. Trenches were dug, those men but to fight them “until they pay the that read, “Behead those who say Islam were beheaded with swords, and their Jizya (a penalty tax for the non-Muslims is a violent religion.” The phrase “reli- decapitated corpses were buried in the living under Islamic rule) with willing gion of peace” gives me a belly laugh trenches in presence of Muhammad. submission, and feel themselves sub- nowadays, and the association of Islam’s Citing the references to the massacre dued” (9:29); to “kill the disbelievers followers with terrorism never surprises in Shahi Bukhari, the Pakistani Taliban wherever we find them” (2:191); to me. It has been revealed that Rahman (Tehreek-e-Taliban) considered their “murder them and treat them harshly” is linked to the radical Islamist party, recent killing in Peshawar to be consis- (9:123); to “fight and slay the non-be- Jamaat-e-Islami, and a terrorist organi- tent with what Prophet Muhammad lievers, seize them, beleaguer them, and zation, Hizbut Tahrir. Last year, Rahman did to his enemies 1,400 years ago. Even lie in wait for them in every strata- threatened to kill a Muslim cleric who Karen Armstrong—who has become gem” (9:5); to “fight the unbelievers officiated at the funeral of Ahmed Rajib immensely popular among Muslim apol- until no other religion except Islam is Haider (the aforementioned freethinker ogists for “correcting” Western miscon- left” (2:193); and so on. Such teachings who was hacked to death). Under tre- ceptions about Islam—was so disgusted can easily incite hatred and violence in mendous public pressure, Rahman was that she compared Muhammad’s mas- the mind of a fanatical believer. Just as a arrested, but to everyone’s surprise, he sacre to the Nazi atrocities against the parasite can hijack the brain of a grass- was granted bail within few months. Jews. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of hopper to promote suicidal behavior, Since then, he has continued to threaten holy Islam, still utilizes public behead- certain texts of a holy book can influ- many progressives in Bangladesh, while ing as a form of capital punishment ence a terrorist’s mind—as seen in the no official action has been taken against for crimes including apostasy. When a cases of Nafis and Atta—into pursuing him. person is convicted, he or she is taken hugely destructive works through an The story doesn’t end there. Rahman to a public square, bound, and forced insane sacrifice of the host’s life. also sent a death threat to Rokomari. to kneel in front of the executioner. The executioner uses a sword to remove the f course I know that most Muslims criminal’s head from his or her body at Oare not terrorists; they are peaceful. the neck, following Islamic Sharia law. The reason is that they do not follow the ISIS is merely following the tradi- Qur’an literally. As Taner Edis (author “Whatever the motivation tion that its holy prophet established of An Illusion of Harmony: Science and behind President Obama’s state- more than a thousand years ago. We Religion in Islam) pointed out in one of are familiar with the stories of Daniel his essays, “Ordinary Muslims depend ments—whether it is simple Pearl, Nick Berg, Kim Sun II, and Paul heavily on local religious scholars, Sufi strategy or so-called political Johnson, who were captured by the sol- orders and similar brotherhoods. . . . correctness—there is very little diers of Allah and then beheaded. We They hold Quran sacred, but their witnessed the same unfortunate fate understanding of what Islam demands doubt that ISIS speaks for American journalists James Foley comes through local religious culture.” exactly for Islam.” and Steven Sotloff, as well as British aid Moderate Muslims are, however, quite worker David Haines. ISIS’s cruel way happy with descriptions such as “reli- of killing infidels is indeed sanctioned gion of peace”; they are similar to rheto- by holy texts and Islamic sharia laws. ric from seasoned politicians. Osama Bin Biologist Jerry Coyne was absolutely Laden, Anwar al‑Awlaki, the Kouachis right in his essay in New Republic: “If and Coulibaly, Nidal Hasan, al-Qaeda, com (Bangladesh’s first online book- ISIS is not Islamic, then the Inquisition and ISIS—all of whom follow the scrip- store) and ordered the site to stop sell- was not Catholic either.” ture literally—are deemed responsible ing my books. In his Facebook post, It seems as if the American president for mass destruction while their cher- Rahman published the office address has made a vow to avoid criticizing