Greetings from Dissent Dispatch

Welcome back! This week:

The Unbelief Brief: hijab issues abound in Iran
EXMNA Updates: our very own Aysha Khan was recently featured in an interview with The Good Men Project!
Persecution Tracker Updates: Pakistan strikes again
On the Horizon: You asked, we’re giving it to you — another EXMNA Contest! This time for International Apostasy Day.

The Unbelief Brief

Over the last week, the government of Iran has been hard at work making its dystopian, anti-woman posture even more severe. Two separate incidents, both ridiculous and draconian, have made this evident. The first involves a woman who made the scandalous and immoral decision to sing a song in public without wearing her hijab. Zara Esmaeili, who “is known for her performances on the streets of Tehran, in which she defies the Islamic Republic’s laws,” was arrested, leaving her family “unable to locate her.” The mission to make the streets of Iran as joyless as possible continues apace.

The second incident involves a video of another hijab enforcement action that went viral. In the video, two teenage girls without hijab are seen being violently pulled off the street and into a police van.

The mother of one of the girls revealed that the girls were beaten during this process and after being taken into the van, her daughter who is 14, had “a bruised face, swollen lips, a discolored neck, torn clothes, and she could barely speak.” The video was met with widespread outrage, and the government’s response has been to say that the video “should not have been released to the public.” A judge described the police’s actions in this situation as an “invitation to the police station for administrative purposes.”

Of course, brutality in enforcement is not enough. It must be accompanied by widespread societal brainwashing. Hence the Iranian government’s new “Tuba Plan,” an effort to promote “Iranian-Islamic culture” by encouraging the values of modesty and chastity—values embodied by the hijab. Its ultimate goal is to deploy throughout Iranian society 1,500 “missionaries” who will champion “the culture of chastity and hijab” in educational settings, particularly children’s schools. The hearts of the current generation of Iranians may be closed to the Islamic Republic—but the government knows the value of propaganda starting young.

EXMNA Updates

Our Project Manager, Aysha Khan, recently had an insightful conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen at The Good Men Project, where they discussed the latest developments at Ex-Muslims of North America and our role within the Atheist Movement. The Good Men Project offers “a glimpse of what enlightened masculinity might look like in the 21st century.” You can read Aysha’s full interview here.

Persecution Tracker Updates

Last week: two Pakistani Christian sisters faced a mob attack over allegations of blasphemy. Read more here.

On the Horizon

Get ready to flex your meme-making muscles for International Apostasy Day on August 22! We’re kicking off our first-ever Apostasy Day Meme Contest, and we want to see your most creative (and hilarious) submissions. Send your memes to [email protected] by 11:59 pm EST on August 18th for a shot at social media fame! Just be sure your masterpiece follows Instagram/Facebook guidelines so we can share it. Don't forget to put “Apostasy Day Meme” in the subject line. Let the meme magic begin! See contest rules below.

Until next week,

The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America

P.S. We’d love to hear from you! Share your feedback at [email protected].

Contest Rules:
-Identify if your submission is Original or AI-generated.
-Images must not have been previously posted on social media platforms (i.e. do not submit recycled images).
-No gratuitous violence or sexually explicit content (if you have to think about it, then it probably is).
-Include a Title of submission.
-Include attribution (name, social media handle, etc.).
-1-2 line explanation of and inspiration behind the meme.
-Humor is subjective but the funnier the content the more likely it is to catch our eye!
-If your submission references a specific Surah or Hadith, please link it.
-Have any questions? Contact [email protected] with the subject line "Apostasy Day Meme".

Whether it’s giving $5 or $500, help us fight for a future where all are free to follow their conscience.