Armin Navabi: Ex-Muslim Turned Global Atheist Activist

Armin Navabi has quite the powerful story. When he was just 12 years old he tried to commit suicide by leaping off the top floor of his middle school. He was not successful. Instead he broke several bones in his body and was put into a wheelchair for 7 months. He did it to avoid suffering forever in hell. For as a Muslim he believed that if he died before the age of 15 he would not go to hell. He calculated his risk and acted on it. Navabi says, “So that means that if you die before age 15, you die pure and you go to heaven...Why would anybody stick around and gamble potentially burning for eternity? The most logical decision is to quit this game that I never chose to play, early, and just go directly to heaven.” Who has the balls to act that logically at his age? Armin Navabi, that's who.

In a recent post about Navabi, Kristen Hovet tells of his painful deconversion:
A few years went by and Navabi’s faith began to flounder, regardless of the strong influence of religious teachers at his school. He felt ashamed for doubting Islam, but trusted that his god was a god of reason and would surely deliver. “But it didn’t go that way,” he says. “I went to hunt for evidence, and I didn’t find anything.” He read voraciously, concentrating on his own religion, other religions, and history, and came to the conclusion that all religions are manmade. But he did not arrive at this conclusion painlessly.

“It got to the point where I was begging God for evidence. I cried. I was like, ‘God, I’m going to lose faith in you. So, if you’re out there, show me something! Anything!’” By the age of 18, Navabi had given up. He knew he was an atheist and that there would be no going back.
Hovet writes, "Now, at the age of 31, a lot has changed from his experiences in Iran to his current life in Canada. He is the founder of the Atheist Republic website and the Atheist Republic Facebook page, which alone has over one million likes – making it one of the most popular pages of its kind."

Congrats go out to Amin Navabi for a job well done! We probably won't find anyone so passionate or logical as he is. To read more of his story and how he went to being a global phenomenon as an atheist activist click here.]

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