Dreaming in the void

@danieldennett reminds me of the IYI Arabists secularists in Syria & Iraq who, in 1934, predicted that religion (particularly Islam) would be a thing of the past by 1960; then in 1960, predicted that it would be gone by 1990, then again before Sept 11, predicted...

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) April 24, 2018

There are definitely millions of secularists and atheists in the Arab world. What they forget is that they're vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Most Arab Muslims won't argue with them about their beliefs or lack thereof. They'll simply slaughter the unbelievers. So, to expect that the absolute or relative numbers of atheists will simply go on increasing among the Arab public is a foolish dream.