Interview with the Co-Founder of Atheist Alliance — Middle-East and North Africa & United Atheists of Europe
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/06/01
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are the tasks and responsibilities that come with running a Europe-wide atheist organization?
Karrar Al Asfoor: We need to bring the atheist communities in Europe together, different languages and different countries, geo-political and minor cultural differences.
It is not easy to run a continent-wide organization and it carries tough tasks and huge responsibilities, one of the major issues is the funding and this issue does not only affect us but the whole atheist community in general, we will try to come over it by an innovative workaround and find solutions to it.
We also need to be dedicated and active to achieve the required results and this is also another issue because we all have our own personal responsibilities, but once our team grows the needed efforts will be distributed among us.
Jacobsen: What are some atheist organizations who you coordinate and collaborate with now?
Asfoor: As “United Atheists of Europe” we are not yet in coordination or collaboration with any other organizations, but as an individual activist I collaborate with many organizations like Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), ex-Muslims of Norway, Atheist refugee relief and Polish atheist Kazimierz Lyszczynski Foundation and many more.
Jacobsen: Who are some bright lights in the European atheist community?
Asfoor: I believe that every atheist activist is important and everyone works from their position but if I have to specify names I would say Maryam Namazie, Nina Sankari, and Michael Nugent.
Jacobsen: Can you recommend some primer books for young atheists?
Asfoor: For young atheists I would not recommend books , our era is different from the past and we are living in a fast-paced world that require us to get things done faster , time is important and we need to use it perfectly , for example you can spend two hours of your time watching a film and that’s much shorter time from the time needed for reading a novel .
In terms of recommendations for young atheists , I would recommend the philosophy series from crash course channel on YouTube , philosophy makes the individual “thinker” rather than copy-cat , it helps improve our thinking and reasoning abilities and help us reach the correct conclusions without logical fallacies , once we know how to use our minds the possibilities then are countless and we may even tackle some subjects that science never deal with .
Jacobsen: How can people become involved in the organization?
Asfoor: We welcome every atheist to join us weather European or not, ex-Muslim or from other religious background, people may contact me or Nacer Ameri directly on our social media accounts or they can send a message to “United Atheists of Europe” page on facebook.
Jacobsen: What are some means b my which individuals can donate to and help the atheist community grow in Europe?
Asfoor: There are many means to donate to different atheist organizations in Europe, our fraternity is one of them, even though we are not yet officially receiving donations and our website is not yet live but if someone wants to donate to us they can directly talk to me or Nacer.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Karrar.
Asfoor: It is such an honor for me to participate in this interview with you, many thanks, Scott.
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