NameKardo Darwin
Statement

I was born and raised in a conservative Muslim family in Iraq. Throughout my life I have questioned everything surrounding me. This system of thinking has pushed me to study and analyze the facts about religions myself rather than hearing from others. I have considered myself an atheist for five years now. However, I have not disclosed my beliefs and ideas freely, not because I did not want to, but because I never felt free enough to discuss it with our people. For the period that I lived in France, I met with many people who share my beliefs. This has given me the opportunity to freely express my feeling and thoughts about Islam. Having become fully conscious now of my atheism, I must say that I was never particularly religious before, but I consider it just an accident of birth that I was raised in an Islamic family and reared in a Muslim culture. A conflict in the Kurdish society, that I still cannot understand fully, is the way that Kurds are conscious of their unique culture and nationality, yet yield or maybe even giving in unconsciously to the religion of Islam. Your organization is an excellent port for people like me to have an opportunity to meet similar-minded people, and encourage fellow atheists to become more active in unveiling the truth about Islam. We have nothing against Muslims; most of them have been brought up in isolated Islamic societies and were never given the chance to question, much less to choose their own religion; they are Muslims by birth.