Convenient access to information has largely contributed to an increase in the proliferation and visibility of discourses on non-religion in Muslim communities. Previously mainly confined to private spaces under pressure from family, local networks, and national laws, many non-believers have started challenging their own isolation by going public. In response to such newly visible discourses and the public visibility of non-religion, Muslim religious communities have started to create their own systems of meaning that discuss non-religion in new ways debating how to address it among themselves. One of the most important aspects of this inter- and intracommunal exchange over issues of (non)belief is taking place in the loosely regulated digital media space.
This panel’s purpose is to explore the role of digital and other media in shaping a new dynamic between nonbelievers and the religious communities they left behind. It grapples with themes such as gender, self-narratives, and purposeful messaging among media users. In particular, we explore (i) how different and differently placed female activist nonbelievers use the conversation on gender to create self-fashioned and mediated atheist personalities; (ii) whether online platforms have provided the nonbelievers with a tool to “talk back” that seeks dialogue and exchange with religious co-citizens, or if it has remained mainly a “talking among” like-minded non-believers; and (iii) how the dynamics of social media shape and reconfigure pro-religious and anti-religious messaging and counter-messaging in the Arab world. The panel concludes that the meaning of religion in Muslim communities is changing, and conversations between believers and nonbelievers are the most accurate indicator of such change.
Disciplines
Communications
Participants
Dr. Natalie Khazaal
-- Organizer, Presenter, Chair
The religious skeptic is typically portrayed as a young male middle-class individual. Yet, the participation of females in disseminating atheist ideas, nonreligious activism, in the formation of communities of skeptics is just as important as that of males. This chapter compares the activism of two Lebanese women. The first one—Joumana Haddad—is a well-known and respected media personality with a long history of journalism and her own television show on al-Hurra TV. The second one—Pamela Ghanem—is a new activist with a YouTube channel who is struggling to find her own style and niche. The chapter explores how these two very different and differently placed female activists use the conversation on gender to create self-fashioned atheist personalities.
The study of autobiographies, narratives, and life histories, has a long tradition within research on religious transformation in general and leaving Islam in particular. Applying this analytical lens to today’s digital context, this chapter poses the following question: How does the digitalization shape the narratives of young non-believers in Morocco and the Moroccan diaspora? By taking inspiration in hooks concept of ‘talking back’, this article explores if online platforms have provided the non-religious minority with a tool to talk back or even talk with that seeks dialogue and exchange with religious co-citizens, or if it has remained mainly a ‘talking among’ like-minded non-believers.
This contribution uses the increasing visibility of Arab non-believers in the virtual public sphere as an opportunity to examine the shifting lines between believers, sceptics, and non-believers in Arab societies. It builds on the presumption that non-belief is – according to opinion polls – a growing, yet highly complex phenomenon in Arab societies. Non-believers and skeptics fall into different schools of thought, most notable those who openly declare their ‘religious status’ (e.g. as atheist) and those who refuse to do so. Based on comparable research about YouTube and other popular social media platforms, the paper will reflect on the question how the dynamics of social media shape and reconfigure religious and anti-religious discourses in the Arab world. It will do so by analyzing popular Arabic-language YouTube channels created by freethinkers, non-believers, and atheists as well as those who present a pro-religious counter-message.
