VOA常速英语2013--埃及无神论者渴望获得一席之地

 

Egypt's Atheists Struggle to be Heard, Not Jailed 埃及无神论者渴望获得一席之地

CAIRO — In Egypt, key points of difference often revolve² around religion: did the rule of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi threaten to radicalize the deeply conservative country? Will minority Christians⁴ find the protection they have so long sought? These central questions often leave little room for those who have no religious beliefs. As Egypt undergoes profound change, atheists are trying to be heard, arguing tolerance⁵ could be a true test of Egyptian modernity.

开罗 — 在埃及，关键的议题往往与宗教有关，比如身为伊斯兰教主义者的总统穆尔西斯否会将埃及这个非常保守的国家变得更加激进；作为少数派的基督教徒是否能够得到他们一直想要的保护，等等。而对于那些没有宗教信仰的人来说，这些核心问题通常与他们无关。在埃及经历深远的变革的同时，无神论者也在努力让他们发出的声音被听到。他们认为，包容将是对埃及现代性的一场真正考验。

Across Egypt, from the call to prayer sounding from the mosques⁶ five times a day, to the sermons of Christian³ churches, religion permeates⁷ daily life.

在埃及各地，从清真寺每天五次发出要求人们祷告的声音…到基督教堂的布道之声，宗教已经渗透到人们的日常生活中。

For most, it is a faith that must be never broken. Leaders of the nation's Christian minority make it almost impossible for Christians to leave the church. For Egypt's Muslims, a Pew Research survey finds nearly 90 percent believe those who leave Islam should be killed.

对大多数人来说，信奉宗教永远不可打破。皮尤研究中心的一份调查发现，埃及几乎90%的穆斯林认为，那些脱离伊斯兰教的人应当被杀死。

Recently, four men who believe in neither Islam or Christianity - or indeed any religion - met to discuss the difficulties of being atheist¹ in Egypt. They are well aware of the dangers, but they want to speak out - not against religion, but for their right to not have one.

这些男子-两名前伊斯兰教徒和两名前基督教徒很清楚作一个无神论者在埃及的风险。但他们想要发出声音，并不是要反对宗教，而是要有不信仰任何宗教的权利。

Ahmed Hussein, from a strict Salafi Muslim family, began to have religious doubts as a teen. He told others only in recent years. 

艾哈迈德.侯赛因来自于一个严格的萨拉菲派穆斯林家庭。他从十几岁起就产生了对宗教的怀疑。但他只是在最近几年才告诉别人自己的这些想法。

Hussein describes how his mother simply collapsed⁸ at the news. His sheikh sent him to a psychiatrist⁹, who said he was not insane - just an atheist. His sheikh rejected the diagnosis¹⁰.

侯赛因说：“我妈都崩溃了，这毫无疑问。”族长带侯赛因去看了心理医生。医生说，他并不是有精神有问题，只不过是个无神论者。但族长拒绝接受心理医生的诊断。

Hussein describes how his sheikh insisted that he suffered the “sickness of doubt.” He believes his sheikh made that up to protect him from the death sentence apostasy can be. The state does not criminalize atheism¹¹ as such, but its law against “insults to religion” often amounts to the same thing.

侯赛因说：“亚瑟尔族长坚持认为我是病了，得的是怀疑病。这是他说的，因为如果不这么说的话我就得去死。”侯赛因所说的宗教法律。埃及并不把无神论者判罪，但法律禁止亵渎宗教，这其实是一回事。

The jailing of online atheists led Ismail Mohamed, at the time a moderate Muslim, to explore the subject. He knew little about atheism but the arrests seemed to him unfair.

关押网络无神论者让伊斯梅尔.穆罕默德开始关注这一问题。他对无神论了解的不多，但他认为关押无神论者是不公平的。

Mohamed said online research was the first spark to understanding of not just atheism, but science as well. In school, he said, evolution was mentioned, but only to serve religious principles.

穆罕默德说：“这只是开始，让我去决定去了解不仅仅是无神论，还有其他很多科学。”

For the other two in the group, Milad Soliman and Ayman Nakhla, both former Christians, questions also led to exploration. The Internet opened a new world, bringing together people - their exact numbers unknown - who thought they were alone.

对米拉德.苏莱曼和艾曼.纳卡拉这两名前基督教徒来说，这些问题也让他们开始思索。互联网开辟了新的世界，让无神论者走到一起。他们感到自己孤立无援。

A few days after speaking with VOA, Ismail Mohamed went further - appearing on Egyptian television.He was pilloried¹² by the host and call-in guests, but his very appearance was a breakthrough. Political analyst¹³ and long-time rights advocate Hisham Kassem couldn’t believe his eyes.

“This man, young man, was sitting there confidently making his case. I was sitting there amazed. I never thought I will see this in my lifetime,” said Kassem.

在接受美国之音采访后几天，伊斯梅尔.穆罕默德还在埃及电视台上现身。他遭到了主持人和打电话观众的嘲笑，但他能够上电视本身就是一种突破。政治分析人士、常年人权活动人士卡塞姆说：“这个年轻的小伙子非常自信地证明自己是有道理的。这让我感到很吃惊。我从没想到过我有生之年会看到这一幕。”

However, there are many hurdles¹⁴ still to be overcome. Ayman Nakhla was among a group of atheists calling for the new draft constitution to be secular¹⁵ - a request rejected out of hand. Political sociologist¹⁶ Said Sadek of the American University in Cairo expects a greater divide between religion and the state in the future, but perhaps not now.

“You need to have the separation of the state and the church [religion], But it needs a lot of education and a lot of enlightenment and I think it is happening already,” said Naklha.

但仍然有很多障碍需要克服。纳卡拉所在的一个无神论团体呼吁新的宪法草案应该是不带宗教色彩的。这马上就遭到了拒绝。政治社会学家萨德克说：“宗教和政府应该是分离的。但需要大量的教育和大量的启蒙思想，我认为这些都正在在发生着。”

The former Salafist Hussein agrees, and predicts that Egypt's younger generation is already more open to the idea because of their willingness to talk with one another openly, both in person and online.

But even as these four men try to help educate others on the universal right to freedom of thought and belief, their fellow atheists continue to be jailed.

这些男子还在向他人传播就思想自由和信仰自由的普世权利。与此同时，埃及的无神论者仍在被关押之中。 

1 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

2 revolve   

vi.(使)旋转；循环出现

参考例句：

• The planets revolve around the sun.行星绕着太阳运转。
• The wheels began to revolve slowly.车轮开始慢慢转动。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

6 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

7 permeates   

弥漫( permeate的第三人称单数 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透

参考例句：

• Studies show that water vapor quickly permeates plastic packaging material. 研究证明水蒸汽能迅速渗入塑料封装材料。
• Democracy permeates the whole country. 民主主义（的思想）普及全国。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

10 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

11 atheism   

n.无神论，不信神

参考例句：

• Atheism is the opinion that there is no God.无神论是认为不存在上帝的看法。
• Atheism is a hot topic.无神论是个热门话题。

12 pilloried   

v.使受公众嘲笑( pillory的过去式和过去分词 )；将…示众；给…上颈手枷；处…以枷刑

参考例句：

• He was regularly pilloried by the press for his radical ideas. 他因观点极端而经常受到新闻界的抨击。
• He was pilloried, but she escaped without blemish. 他受到公众的批评，她却名声未损地得以逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

14 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

15 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

16 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。