I was fortunate enough to spend 3 months in the People’s Republic of China. It was my first time living in an officially Atheist country.

However, it by no means, is the atheism advocated by people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

For atheism or secularism to have any meaning it must be backed up by a support of freedom of expression, opening questioning, and respecting one’s right to dissent.

The Chinese government of course will say it’s for all these things but in true doublespeak it also restricts the Internet, imprisons dissentients, and attempts to ban beliefs.

The backbone of atheism is science and science needs a free society to succeed. Although truths are not something one can vote on, the process of  science must be free and unfettered or else it will fail to uncover those truths.

Without freedom, there is no science. Without science there can be no atheism.