Manifesto

This is the manifesto of the League of Dutch Ex-muslims. It describes the situation of our society, the problems it presents and our stances on these problems. Our ideological line will also be presented in this document.

Enemies of the murtadin

One impactful thing in Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine, a text that was released during the second congress of the PFLP, is that it starts out right with identifying the enemies of the Palestinian liberation. So, we do the same, we will list the enemies of ex-muslims first, before we describe our own ideology.

The world is an extraordinary hostile place to the oppressed and the downtrodden. Those in power seek to do nothing but increase the oppression and keep their control. We classify these oppressors in certain ways based on their ideological background.

Religious fanatics, fundamentalists and extremists

It comes to no surprise that we start of with religious fanatics, fundamentalists and extremists. There are a few semantic differences between these groups, but at the core they embody the same hatred towards apostates and other minority groups.

Religious fanatics

Fanaticism is a broad term, which we acknowledge as a broad term. But in the context of ex-muslims and our movement, religious fanaticism refers for the most part to conservative and reactionary muslims, often communities.

As apostates we do not see much acceptance from within muslim communities. Conservative and reactionary tendencies have dominated the narrative within the Ummah for the past century. People from the community may very unfortunately be family members, former friends or acquaintances. We may face mental and physical abuse and ostracism.

The same can be said for the treatment of religious fanatics of queer people. Like apostates, they are faced by similar forms of abuse.

Religious fanaticism is not limited to islam. We see in the west that fanatic Christians also push a harmful agenda which targets vulnerable communities. See the book bans in the United States. And queer people may face abuse and ostracism from Christian fanatics too. Likewise, fanaticism can be seen often in Judaism and Hinduism as well.

Religious fundamentalists

Fundamentalists are a special type of devoted fanatic. They quite often interpret religion to the letter. In a sense, to return to the fundament of the religion. Fundamentalists may be part of the aforementioned fanatical groups.

Religious extremists

We're talking about the big boys here. Governments such as those of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Maldives. That by state decree criminalise apostasy and queerness, sometimes punishable by death even. Non-state actors such as ISIS, Boko Haram, formerly the Taliban (they are state actors now unfortunately), Al-Qaeda, are also extremist groups that seek to hurt apostates, women and queer people.

Quasi-religious hate

Sometimes the idea of religion is there in very hateful and harmful people, but it is merely superficial. Nevertheless, it is there. Far-right pundit Andrew Tate doesn't tick many boxes that you would for muslims, yet he is one, calls himself such and some muslims do take his views seriously. He converted to Islam for reasons that drive most of us ex-muslims away from Islam. The misogyny, the homophobia. But aside from woman-hating rhetoric, there's much Islam in Andrew Tate.

Sure the views of what constitutes quasi-religious or faux religion is debatable, many christians would outright reject the idea that the KKK or the Lords Resistance Army are christian, but at least they do display faith and are at least spiritually involved. Not something that can be said of Tate. The difference between Andrew Tate and say the typical Dawah Guy is that these Dawah Guys at least have some understanding of Islam, it may be misguided, but it is there.

Nationalists

Borders divide us and these national divisions can be just as harmful as religious divisions when abused by the right. Think of India and Pakistan and their relation as an example of both divisions. While we abhor all nationalism, we do want to explicitly state a few examples of harmful nationalism.

Ethnonationalists

These are a type of nationalist that combine racism with nationalism. Think of Pakistani Punjabi nationalists, Turkish Grey Wolves, white nationalists, zionists and the Taliban. They may enact violence upon ethnic minorities and foreigners and in the worst case they may be responsible for genocide.

Imperialists

Empires must fall, although in the modern era we don't really speak of empires. But the international relations have not changed much since decolonisation. We still exploit Africa for resources. We just call it capitalism now, though it is still neo-colonialism. There are two opposing, equally bad, capitalist blocs: The western capitalist hegemony and the Russian capitalist hegemony.

Hate Groups

There are many hate groups, too many. One hate group is one too many. We can't possibly go over them all and more often than not this hate is also disorganised or poorly organised, it varies in its organisational capacity.

To address the elephant in the room, anti-muslim hate is a very prominent type of hate. Groups like PEGIDA or Identitarians subscribe to these sorts of ideas. Also political parties such as the Republican Party (US), Party for Freedom (Netherlands) or Alternative for Germany (Germany) can subscribe to these sorts of harmful ideas, the latter having clear ties to neo-nazi's as well.