reli- ished dogma remains unquestioned. of Rokomari.com and called upon his gion at all costs—particularly Islam. Such Those who wish to be factually correct “Islamist friends” to attack the locality. an attitude is nothing new. Coming just rather than politically correct may be He also told Mahmudul Hasan Sohagh, after the September 11, 2001, terror- outcast or even physically threatened. the owner of Rokomari.com, that he ist attacks, President George W. Bush This is exactly what happened to would suffer the same fate as Haider famously proclaimed that Islam is a me. Rahman, the known cyber-terrorist if he did not comply with Rahman’s “religion of peace.” However, rational of Bangladesh, issued laughably ironic demands. As a result, Rokomari.com scrutiny can show hundreds of verses in death threats for my writing of Biswasher took my books off its list. The news the Qur’an, which, by any standard are Virus. I found there was no difference created a great uproar, and the issue not “peaceful” but inhuman, parochial, between them and the “peaceful” came to the attention of national and and dangerously viral. For example, Muslim demonstrators in Britain who worldwide media. Prominent online the Qur’an tells believers “not to make were photographed (after the Dutch newspapers in Bangladesh prominently

secularhumanism.org April/May 2015 Free Inquiry 61 featured this story; international sites any of my books. Most of my writings publication of Biswasher Virus created and newspapers reported the incident deal with modern science and philos- grounds for testing the hypothesis of with due importance. Bangladesh’s gov- ophy and include proper references to whether religious faith can and does act ernment, however, was reluctant to take journals, newspapers, and academic as a virus. The aftermath of the Rokomari. any action. Rahman was not arrested, literature. Nevertheless, Rokomari.com com-Rahman episode and the recent and Rokomari.com did not apologize for withdrew my books from its site solely Peshawar and Charlie Hebdo massacres its wrongdoings. based on Rahman’s demand. Rokomari. proved the hypothesis to be correct. If Regardless, many of my friends, com’s actions contradict the statement it one thing is certain, it is that the virus of readers, fans, and well-wishers took the issued. The site coordinators could have faith is dangerously real. issue quite seriously. Many bloggers and simply said, “Look, since these books writers protested by withdrawing their were not banned by the state, we can’t books from Rokomari.com; others orga- withdraw them without a proper inves- nized a campaign to boycott the com- tigation.” Or, they could have asked, pany’s products. The situation drew con- “Where exactly is the objectionable tinuous attention in news media, social material?” By getting rid media, and other circles devoted to free of my books in a medi- Dr. Avijit Roy was a Bangladeshi-American blogger, published speech and freethought. After two days, eval fashion, Rokomari. author, and prominent defender of the freethought movement in Rokomari.com issued a statement on its com failed to conduct Bangladesh. He was well-known for his writings on his self-founded Facebook page saying, “Rokomari is an business in a profes- site, Mukto-Mona—an Internet congregation of freethinkers, ratio- online bookstore that does not sell or sional manner. nalists, skeptics, atheists, and humanists of mainly Bengali and South distribute books that has been banned Asian descent. As an advocate of , science, and metaphys- by state [sic].” Rokomari.com also men- uring a total solar ical naturalism, he published eight Bengali books, and many of his tioned that some groups were trying Declipse in 1919, Sir articles have been published in magazines and journals. His last to tarnish its image and reputation. I Arthur Eddington’s his- two books, Obisshahser Dorshon (The Philosophy of Disbelief) and found Rokomari.com’s statement rather torical experiment paved Biswasher Virus (The Virus of Faith), have been critically well-re- amusing. It is important to note that the way to test Einstein’s ceived and are popular Bengali books on science, skepticism, and nobody ever went to court to complain theory over classical rationalism. At press time, we learned that Dr. Roy was killed and his about my book; furthermore, neither Newtonian physics. In a wife injured by unknown assailants while visiting Bangladesh. the state nor the government banned similar way, I think the

62 Free Inquiry April/May 2015 secularhumanism.org