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Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: Atheism 2.0 -- Indonesia's nonbelievers find refuge online AFP - Sunday, January 25 JAKARTA (AFP) - - Chain-smoking at a trendy coffee shop while studiously ignoring the mosque's evening call to prayer, Indonesian atheists Didi and Dewi have little patience for the beliefs of most of their countrymen. The two young women are defiant unbelievers in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, but they let few people in the real world know it. Instead, the women have joined scores of young Indonesian atheists who have found refuge on the Internet, using web tools such as social networking sites, mailing lists, blogs and wikis to communicate with like-minded people in a country where declaring there is no God can turn someone into an outcast. "For me personally (going online) is just to share my thoughts and to meet people who think the same way I do, because I don't see many in my real life," said Didi, a 29-year-old architect. "It's easier to say that you're gay than an atheist." Dewi, a 21-year-old student fond of sardonic put-downs of religion and superstition, agreed. In her life in the West Java city of Bandung, she keeps her lack of belief secret from all but her closest friends. "If someone asks me 'do you want to pray?', then I pray. It's a political prayer," she said. Both women, who refused to give their real names, go online daily to debate religion with fellow atheists -- and the few believers hardy enough to brave their barbs -- from safely behind their computer screens. Asked what she would be without the Internet, Didi laughed: "I would be a full-closet atheist." It is impossible to know how many atheists there are in Indonesia, a country of 234 million people that is nearly 90 percent Muslim, and where non-believers officially don't exist. Every Indonesian must carry an identity card stating his or her adherence to one of six official religions -- Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or Confucianism -- and belief in "one God" is the first tenet of the official national ideology of Pancasila. The deaths of upwards of half a million people during the bloody suppression of the Indonesian Communist Party in the lead-up to the 1966 rise to power of former dictator Suharto have also left their mark. Anti-communist propaganda during Suharto's 32-year rule mean atheists are often conflated with communists, a stinging charge in Indonesia, where Cold War paranoia has never fully subsided. It was such a stigma that prompted a 35-year-old teacher from West Sumatra, known online as "XYZMan," to start an email mailing list in 2004 to allow atheists to discuss their beliefs. The list now has more than 350 members. Despite the success of the mailing list, XYZMan said he is forced to keep his own atheism secret in the real world, and has already suffered the breakdown of a marriage with a Muslim woman due to his non-belief. "If everyone knew that I'm an atheist, I could lose my job, my family would hate me and also some friends," he said in an email interview. "It's also more likely that I could be physically attacked or killed because I'm a kafir (unbeliever) and my blood is halal (allowed to be spilled) according to Islam." Although small in number, Indonesia's online atheists have been quick adopters of the so-called "Web 2.0" innovations of blogs, wikis and social networking sites. "We use every means possible (Facebook, Friendster, Multiply etc.) to show our existence, gather people," Karl Karnadi, a 25-year-old Indonesian student studying in Germany who is behind many of the web projects, said in a Facebook message to AFP. Apart from connecting atheists, the web presence also serves to break the language barrier that leaves Indonesians unaware of prominent English-language atheist authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, Karnadi said. The Ateis Indonesia (Indonesian Atheist) wiki -- where, like Wikipedia, users collectively contribute and edit content -- carries Indonesian-language articles on topics varying from evolution to arguments for and against religion and "deconversion" testimonials by fellow Indonesians. "The wiki is some sort of collective knowledge, something that we (hopefully) can use each time we are discussing religion, debating creationists," Karnadi said. The web presence also acts as a kind of support service. The Facebook group also has discussions on how to broach the subject of religion with friends and family, with most members confessing they think it wisest to keep "wearing a mask". Karnadi, a former church pianist who recently turned his back on Christianity, said the eventual goal was to create a central website to coordinate atheists and reach out to Indonesians who have doubts about their religion. It is a task that he conceded is much easier to do from abroad. "I have my freedom here... and I can do anything, (create an atheist website, groups, criticise religion etc.) openly, without being afraid of any jail sentence or any fundies (fundamentalists) that would kill me," he said. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article Average (0 votes) Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: Indonesia Atheism 2.0 -- Indonesia's nonbelievers find refuge onlineAFP - Sunday, January 25 Islamic clerics mull smoking ban in IndonesiaAP - Sunday, January 25 Three killed in Indonesian land dispute: policeAFP - Saturday, January 24 Indonesian police say 2 killed in train collisionAP - Saturday, January 24 Related Articles: Asia Pacific Sri Lanka says it has captured 2 rebel bomb plantsAP - 55 minutes ago "Lonely" Thaksin vows to keep fighting for ThailandReuters - 1 hour 8 minutes ago Ousted Thaksin accuses new Thai PM of copying himAFP - 1 hour 30 minutes ago Suicide bomber kills 1, wounds 8 in AfghanistanAP - 1 hour 34 minutes ago Indian police kill two 'Pakistan militants' near DelhiAFP - 1 hour 39 minutes ago Enlarge Photo Atheism 2.0 -- Indonesia's nonbelievers find refuge online Related Full Coverage Suharto Former Indonesian president All Full Coverage Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed 'Dogs don't wear condoms,' says Baywatch star Anderson Ring of fire: Indian Ocean to see solar eclipse World crisis deepens as downturn bites in Asia Child matador kills six bulls in Mexico Recession grips Britain for first time since 1991 View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular

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