Why do we as ex-muslims care so much about anti-muslim hate? After all, we sometimes hear from these sorts of movements that they stand with ex-muslims. But nothing is further from the truth. It is a farce and nothing but a farce. We will have to examine anti-muslim hate for what it is. Most often drenched in orientalism. Islam has become synonymous with ethnicity, nationality, refugee status and more unrelated things in the eyes of islamophobes. For this reason, we as ex-muslims are often targeted by islamophobia. Nonetheless, muslims are the primary target of anti-muslim hate, but even then we know this hate is often misdirected.

There is a reason we distinctly state that religious conservative and reactionary tendencies are the enemy. Because we know better than to attack every single muslim in a blind rage of hate. This however is not common sense amongst the large swaths of espousers of anti-muslim hate. Which differentiates us from them and makes them dangerous.

Moving on from anti-muslim hate, which intersects with racism and anti-refugee hate. The following applies to many of the aforementioned hate groups and individuals, it is anti-queer hate or queerphobia. Anti-queer narratives built upon lies dominate the media. Islamophobes as well as muslim reactionaries spread these fear mongering lies. It is pure and unabated hatred.

Who are we?

We are the League of Dutch Ex-muslims. We see ourselves as a new direction the ex-muslim movement should move towards. Our primary goals are making the acceptance of apostasy more common and hopefully even mainstream. The destigatisation of apostasy is a whole bunch of hay on your pitchfork, but we do believe over time it is possible.

We are a more activism-oriented group and there are a lot of risks involved, considering how protests have been violently suppressed in the past. These are not only climate actions, Palestine solidarity, but also queer rights protests. Imagine this so-called progressive country called the Netherlands supressing queer voices. We always expect the same hostile response of the state apparatus. But we will not back down. When our people's lives are being destroyed, it makes it all the more important to make our voices heard and we will. We will not be stopped by islamists, not by racists, not by the violent gangs of the capitalist class. Peace is not a norm, we have not been treated with peace for far too often, peace is a goal, but in the current state of affairs seemingly a luxury.

Our ideological line consists of a few different aspects, which will be described.

Secular humanism

Humanism is the only - I would go so far as saying the final- resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.

- Edward Said 

We do not all believe in gods, but we do all believe in the power of humans themselves. Reason and secular ethics are at the forefront of our ideological base. Even though some of our member may not be agnostic or atheist themselves. We do not seek to suppress religion, but we vehemently oppose the aspects of religion that are harmful to others. Religious freedom is a right. Even if this freedom may not have been granted to some of us, it is only purely miserable to enact those same type of ideas upon others.

Feminism

Women's rights are under fire globally. It is of the utmost importance that we protect access to education, healthcare including abortion, birth-control, job security, safety and much more. These are pressing issues not only in muslim communities, but all over.

Queer rights and liberation

Likewise queer rights are under fire worldwide. Queer acceptance is on a decline. Queer people may face the very same issues as apostates. Queer people may be ostracised from their communities, abused, attacked violently, killed even. We stand for the protection of queer people, unapologetically and without concessions. Let gay people love whom they want, let trans people experience joy in their life. Trans children (and adults) have a right to healthcare.

We can either choose to join the assimilationists and shun our Selves and our comrades, or we can embrace the fringes and the dissidents and begin the work of Queer radical action. This of course is no real choice, as assimilation will only broaden the fringes and exclude more and more of the essence of Queerness.

- Lex B

Culturally queer people can go three ways: either seeking validation from a society that deeply hates them, staying in the closet and not publicly expressing queerness, or on the other hand unapologetic self-expression and acceptance of oneself. Assimilation, suppression or liberation. The League of Dutch Ex-muslims is absolutely clear on this matter, that we stand on the side of liberation. That is our stance and our goal. Queer rights were never conceived through means of assimilation. Suppression is however an unfortunate reality for many people who live in communities where queer identities are not accepted. As we see it, liberation is a means to dismantle suppression.

Refugee rights

Another part with intersections, refugees may seek refuge because of their apostasy or queer identity. At the League of Dutch Ex-muslims we firmly believe that everyone has the right to live in safety. Refugees should be treated with respect and dignity. Unfortunately these exceptionally vulnerable people's are not always treated as they should be.

Anti-hierarchical clericalism

We do not think clergy is bad per se, but we must acknowledge that the hierarchical structures of many modern organised religions lead to abuse of power and corruption. The hierarchical nature of present-day organised religion makes communities highly susceptible to indoctrination and cult-like behaviour. We advocate not for the abolition of clergy, but for the power dynamics that lead people to blindly follow leaders and be indoctrinated with oftentimes hateful rhetoric.

Anti-capitalism

I am convinced socialism is the only answer and I urge all comrades to take this struggle to a victorious conclusion. Only this will free us from the chains of bigotry and exploitation.

