Atheist Group Donates $20K to Charlie Hebdo Newspaper
A national atheist group based in Wisconsin has reportedly donated $20,000 to the Paris-based Charlie Hebdo newspaper so it may continue production following a recent terrorist attack.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation , based in Madison, announced that it would be donating $20,000 to the satirical newspaper that often poked fun at several mainstream religions, including Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
The atheist group said in a press release that it was donating the money "in a show of admiration and solidarity from your atheist and freethinking brothers and sisters across the Atlantic."
"FFRF created an Atheists in Foxholes Support Fund in 2012 to provide a show of support for activists who find themselves in the crossfire as 'atheists in foxholes,'" the group's co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement.
"We never imagined atheists would so literally be in the crossfire," she added.
This week, the satirical newspaper released its first issue since its Paris headquarters were attacked by Islamic extremists last Wednesday, resulting in the death of 12 employees, including the newspaper's editor and head cartoonists.
The newspaper was allegedly attacked as retribution for the irreverent comics printed by the magazine that feature the prophet Mohamed, a move that is considered blasphemous in the Islamic religion.
The most recent issue of Charlie Hebdo features a cartoon of Mohamed on the cover holding a sign that reads "Je Suis Charlie" and the words "All is Forgiven." In this magazine's edition, the remaining editors refer to their publication as an "atheist newspaper."
