It's the Arabic letter "n". It's short for "Nazarene", a (generally pejorative) term used to refer to Christians in predominantly Islamic countries. It's a reference to Jesus being from Nazareth.
Muslims in parts of Iraq and a few other places have been painting it on the doors of Christians to mark them prior to ISIS, or some of their affiliates, showing up and persecuting (read: rob, murder, rape, kidnap, force conversion to Islam, some/all of the above) said Christians for their faith.
Not all Muslims in the area are doing it, and some of those who do it are probably doing it out of fear rather than sympathy for ISIS; either way, however, the fact remains that the Christians in those areas (who have historically had it tough, least for the last few hundred years) are now having the shit beaten out of them.
Ofc, it's not really a great, big, grand gesture, having this as a profile pic. But those who do it are generally doing it as a form of solidarity with those Christians being persecuted --often by life-long neighbours :(-- and also as a way of reminding people (ourselves and others) that these things are still going on.
Unsure, tbh, norill. But thus far there's been little systematic violence towards atheists (like there has been for Christians) in these areas. Part of the reason for this is probably due to lower numbers of atheists.
Another factor that probably comes into play regularly is the simple fact that it's possible to be more-or-less culturally Islamic while holding an atheistic viewpoint; whereas it's near-on impossible be Christian and make any pretense of being culturally Islamic.
Maintaining some cultural trappings (as a way of fitting in) while not actually believing their underlying significance is less likely to stand out in a crowd than subscribing to a totally different ideology with its own cultural approaches.
I'm curious as to your reasons for asking, norill. Are you merely curious as to how Islamists have been treating atheists in these regions? Or is this a subtle jab suggesting that having symbol that specifically designates solidarity with persecuted Christians is a bad thing?
Forgive me for asking, and I'm not assuming anything at this juncture; but it's hard to read people on the internet and I've had a lifetime of experience with some atheists being aggressive arseholes which makes me a little...weary of people mocking my faith and/or my intelligence and/or my intentions simply because I've had the audacity to admit to identifying with a worldview not their own. :\
equal parts being curious and figuring out what an "atheist solidarity avatar" would look like. i am a hard atheist myself, but i respect theists (some of my close friends are Muslim or Christian). i also support that initiative - events in the Middle East need every kind of publicity
Hmm. I confess I can't really think of a particularly good pick for an "atheist solidarity avatar". Obviously the 'n' is specifically referential re: Christians being persecuted, but tbh it's also become somewhat representative of other groups (like the Yazidi) who have been heavily targeted by ISIS and its affiliates.
I guess if you'd like to join in said publicity (and unless your heart is particularly set on finding an alternative to the 'n') then the 'n' wouldn't be a bad thing to adopt; in reality it's 100% not about the person sporting the avatar and really about focusing attention to the plight of persecuted persons in the Middle East.
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