- Malala Yousafzai

Capitalism is an economic system which devalues others and only values the accumulation of one's own capital. Worker's exploitation, literal slavery and animal abuse are crucial cogs in the capitalist machine. If we are to create a society that actually values life and the value if one's labour we will need to topple capitalism. Capitalism is a system without morality.

Capitalism is also linked to imperialism and neo-colonialism. The most atrocious crimes will be justified by capitalists just because it leads to power, control and capital.

Who are we not?

You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit.

- Edward Said

There is a cycle of hurt and pain and violence and we wish to not continue this cycle. We are not a group that aims to demonise Islam or muslims. We take a strong stance against the conservative and reactionary tendencies within the Ummah, but we will not attack the muslims who are our allies. There are muslims who do not hate apostates, there are muslims who are queer or are allies to queer people, who will agree with us that the cisheteronormatieve system has not brought us anything of value. It is not a luxury but a necessity for muslims and ex-muslims to not fight each other but to cooperate on the matters of meaningful social and political change.

Conversely we distance ourselves from self-proclaimed allies of ex-muslims, who in reality espouse racist and xenophobic rhetoric. right-populists are not our friends, neo-fascists are not our friends. Because we know what they really think of us, and we know we would be the first to get backstabbed if we were to align ourselves with them. The right is not the friend of the ex-muslim.

The ex-muslim movement has been plagued with far-right idiocy for a long time. This includes, but is not limited to, aligning with the racist and xenophobic right, just because they dislike Islam. It is absurd to leave a conservative and oftentimes reactionary environment and then proceed to join an equally conservative and reactionary environment. This leads to ex-muslims espousing the same type of hateful rhetoric about queer people as islamists do. Far too many ex-muslims are caught up in the Trans Exclusionary Radical Fascist movement, which aims to deny trans people healthcare, the right to participate in sports or in public life. It is a hate movement that mocked the death of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey, it is a movement which encourages trans death and suicides, a movement which aligns themselves with other neo-fascists. When Eden Knight ended her own life, it was the TERFs and the islamists that together jumped at the opportunity to cheer. The League of Dutch Ex-muslims explicitly rejects and opposes anti-queer sentiments, for they are not only on the bedside of far-right islamism, they are an affront to humanity.

Strategy and tactics

A goal is one thing, a strategic plan is another. Our goals to destigmatise apostasy and queer identities need some strategic foothold.

Exposure therapy

The theory is that exposure over time leads to normalisation, this can be applied in a negative context as evidenced by the normalisation of islamophobia, capitalist hyperindivualist thought and desensitisation of violence in Gaza to name a few. But we can turn the same exposure into positive change, the more people are aware ex-muslims aren't all neo-fascist monsters the more normalised apostasy will become. This is also a positive feedback loop, once a more positive view on ex-muslims is established more people are willing to come out as ex-muslim, further increasing the exposure.

Online outreach in this way is the safest way currently, but perhaps we will be more visible in in-person action. We already attend demonstrations and pride events, those however were always not visibly League of Dutch Ex-muslims actions. Hopefully some day we can reasses the situation and cone to the conclusion that physical outreach is a viable option.

The dialogue

We have previously stated that we consider conservative and reactionary tendencies to be oftentimes fanatical and declared them an enemy, however the lesser radicals of this group are prime targets for our movement. We feel they can at least be reasoned with.

I raised my voice to free the mind from the chains of taqlid. Islam clearly declares that man was not created to be led by a bridle, but that it is his nature to be guided by science and by signs of the universe and the indications of events and that teachers are only those who arouse and direct and guide into the way of investigation.

- Mohammed Abduh 

The strategy is to make them think. Not about apostasy per se, but think about the severity of breaking rules in an Islamic context. There is an idea that religion is an absolute and objective source of truth. This idea makes hard for people to wrap their head around the idea of someone leaving the perfect truth. Apostasy is a big thing, oftentimes seen as an affront to Islam. But if we can make people think about religion and whether or not they really feel like it is the absolute truth, that will loosen them up to potentially be more accepting to apostasy or queer identity.

Example: It can be argued that dismemberment as a punishment for theft, as is a common implementation of Sharia, is for example not a proportional response, especially considering the socio-economic circumstances that lead to crime such as theft. More arguments could be made that punitive "justice" is highly ineffective at stopping criminality, doesn't improve one's material conditions and oftentimes makes people resent the society that made them a certain way and punished them for it as well.

The goal not to attack them nor to make them leave Islam. It is to make people more open-minded and lose some of the dogmatic ideas that will to harmful behaviours towards others.