Society and Culture
Updated on March 5, 2025
The Silent Agony of Middle Eastern Free Thinkers
Adopting the ideology and lifestyle of the majority can certainly make life simpler for you. But when those are forcefully dictated by law and society. In this article we explore struggles of the free thinking minority in the middle east.
By Alexander Waterford
A free thinker is someone who forms opinions based on reason and logic, seeking truth independently from established dogmas. In the Middle East, where fundamentalism reigns proud, supreme, and unopposed. What comes of those who dared to disagree?
Collage of screenshots of online Arab free thinking spaces.
Locked Voices in Digital Corridors
In the Middle East, openly sharing unconventional views is next to impossible for free thinkers, forcing them to retreat to anonymous online platforms like Reddit and in Youtube comment sections. These digital spaces, though relatively vibrant with non-conventional narratives, often host unfriendly religious and state agents. Consequently, individuals find themselves communicating with others from behind the veil of pseudonyms, in a shadowy dance of liberating expression and unwavering suspicion. Here, they can only hear faint echoes of rational debate from similarly masked voices, further aching from the fact that there are many like them, and yet they find themselves alone.
Typical Arab wedding chair.
The Religious Monopoly on Love
Free thinkers in the Middle East, have their paths towards intimacy laden with hurdles. As if bonding in the digital age isn't hard enough, in there Islamic Marriage stands as the sole socially sanctioned mean for intimacy, individuals must navigate a maze of hypocrisy and contradiction. Such unions demand rigidity—a binding contract tethered to significant financial strains and rigid expectations. These bindings often pair free thinkers with partners who neither comprehend their unique perspectives nor share their aspirations. Such pairings with conservative partners, often lead to constant exposition to orthodox views on the body, sexuality, and partnership. So, even in their most personal space, they wage an ever present battle with fundamentalism, fantasizing about what it's like to love without a mask.
U.S. humanitarian aid arrives in Lebanon.
Living in a Cultural Wasteland
Instead of embracing historical opportunities for change, middle eastern societies clung tightly to the wisdom of old. As the world surged forward through industrial, technological, and cultural revolutions, the Middle East found itself anchored in narratives of past grandeur, childishly proud of a bygone golden age. For free thinkers, this environment represents a landscape desolate of progress, where normalized corruption, colonial powers and fundamentalism create a vicious triad of cultural and intellectual stagnation, where free thinkers are forced to peak into device screens, that shower them with a binary stream of international progress, only to look around and watch a live reenactment of the movie Weekend at Bernie's, but where the corpse is that of a culture.
Middle eastern countries live off of international aid, tourism, tax haven status, or natural resources. So, you can imagine how soul sucking the jobs must be.
Woman with a tape on her mouth.
Unable to Speak
In the Middle East, the concept of freedom of speech often feels like chasing an elusive dream. While we might assume that voices are only silenced by authoritarian regimes, the reality is that the societal consensus can be equally oppressive. The danger lies in the mob mentality of those who conform to prevailing beliefs, smiling only as long as you align with their expectations. This silent collective pressure is reinforced by sheer numbers, robbing free thinkers of the liberty to question or deviate. Without the comfort of mass approval, unconventional views are frequently dismissed—not through reasoned debate, but simply because they lack the weight of popular backing. Thus, free thinkers often find themselves trapped within an intricate web of unspoken societal laws, where daring to think differently becomes an act of quiet rebellion.
Light at the end of a tunnel.
No Hope for the Future
The hope for a more tolerant future in the Middle East seems dimmed by the shadow of Western colonial behavior, past and present. Secular ideals, once harbingers of openness, are intertwined with the West's atrocities, casting doubt and disdain upon them. This historical baggage makes it challenging to dissociate these ideals from their tainted origin.
Further dampening prospects of enlightenment is the labyrinth of social media's recommender systems. These platforms, ostensibly hubs for diverse opinions, often trap users in echo chambers. In these digital silos, people are inundated with narrow streams of content, intensifying fanaticism and leaving dissenting views hidden beneath algorithms. Here, in these virtual halls, monotonous voices parrot extremism, suffocating the aspirational whisper of tolerance and free thought.
