Leaving Islam?

Liberty blogger Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs has created a significant amount of off-web controversy by deciding to advertise her latest project on city buses across the United States.

The ads on the buses read “Fatwa on your head?  Is your family or community threatening you?  LEAVING ISLAM?  Got Questions?  Get Answers!  RefugeFromIslam.com”

The project, RefugeFromIslam, is part of the larger Stop Islamization of America project.  This part of the project seeks to offer support to the estimated six million Muslims who leave Islam every year.

The project gained significant national exposure when CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, went on a public-relations jihad against the campaign and attempted to prevent Pamela’s group from exercising their American rights to free speech.  This included frightening Miami and Detroit transit officials into refusing to the run ads.  The issue with Miami Dade Transit has been cleared up — including additional ad runs for the same contract price.  This represents a resounding defeat of CAIR’s intimidation strategy.

The Detroit issue is still being fought.  The Thomas More Law Center has filed a suit in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Freedom Defense Initiative to force the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation to run the ads.  The transit authority is on very shaky ground due to their recent decision to run a similar set of ads by Atheists.

Individuals leaving Islam are frequently subject to violence, threats, and intimidation.  They are also usually ostracized by their friends and family.  Many are murdered by their parents, family, or neighbors.  These organizations and others like them help to support individuals who are taking the massive step of leaving friends and family behind, and often risking physical danger, to step into a world free of Islam.