...Although Islam is the state religion and it is against the law to slander or insult any faith, atheism itself is not illegal in Iraq, according to legal expert Ali al-Timimi. Anecdotal evidence suggests a small but growing community of Iraqi agnostics and atheists in the Muslim-majority country. One Facebook page called Iraq's Agnostics and Atheists has nearly 13,000 likes and 17,000 followers.

...Many of Iraq’s unbelievers have been forced underground as religious hard-liners battle for control of the young democracy, which is struggling to balance the demands of both Sunnis and Shiites, plus smaller ethnic and religious communities.

...It isn’t only young Iraqis who reject the faith of their ancestors. Painter Abu Sami, 52, waited five years after his wedding to confess to his wife that he did not believe in God.

...“Their God did not tell them to kill prisoners, did not tell them to kidnap, and rape women, did not tell them to take women and children as slaves," he added. "Is this a peaceful religion? It is not at all, and I do not want to be part of such a religion.”