Mick Hartley

A new initiative from authors Nonie Darwish and Ibn Warraq is to be launched in Washington today:

Prominent former Muslims– apostates from Islam– have mailed a groundbreaking Freedom Pledge to over 50 Muslim leaders asking them to repudiate the Islamic law that requires the execution of apostates who have left Islam. The pledge and cover letter have just been released to the public at the website of the new civil rights organization – Former Muslims United.

The issue of apostasy is perhaps the most significant barrier between Islam on the one side and Western notions of secularism and religious freedom on the other. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.