.... There are indeed different ways of behaving, once a non-belief in God is acknowledged to oneself, but the problem isn't us westerners failing to appreciate this.
For Christians there's a public space - fought for over centuries, and now taken for granted - where atheists can live and interact as much or as little as they wish with religion.
They may decide to take advantage of Christian ceremonies, or they may not; they may feel strongly enough to campaign against religion, or they may just quietly get on with their lives. It's no longer a big deal.
For Muslims, on the other hand, that public space simply doesn't - as yet - exist. They have no choice but to keep quiet, or face ostracism and worse. The other model for not believing, that Malik would have us believe is a sign of a healthy pluralistic Islam, is simply an acceptance of hypocrisy. [Mick Hartley] Read more
