■ Christian and Muslim religious movements have made significant inroads into post-Soviet Kyrgyzstani society, and have been seen as a threat by the secular establishment. In this article we discuss the defence mechanisms that are locally employed to ward off the danger that these 'new' religious movements represent. Our focus on secular responses not only fills a gap in the available research (which has focused on religious renewal but largely ignored the 'secular' majority), but also provides new perspectives on how to view the postsocialist religious landscape. By scrutinizing secular responses we show that what is at stake is not so much atheist ideology but secular understandings of religion that were (inadvertently) promoted by Soviet rule. As such this article shows the curious effect of Soviet legacies on contemporary notions of religion and culture.We are atheists. Yes, we are Muslims but let me explain. We are all Muslim people -Kazaks, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Tajiks, Tartars. We were born Muslims. That's it. (Nazgul, Kyrgyz woman, 55 years old) Atheist Muslims, an odd combination, but for anyone familiar with Central Asia it is a completely 'natural' thing. These days, very few in Kyrgyzstan would likely go so far as to call themselves atheists, but many would generally agree with Nazgul's sentiments. On another occasion, Nazgul elaborated on her first comment saying: Look, we are atheists, but of course we all believe in God. We always did. I do. Now we are free. We build mosques, people pray, that's good. But those, those who wear scarves like this [tracing the shape of a hijab around her face with her fingers] 1 and keep their women at home, they are bad. They are Wahhabis.In her explanation, Nazgul drew a line between acceptable Muslim behaviour -the practitioners of which she labelled atheists -and the unacceptable, radical behaviour of those she called Wahhabis. Nazgul's bifurcation of Muslimness into 'good, moderate' and 'bad, extreme' is a trope that has