Yes this is truly awesome.  Mathew has a point that this is somewhat rare from religious communities.  However, given the leadership position of Bishop Lang we have to assume that he has broad support among his leadership group.  We may be wrong in making such an assumption but it does present some suggestion that atheists may become more fully recognized as humans with an equal rights worthy of respect by all others.

Don

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From: [address removed]
Subject: Re: [atheists-27] Catholic Defends Atheist Rights
To: [address removed]
Date: Wed, 9 Mar[masked]:05:00 -0500

This is awesome. As Bishop Lang states, "History has shown time and time again that when one minority group is oppressed with impunity, others soon face the same fate;" Lang quite elegantly points out the hypocrisy non-believers have to endure just because we are considered the out group. I think it is courageous for a man in his position to step out and call on religious leaders to aid in abolishing any type of censorship, especially blasphemy codes of all sorts.

Lance

On Wed, Mar 9, 2016 at 1:07 PM, Don Wharton <[address removed]> wrote:

A friend of mine sent this link to Hemant Hehta's Patheos blog.   One again at least one Catholic priest has come down on the right side of an issue.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/03/08/catholic-bishop-we-must-stand-up-for-persecuted-atheists-all-over-the-world/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Bishop Declan Lang, the chair of the UK-based Catholic Bishops’ Conference Department for International Affairs, has gone on record asking fellow Catholics to defend persecuted atheists. Seriously.

Referring to atheists like Ahmed Rajib Haider who have been jailed or murdered for their thought-crimes, Lang writes that Catholics have a duty to stand up for freedom of belief, even when they disagree:

Confronted with these injustices we must not stand by. Moreover we should recognise that the oppression of atheists does not only violate the human rights of people like [Palestinian poet Ashraf] Fayadh, [Indonesian atheist] Alexander [Aan], Alber [Saber] and Karim [Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna], but represents a degradation of the fundamental principle that people should be free to hold their own beliefs without fearing for their life or liberty. History has shown time and time again that when one minority group is oppressed with impunity, others soon face the same fate.

Encouragingly the UK government has made a commitment to “stand up for the freedom of people of all religions — and non-religious people — to practise their beliefs in peace and safety.” When Catholic MPs Margaret Ritchie and John McNally spoke in parliament following the killing of Faisal Abedin Deepan, Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire joined in condemnation and called on the government of Bangladesh to protect free expression.

The Catholic community in England and Wales has a role to play in ensuring that the government maintains this position and continues to speak out when people are imprisoned, tortured or killed on account of their atheism. Doing so will not only be a practical expression of solidarity with those suffering the most appalling persecution, but will also promote freedom of religion or belief as a universal right to the benefit of all.

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"The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” Mark Twain

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