Damian Thompson Damian Thompson

Islam’s savage war against atheists: listen to Holy Smoke, the Spectator’s new religion podcast

Are former Muslims who ‘come out’ as atheists in Islamic countries becoming the most persecuted minority in the world? And are Western social media turning a blind eye to their plight?

Maajid Nawaz, the former Islamist who chairs the anti-extremist Quilliam Foundation, thinks so. He and Douglas Murray, associate editor of the Spectator, join me for the first episode of Holy Smoke, our new fortnightly religion podcast.

Over the last 20 years, religion has become a wildly unpredictable factor in world affairs, toppling governments, re-drawing national boundaries and provoking bitter disputes in Western civil society.

Holy Smoke will pose questions that the Western media – including the BBC – are too squeamish to address, or seek to contain by only asking for the views of politically acceptable (meaning, as often as not, politically correct) guests.

Think of it as Not The Sunday Programme, Radio 4’s dreary platform for multi-faith windbags. And I can promise that you won’t have to sit through any fuzzy, sanitised Thoughts for the Day.

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