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b'Raif Badawi is a 34-year old Saudi activist, blogger and creator of the website\\xa0Free Saudi Liberals.\\xa0 His writings called for greater religious tolerance in Saudi Arabia which is dominated by Wahhabi\\xa0Islamic fundamentalists.\\xa0 (See\\xa0CLBR Backgrounder: Saudi Arabia.)\\xa0 They include:
Is Liberalism Against Religion?Liberalism provides all that is necessary for\\xa0individual freedoms, as well as freedom of religion,\\xa0without imposing upon the society the tutelage of a\\xa0certain sect or tyrant.Religions, according to the concept of liberalism,\\xa0are personal and special choices. A liberal country\\xa0has no religion, which doesn\\u2019t mean it\\u2019s godless. It\\xa0means it protects the rights of all the religions and\\xa0nurtures all of them without distinction or upholding\\xa0one over the others. It doesn\\u2019t apple-polish the\\xa0majority\\u2019s religion over the minorities\\u2019.
No to Building a Mosque\\xa0in New York CityFinally, it\\u2019s clear to observers that our Muslims in Saudi Arabia disrespect the beliefs of others. We\\xa0consider them apostates. Those who are Muslims but\\xa0are not believers in the Hanbali school are seen, in\\xa0a very limiting way, as aliens. Having this mentality\\xa0in our society is destructive: How will we be able\\xa0to build a human civilization with positive relations\\xa0with the 7 billion people around the world when 5.5\\xa0billion of them don\\u2019t even believe in Islam?
Badawi\\u2019s saga, however, demonstrates that the Saudi regime has no tolerance for religious tolerance.
2008:\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Badawi was detained on apostasy charges.\\xa0 He was released prevented from leaving Saudi Arabia.2009:\\xa0 Badawi and his wife\\u2019s bank accounts were frozen.2012:\\xa0 Badawi was arrested on a charge of \\u201cinsulting Islam through electronic channels\\u201d and cited for\\xa0apostasy which carries an automatic death sentence.2013:\\xa0 Badawi was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison and 600\\xa0lashes\\xa0for founding an\\xa0Internet forum\\xa0that \\u201cviolates Islamic values and propagates liberal thought\\u201d and his website shut down.2014:\\xa0\\xa0Badawi\\u2019s sentence was increased to 1000 lashes, 10 years in prison, and a fine of 1 million riyals (equal to about $267,000), for \\u201cinsulting Islam\\u201d.2015:\\xa0Badawi received 50 lashes before hundreds of spectators in front of a mosque in Jeddah, the first in a total of 1,000 lashes to be administered over twenty weeks.\\xa0 Further flogging was suspended due to Badawi\\u2019s health and an international backlash.\\n\\nAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands\\n\\nPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy'