| 30th November |
Blind Injustice... |
|
| |
Iranian sharia and the horror of an eye for an eye
Permalink full story: Throwing Stones at Stoning...Interntiuonal condemnation of barbaric executions |
Based on
article
from
dailymail.co.uk
|
A
jealous lover who blinded a woman with acid is also to be blinded with acid
under the country's Islamic law.
A 27-year-old named only as Majid confessed to attacking Ameneh Bahrami in 2004
to dissuade anyone from marrying the woman he loved.
The ruling was issued based on the Islamic law system of 'qisas,' or eye for an
eye retribution.
The reports say Ameneh asked the court to sentence Majid, who was only
identified by his first name, to be blinded by acid to prevent similar attacks
on other women.
Majid is allowed to appeal the verdict.
Stone Cold Evil
Based on
article
from
google.com
Iran's supreme court has confirmed a sentence of death by stoning against a
woman convicted of adultery in the southern city of Shiraz.
The woman identified as Afsaneh R., was also given a second death sentence for
murdering her husband with the help of a man identified only as Reza, who had an
affair with her, Etemad Melli newspaper reported. It said Reza had also been
sentenced to 100 lashes for having an illegitimate relationship and 15 years in
jail for collaborating in murder.
The report said the supreme court had in August confirmed verdicts first issued
in April.
In August, the judiciary said it had scrapped the punishment in Iran's new
Islamic penal code, whose outlines have been adopted by the parliament but its
details are yet to be debated by MPs before final approval and coming into
effect.
|
| 30th November |
Love Your Neighbour... |
|
| |
Hundreds killed in christian vs muslim fighting in Nigeria
Permalink full story: Mob Rule...Churches, temples and mosques attacked by mobs |
Based on
article
from
guardian.co.uk
|
More
than 200 people have been killed in two days of clashes between Christians and
Muslims in central Nigeria, the Red Cross said, during the worst unrest in the
country for years.
The army sent reinforcements to enforce a 24-hour curfew in the city of Jos,
which lies at the flashpoint where Nigeria's Muslim north and Christian south
meet, after rival gangs set fire to churches and mosques.
I counted 218 dead bodies at Masalaci Jummaa [mosque]. There are many other
bodies in the streets, said a Red Cross official. That death toll did not
include hospital mortuaries, victims already buried, or those taken to other
places of worship. The final count could be much higher, officials said.
About 7,000 people had fled their homes and were sheltering in government
buildings and religious centres, the Red Cross said.
The governor of Plateau state, of which Jos is the capital, said in a statement
that troops had orders to shoot on sight to enforce the curfew in neighbourhoods
hit by the violence. Gunfire and explosions heard in the early hours of Saturday
later died down, but many streets remained deserted. Military checkpoints were
set up around the city and soldiers helped to clear bodies from the streets.
Violence started on Thursday night as groups of youths burnt tyres on the roads
after reports of election rigging.
Update:
Death Toll Reaches 400
3rd December 2008. See
article
from
thescotsman.scotsman.com
More bodies were delivered to the main mosque in the central Nigerian city
of Jos yesterday, as the death toll from two days of clashes between Christian
and Muslim gangs rose to about 400.
Rival ethnic and religious mobs burned homes, shops, mosques and churches in
fighting triggered by a disputed local election in a city at the crossroads of
Nigeria's Muslim north and Christian south. It is the country's worst unrest for
years.
|
| 28th November |
Furniture Polish... |
|
| |
Some Polish catholics whinge at IKEA catalogue
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
pinknews.co.uk
|
Catholics
in Poland are calling for a boycott of furniture retailer IKEA because its
catalogue features pictures of same-sex couples.
National newspapers and news websites have covered the story and the concerns of
some religious people that the Swedish company is trampling on Christian
concepts of family.
For their part, IKEA has robustly defended its advertising and has refused to
respond to the boycott. Homosexuality is one of the essential elements of
living in contemporary society, said IKEA spokesperson Karolina Horoszczak.
The boycott is being led by Fronda.pl website. Treating single-sex
relationships on a par with married couples is impermissible, said Grzegorz
Górny, the editor-in-chief of Fronda: IKEA's publication is a promotion of a
particular style of living, which does not deserve public propagation.
|
| 28th November |
Atlas of Repression... |
|
| |
MEP suggests that the EU consider Turkey's website blocking when considering EU membership
Permalink full story: Insulting Turkish People...Website blocking in Turkey |
Based on
article
from
richarddawkins.net
See also
Turkey, EU need press freedom
from
todayszaman.com
|
Letter
to the European Parliament on Turkey's banning of RichardDawkins.net by Sophie
in 't Veld MEP:
I am writing to express my concern at reports of a Turkish
court compromising freedom of expression in the context of Turkey’s application
to join the EU.
I would like you to investigate the specific example given below and attempt to
see if it forms (as we fear) part of a wider picture of concern, and take the
matter up with the Turkish authorities.
The example we cite relates to the blocking of the website of Professor Richard
Dawkins, the world-famous evolutionary biologist. A criminal court in Istanbul
reportedly banned the site in September 2008 on the grounds that it violated
Adnan Oktar's personality after Professor Dawkins criticised Oktar creationist
book Atlas of Creation, which is being distributed in Europe in large
numbers.
The basis of our complaint is the web/press reports shown in
Appendix 1, which were drawn to my attention by the UK’s National Secular
Society of which I am a Honorary Associate. I am also writing as the Chair of
the EU Working Group for the Separation of Religion and Politics.
Such blockings are in stark contrast to the progress you have been calling for
as one of the conditions for Turkey’s succession to the EU. What is happening is
worse than Turkish authorities not standing up for freedom of expression; it
appears that the state’s mechanism itself is enforcing the restriction on
freedom of expression.
Our concern about the banning does not rest in principle on Professor Dawkins’
eminence; however the court’s decision is all the more worrying, given it is
difficult to think of anyone more qualified than him to speak on science
matters, being the Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford
University.
We believe it essential that the EU remains committed to insisting that
countries are not permitted to accede until they conform to fundamental rights.
We admire your work in this area and note in
Appendix 2 below a number of references you have made to requiring Turkey to
improve freedom of expression, for the benefit of others who read this letter,
which we regard as an open one.
I look forward to receiving confirmation that you intend to investigate the
matter, and subsequently what action you intend to take, including making
references to renewed concerns in your reports about the progress being made by
candidate states in the vital areas of fundamental rights.
|
| 27th November |
Riotous Tolerance... |
|
| |
Muslims riot over the building of a church in Cairo
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
dailymail.co.uk
|
A
riot broke out over plans to convert a building in a Cairo suburb into a
Christian church.
Muslims and Christians clashed in Mataria after worshippers arrived for a
service at the site of the planned church.
Police in Mataria intervened when large numbers of Muslims and Christians faced
off over a building which the Christians want to convert into a church. The
police then clashed mainly with the Muslim side, they said.
In the incident in Mataria, the confrontation between Muslims and Christians was
the culmination of a long-running dispute over the plan to build a church there.
|
| 26th November |
Poetic Justice... |
|
| |
Nutters don't get their way in stopping atheist poetry readings
Permalink full story: Well Versed...Nutter Stephen Green accuses poet of blapshemy |
Based on
article
from
walesonline.co.uk
The book is available at
UK Amazon
|
Welsh
Assembly officials said that they could not stop a reading by a writer
whose poetry has angered Christian nutters.
Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black asked Jones to read from his book,
Darkness Is Where The Stars Are, to make sure the poet was not
“gagged”.
Independent AM Trish Law wrote to Presiding Officer Lord Elis-Thomas to
ask him to stop the event on December 11, saying: I am disgusted
that, two weeks before Christmas Day, it is proposed to proceed with the
reading of blasphemous poems which are an insult to Jesus Christ and to
all his followers. She was bitterly disappointed her plea had
been turned down.
Assembly Commission chief executive Claire Clancy said: Neither
officials nor the Assembly Commission make judgments on the nature or
purpose of these events, except to ensure they would not give rise to
any legal problems.
Assembly buildings are public buildings, and secular in character. It is
our responsibility to ensure that events sponsored by any Assembly
Members are always allowed to take place without fear of disruption or
intimidation, while respecting the right to peaceful protest.
|
| 26th November |
Blood Kurdling Traditions... |
|
| |
Iraqi Kurdistan to outlaw FGM
Permalink full story: Stop FGM...The nasty world of female genital mutilation |
Based on
article
from
google.com
|
Parliament
in Iraq's northern autonomous region of Kurdistan is preparing to outlaw
female circumcision, according to a woman MP and doctor who has long
battled to halt the widespread practice.
A bill making circumcision illegal will be presented in parliament
over the next few days, Dr Hala Suheil told AFP, saying it would
impose jail terms and fines on offenders.
Kurdistan health minister Zarian Abdel Rahman said that in the region
60% of girls aged four to fourteen undergo circumcision, despite
warnings by ministers against this grievous practice committed in the
name of religion and hygiene.
The practice, encouraged by some clerics, does not appear to exist in
other parts of Iraq.
The ministry of religious affairs should tell imams to speak out
against female circumcision in sermons during Friday prayers so their
flocks shun the practice, Abdel Rahman said: The education
ministry should also introduce programmes in schools to encourage girls
not to submit to their parents' wishes in this regard.
|
| 25th November |
Nonsense Prevails... |
|
| |
UN votes in favour of blasphemy laws backed by islamic countries
Permalink full story: United Muslim Nations...Muslim Nations Group OIC carries motion in favour of blasphemy laws |
Based on
article
from
canada.com
|
Islamic
countries won United Nations backing for an anti-blasphemy measure Western
critics say risks being used to limit freedom of speech.
Combating Defamation of Religions passed 85-50 with 42 abstentions in a key UN
General Assembly committee, and will enter into the international record after
an expected rubber stamp by the plenary later in the year.
It provides international cover for domestic anti-blasphemy laws, and there
are a number of people who are in prison today because they have been accused of
committing blasphemy, said Bennett Graham, international program director
with the Becket Fund, a think tank aimed at promoting religious liberty:
Those arrests are made legitimate by the UN body's (effective) stamp of
approval.
While the current resolution is non-binding, Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan
reminded the UN's Human Rights Council this year that the OIC ultimately seeks a
new instrument or convention on the issue. Such a measure would impose
its terms on signatory states.
Western democracies argue that a religion can't enjoy protection from criticism
because that would require a judicial ruling that its teachings are the
truth.
Defamation carries a particular legal meaning and application in domestic
systems that makes the term wholly unsuitable in the context of religions,
says the U.S. government in a response on the issue to the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights: A defamatory statement . . . is more than just an offensive
one. It is also a statement that is false.
|
| 25th November |
Stupid Asses... |
|
| |
Child riding donkey sparks religious clash
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
compassdirect.org
|
Authorities
in an Egyptian village arrested 50 Coptic Christians, whose
shops were then looted, to pacify Muslims following violence
that erupted on Nov. 4 over a Christian boy’s unwitting break
with custom.
Muslim villagers attacked the homes and shops of Coptic
Christians in violence-prone Tayyiba, a town with 35,000
Christians and 10,000 Muslims, after 14-year-old Copt Mina
William failed to dismount his donkey as a funeral procession
passed.
William’s failure to dismount violated a local custom of showing
respect, Copts United reported, and members of the procession
reportedly beat him before completing the procession. William
suffered minor injuries.
After the funeral procession, the processional members began
throwing stones at the homes of local Copts and attacking their
shops before police broke up the crowd with tear gas.
A priest said members of the procession did not attack the
youths for showing disrespect but as an excuse to lash out
against the community’s Christians for a previous episode of
sectarian violence.
When the violence began, police presence increased significantly
in the city. But rather than quell the unrest, police reportedly
made matters worse for the Christians. After breaking up the
crowd, officers detained 50 Copts and 10 Muslims.
A source told Compass that police arrested a disproportionate
amount of Christians to create a false sense of equanimity and
to pressure the Christians into “reconciliation” with the
attackers so the Copts would not prosecute them. The arrested
Christians have since been released.
|
| 24th November |
Imagine No Nutters... |
|
| |
Atheist posters taken down after nutter pressure
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
pe.com
See also
Freedom from Religion Foundation
|
The
Freedom From Religion Foundation's Imagine No Religion
billboard, which went up late last week in Rancho Cucamonga,
California, for a two-month run, has been censored by General
Outdoor Co., which took down the Foundation's vinyl message.
While the Foundation has encountered billboard companies
unwilling to lease boards in several locations, this is the
first time one of its billboards has been censored after going
up.
The colorful billboard carries the Freedom From Religion
Foundation's name and website, and boasts a John Lennon-esque
statement, Imagine No Religion, against a stained-glass
window background.
Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor called such
censorship unprofessional and cavalier: Are religionists so
thin-skinned they must squelch free debate? One small
freethought billboard in the immense state of California is such
a threat to insecure religious egos that it must be censored?
There is nothing insulting in our message. We simply invite
the public to think, to imagine a world free from religion.
Think of the history of believers warring over their imaginary
gods, the fact that more people have been killed in the name of
religion than for any other reason! The human race needs to grow
up. We should concentrate on improving this world, and stop
worrying about the next.
|
| 24th November |
Nutters Dog Dogs Premiere... |
|
| |
Artist premieres his documentary about the Roundabout Dogs saga
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
thelocal.se
See also
article
from
vilksdogs.se
See also
article
from
mediawatchwatch.org.uk
|
Swedish
artist Lars Vilks is at the centre of a new controversy as his new
musical Dogs premiered in Stockholm on Saturday.
At a panel discussion after the premiere of the musical - a filmed
documentation of events occurring after the drawings of the Muslim
prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog, chaos reigned on Saturday.
When Vilks stood to address the several hundred people gathered in the
ABF building in Stockholm, a young woman rose to her feet, made
threatening gestures with her key ring and screamed at the artist.
One of the debate's organizers seized the woman in order to escort her
from the premises. She then scratched her keys over his underarm,
cutting him in two places, said Filip Björner for the event's
organizers, the Swedish Humanist Association.
But after the woman was removed from the debate, another woman swiftly
took her place. She was permitted to participate in the debate and took
the opportunity to verbally abuse the co-organizers, the Ex-Muslims, a
group known internationally as Muslims for Christ.
Furthermore, local media have reported that a retrospective exhibition
by Vilks had been stopped at Kalmar Art Museum.
The move has caused controversy as the museum's board overruled a
decision by the head of the museum, Clas Börjesson, and the museum's
curator, to support the exhibition. The head of the museum's board said:
As a rule we should not get involved but in this instance, and with a
new art museum which has attracted a great deal of attention, it is
important to be careful with the exhibitions that are chosen.
|
| 24th November |
Lousy Religion... |
|
| |
Germany decides that scientology is lousy but not bannable
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
thescotsman.scotsman.com
|
Germany
is to drop its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding
insufficient evidence of illegal activity, officials have said.
The German branch of the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology has
been under observation by domestic intelligence services for more than a
decade.
Senior security officials asked state governments in December to begin
gathering information on whether they had sufficient grounds to seek a
ban.
The Church of Scientology welcomed the ministers' decision as the
only one possible. The Church further called on officials to end the
observation, and what it called "the discrimination and the harassment
that go along with it".
Erhart Koerting, Berlin's top security official, said: The appraisal
of the government at the moment is that (Scientology] is a lousy
organisation, but it is not an organisation that we have to take a
hammer to.
Wolfgang Schaeuble, the interior minister, and his counterparts from
Germany's 16 states agreed there was not enough proof to justify opening
proceedings for such a ban, but domestic intelligence services will
continue to monitor Scientology's activities.
|
| 24th November |
Divorced from Civilisation... |
|
| |
Pakistan clerics object to law allowing wives to ask for divorce
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
asianews.it
|
There's
an uproar over proposals by the council for Islamic ideology (CII), to
reform Islamic law concerning the family, in order to provide greater
rights for women in the case of divorce.
Current Pakistan law recognizes divorce declared verbally by
the husband, in private, and grants few economic rights to the wife.
The CII (a significant constitutional group with a legal consulting role
in parliament and the government, set up in 1962) is also proposing that
the wife should be able to ask for a divorce, in writing, with an
obligation for the husband to accept the request within 90 days. It is
also advised that women should declare their property at the time of
their marriage, because after divorce many husbands strip their wives of
their own property.
Asma Jahangir, president of the Pakistani commission for human rights,
explains to AsiaNews that, in any case, women have a legal right to
divorce, but the real problem is that often the husband does not provide
any economic support for her or her children. She recalls that many
husbands throw their wives and children out of the house, without even
divorcing or giving them anything.
The proposal has prompted widespread opposition in the Islamic world,
and the mufti Munibor Rehman, a prominent religious leader, accuses the
CII of wanting to invent a new sharia and to create anarchy
and chaos in the country.
The proposed law, which will be examined by parliament.
|
| 23rd November |
Anti-Islamic Entertainment... |
|
| |
Iran blocks 5 million websites
Permalink full story: Iranian Internet Censorship...Extensive internet blocking |
Based on
article
from
ynetnews.com
|
Five
million internet websites are currently being blocked by the Iranian
government, a website called 'Rooz' reported, quoting the Iran's
prosecutor general as its source.
The report is the first ever in which a legislative source from Iran has
divulged information about the regime's censorship policies.
During a conference in the country Prosecutor General Abdolsamad Khoram
Abadi explained that most of the sites were blocked because they
contained unethical content, a reference to pornography and other
anti-Islamic entertainment.
Ismail Radkani, a spokesman for the company responsible for the blocking
of websites in Iran, also spoke during the conference. He said over a
thousand such sites were being automatically withdrawn from the
public eye every month, according to legislature passed down from the
government.
Abadi estimated the internet as a more imminent danger than satellite
dishes, because of the fact that the internet is more accessible.
Thus, he called for the establishment of an internet police in
his country.
Update:
Bloggers Under Duress
24th November 2008. See
article
from
advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org
Iranian authorities recently jailed two cyber writers. Paris based
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports online journalist Shahnaz
Gholami’s arrest at her Tehran home on 9 November. She was the editor of
Azarzan blog. RSF reports also that theologian and online journalist
Mojtaba Lotfi was arrested on 8 October for posting a sermon by a
well-known opponent of Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei online.
At the end of October Mojtaba Saminejad, a former jailed blogger, writes
that security forces threatened his wife and him because of his blog and
political ideas. The blogger adds that his wife has been under pressure
by security agents to complain against him. he has not updated his blog
since 29th of October.
|
| 22nd November |
Divorced from British Law... |
|
| |
Britain grapples with role for Islamic justice
Permalink full story: Divorced from Reality...Archnutter Williams suggests Shariah could be partially implemented in the UK |
See
article
from
iht.com
|
The
woman in black wanted an Islamic divorce. She told the UK religious
judge that her husband hit her, cursed her and wanted her dead.
But her husband was opposed, and the Islamic scholar adjudicating the
case seemed determined to keep the couple together. So, sensing defeat,
she brought our her secret weapon: her father.
In walked a bearded man in long robes who described his son-in-law as a
hot-tempered man who had duped his daughter, evaded the police and
humiliated his family.
The judge promptly reversed himself and recommended divorce.
...Read full
article
|
| 21st November |
Seeing Red... |
|
| |
Russian language edition of Newsweek under duress
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
foxnews.com
|
The
Russian-language edition of Newsweek magazine has been warned for
allegedly insulting Muslims, Moscow prosecutors said.
The magazine published two stories that could be insulting or
humiliating to Muslims, the Moscow Prosecutor's Office said, adding
that an article also included one of the 2005 Danish cartoons depicting
the Prophet Muhammad.
The magazine published the stories on Muslims in the European Union in
late October.
|
| 21st November |
Secular Censorship... |
|
| |
Arabic Network for Human Rights most blocked website
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
europenews.dk
|
The
Arabic Network for Human Rights reports that the website of Arab
Secularists 3almani.org is facing a campaign to block it in Arab states.
Five states have already blocked the site, making it the most-blocked
website.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Bahrain have blocked
both sites and they have now been joined by Syria in blocking the Arab
Secularists website.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said: It is not
surprising that these websites have been blocked by these states, but it
is strange that the most-blocked websites have a secularist trend, which
reveals the stance of these states against the secularist and democratic
values called for by these websites. Strangest of all is the fact that
the United Arab Emirates have joined the list of countries that have
this animosity to the Internet.
|
| 21st November |
The Font of All Nonsense... |
|
| |
Education contributes to the downfall of catholicism
Permalink |
Thanks to David
Based on
article
from
telegraph.co.uk
|
University-educated
Catholics are to blame for the crisis in the Church and the growth of
secularism, according to the bishop of Lancaster charged with tackling
the decline in Mass attendance.
The Rt Rev Patrick O'Donoghue has claimed that graduates are spreading
scepticism and sowing dissent. Instead of following the Church's
teaching they are hedonistic, selfish and egocentric,
he said.
In particular, the bishop complained that influential Catholics in
politics and the media were undermining the Church.
While not naming names, he suggested that such people had been
compromised by their education, which he said had a dark side, due to
original sin.
Bishop O'Donoghue, who has recently published a report on how to renew
Catholicism in Britain, argued that mass education has led to
sickness in the Church and wider society:
What we have witnessed in Western societies since
the end of the Second World War is the development of mass education on
a scale unprecedented in human history - resulting in economic growth,
scientific and technological advances, and the cultural and social
enrichment of billions of people's lives.
However, every human endeavor has a dark side, due to original sin and
concupiscence. In the case of education, we can see its distortion
through the widespread dissemination of radical scepticism, positivism,
utilitarianism and relativism.
Taken together, these intellectual trends have resulted in a fragmented
society that marginalizes God, with many people mistakenly thinking they
can live happy and productive lives without him.
The bishop said that influential Catholics had set a bad example and
corrupted the faith of those who had not gone to university:
This failure of leadership has exacerbated the even-greater problem of
the mass departure from the Church of the working-class and poor. For
example, the relentless diatribe in the popular media against
Christianity has undermined the confidence of the ordinary faithful in
the Church.
Nicholas Lash, the former Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at
Cambridge University, called the bishop's comments extremely grave:
Quite what constructive purpose could possibly be served by such
irresponsible and wholesale scapegoating of the educated, I have simply
no idea.
|
| 20th November |
Christian Voice vs Atheist Poet... |
|
| |
Nutters get aggressive against poetry readings
Permalink full story: Well Versed...Nutter Stephen Green accuses poet of blapshemy |
Based on
article
from
blog.newhumanist.org.uk
The book is available at
UK Amazon
|
Patrick
Jones, the poet who has wound up the nutters of Christian Voice with his
atheist poetry has updated the current situation:
Three Welsh AM.s are now trying to get the
reading cancelled at the Welsh Assembly due to blasphemy and
profanity in the poems and that the UK is a Christian country
and believe in freedom of speech ...but - and I promise I have
not sent an email or invited them or anything!!! I think it goes to
show the knee jerk reactions that abound.
Also Borders have stepped in and we will be launching the book on Dec
11th at the Cardiff store with a further reading in London's Borders -
which I hope will show the way that it should have been handled and
that the issue was not how Christian Voice heard of the book but their
reaction and their destruction of free speech. The venues I am reading
at (and I could be reading any poem - even Rowan Williams!) are being
bombarded and threatened with calls and emails from CV members and
some are quite upset and anxious about this.
Update:
Naming the Guilty
21st November. Based on
article
from
freethinker.co.uk
Trish Law, the independent AM for Blaenau Gwent has written to the
Assembly’s Presiding Officer, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas to complain about
the planned reading of Jones’ poems in the Assembly:
I uphold freedom of speech [...BUT...]
I cannot condone the reading of blasphemous, obscene and perverted
poems in the National Assembly. We are still a Christian country, yet
one that acknowledges and readily accepts other religious beliefs and
values. So while we would not tolerate other religions and religious
leaders being insulted through verse or deed neither should we expect
Christ and Christianity to be subjected to a tirade of anti-Christian
rhetoric and profanity.
I implore you to put a stop to this reading on December 11 in the name
of decency and humanity.
The line of attack from Conservative Jonathan Morgan is not the same
but the upshot of his argument is: the reading - hosted by two AMs,
Lorraine Barrett and Peter Black - should not happen:
Patrick Jones seems to think that the freedom
of speech is a convenient shield to be used when under attack for
being offensive. In exercising that freedom, and in respecting it, we
should do so responsibly. [...BUT...] I do not believe that AMs
should be wading into the debate by hosting a reading. It is a mistake
and opens up the institution to the accusation that it is siding with
one opinion without giving the other the same chance of expression.
|
| 20th November |
Pressed to Censor... |
|
| |
Mohammed cartoon blog in Indonesia closed by WordPress
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
news.bbc.co.uk
See
Mohammed and Zainab cartoon
|
The
Indonesian government says it has called on a blogging website to take
down two cartoons which depict Muslim Prophet Muhammad in sexual
situations.
The communications minister said the drawings were very inappropriate,
and said if necessary he would ask internet service providers to block
the entire WordPress site.
The cartoons, which appeared on the website last month, have provoked
fierce debate among viewers. The two cartoons, which are several pages
long, each tell a sexually explicit story involving the Prophet,
interspersed with verses apparently lifted from the Koran.
A ministry spokesman said the cartoons were offensive, not just to
Muslims, but to all religions.
There were protests in Indonesia two years ago when cartoons depicting
Muhammad appeared in a Danish newspaper.
Based on
article
from
fatihsyuhud.com
To show how easy it is to get bloggers to support censorship:
I am grateful to wordpress.com which acted
quick enough to close down the controversial blog on the Prophet
cartoon comic strip written by –who else?–an anonymous irresponsible
blogger. Otherwise, the Indonesia government would have closed down
the entire Indonesia’s wordpress.com community as stated by
Indonesia’s Communication Minister Muhammad Nuh.
The blog which has been closed by wordpress.com is
lapotuak.wordpress.com,
|
| 20th November |
Silent Night... |
|
| |
Scrooge alive and well and working with the killjoys of Westminster Council
Permalink |
Not wanting to give offence to non-christians is tantalising left
unsaid...but you know they're thinking it!Based on
article
from
telegraph.co.uk
|
The
Debenhams store in Oxford Street has been banned from playing
Christmas carols after council bosses said the music created
noise pollution.
Westminster council officials have ordered managers at the
department store not to broadcast the festive music that
traditionally accompanies its popular window display, and
threatened it with prosecution if it does not comply.
Thousands of families normally flock to see the £100,000 display
featuring moving reindeer and snowmen while listening to
traditional carols such as Jingle Bells or Silent Night
broadcast onto the street through four-inch speakers.
However, despite being played on one of the busiest and noisiest
shopping streets in England, environmental health officials told
the shop's management the music would have to be switched off
because it constituted noise pollution.
Daniel Astaire, Westminster's cabinet member for community
protection, said: If every business was allowed to blast its
choice of music and advertising into Oxford Street a visit would
become unbearable and inevitably affect trade.
The store offered to turn down the volume but this was rejected
by the council.
An employee at the store, who wants to remain anonymous, said
the music would cheer people during the credit crunch and
branded the council killjoys.
He said: We've done this for decades and at a time of
grimness it brings an awful lot of joy into people's lives at
Christmas. We were more than happy to turn the music right down
so only people standing inches from the window could hear it but
he insisted it must be turned off or we would be prosecuted. We
could understand the council's stance if were deliberately
blaring out the usual Christmas songs by Slade with no regard
for passers by. But this is a very gentle, very quiet, discreet
piece, composed especially to appeal to children as they watch
the show. It's clear that Scrooge is alive and well and working
with the killjoys at Westminster City Council.
|
| 20th November |
Playing Gods... |
|
| |
Board game pokes fun at religions
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
wwrn.org
|
Three-inch
plastic figurines include Jesus bashing people with a cross,
Moses slugging away with the tablets of the Ten Commandments,
the Buddha with a machine gun, and a turbaned fellow with a bomb
and a dagger vaguely hinting at Mohammed, all to be set loose to
force the people of the world to worship you.
The game was introduced in September at DragonCom, the annual
pop culture, fantasy and science fiction convention in Atlanta,
where it caught on with religious folks with a sense of humor
as well as skeptics, says its creator, Ben Radford, managing
editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine.
Radford says much of the world's violence is rooted in
religion, so he thought directly mocking various images of
God and religious followers would make more social commentary
and pierce the pretensions of extremist religious zealotry
with humor.
Players can choose among the five figurines or make one for
themselves with stickers for a god who resembles Oprah, a stein
of beer or Satan or add a word label such as Islam, technology,
even the Almighty Dollar. Says Radford: I didn't want
to leave out a Muslim figure just because it might be offensive.
The game is satire. But I went out of my way to be innocuous.
The figure is not named. It could be any Muslim leader.
Playing Gods resembles the video game tradition it emulates —
fantasy violence for entertainment, says Carl Raschke, professor
of religious studies at University of Denver.
The game's perspective has no basis in historical reality and
doesn't actually represent any religion. It just appeals to
people who hate religion to begin with — the hip subculture of
militant popular atheists, says Raschke: These people are
fanatics, for the most part, themselves. Their thinking is rigid
and hostile and not much different from jihadists who don't use
their minds or study what they are dealing with. They start from
their own dogmatic perspective.
Offensive? Says Raschke, Of course it is. But it sounds too
stupid to go far.
The $39.99 game is available online and in independent game
stores but, Radford acknowledges, the big chain stores aren't
going to touch a game like this.
|
| 20th November |
Saudi Blasphemy... |
|
| |
Turkish barber set to be released (again)
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
hurriyet.com.tr
|
A
Turkish barber, who was condemned to capital punishment in Saudi
Arabia on charges of blasphemy, is likely to be released,
Turkey’s ambassador to Riyadh said over the weekend.
Turkish barber to be released I believe our citizen will be
released and sent to Turkey. We were objecting to the process
followed at the tribunal, and I think it gave positive results
for him, Ambassador Naci Koru said. Koru called Sabri
Bogday’s family in Hatay to inform them he would be released.
The barber was sentenced to beheading for swearing during an
argument with his neighbor, a tailor.
President Abdullah Gül previously telephoned and sent a letter
to the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to demand Bogday’s
pardon.
Update:
Two Turkish Barbers
19th January 2009
A Turkish barber who was sentenced to death by a Jeddah court on
blasphemy charges will soon be released following a royal
clemency.
The Ministry of Interior has informed us about the release of
Sabri Bogday, who has been languishing in a Saudi prison for the
last three years, Turkish Ambassador to the Kingdom Naci
Koru said.
Thanking the Saudi government on behalf of the Turkish
government and people, Koru said the Kingdom has rescinded the
death penalty and that the authorities are processing papers to
release Bogday.
Bogday, a hairdresser in Jeddah, was sentenced to death for
swearing at God during an argument with his neighbor, an
Egyptian tailor. Police arrested Bogday after the tailor lodged
a complaint. The case received much publicity in the Turkish and
Western media.
Ersin Taze, another Turkish barber who was facing the death
penalty for allegedly slandering the Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him), was released and then repatriated to Ankara six
months ago.
Update:
Close Shave
27th January 2009
A Turkish barber, sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia but later
pardoned, has been released and is returning to Turkey, the
Turkish Embassy in Riyadh reported yesterday.
Sabri Bogday will return to Turkey on the first plane from
Jeddah to Istanbul, officials said. The barber called his family
yesterday after being released and said he would be in Turkey on
Tuesday.
|
| 19th November |
Interfaith Tolerance... |
|
| |
Muslim disapproved of friend's catholic girlfriend so he killed her
Permalink full story: No Honour in Religion...Honour crimes from around the world |
Based on
article
from
stophonourkillings.com
|
A
teenager was brutally murdered by her boyfriend's Muslim
flatmate because he did not approve of him going out with a
Catholic.
Lidia Motylska, 19, was strangled in an alleyway in Leeds by
Iraqi immigrant Abobakir Jabari who objected to his Kurdish
flatmate's relationship with her.
Jabari, 39, who was given British citizenship in 2005, pleaded
guilty at Sheffield Crown Court to murdering the petite Polish
teenager.
The court heard he garrotted her from behind, using the cord
from his tracksuit bottoms, before inflicting "gratuitous"
wounds on her lifeless body. He stabbed her repeatedly in the
chest and stomach and slit her throat.
Sentencing Jabari to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of
19-and-a-half years, Mr Justice McKinnon said the murder
involved an exceptional degree of violence.
|
| 18th November |
Indonesia Gone West... |
|
| |
West Papua promises to secede from Indonesia over sharia bill
Permalink full story: Indonesian Anti-Porn Bill...A front for the implementation of shariah? |
Based on
article
from
thejakartapost.com
|
The
head of the West Papua Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) repeated
the province's intention to secede from Indonesia if the
anti-pornography bill passed into law, during a rally in front of the
Bali governor office in Denpasar, on Saturday.
Jimmy Demianus Ijie told Balinese protesters that West Papua would
galvanize international support for secession if the government enforces
the anti-pornography bill in West Papua.
Jimmy said the West Papuans could not accept the bill because it
smelled of Sharia law and it had no respect for the constitution,
which, he said, embraces Indonesia's five major religions and its
hundreds of cultures.
He said the bill was an insult to church congregations in West Papua,
who had expressed their stand against the bill: The church played a
major part in assisting the government in returning West Papua to
Indonesia, and because the church is West Papua's representative, this
is a stab in the back, too.
He further supported the Bali People's Component's (KRB) attempt to file
a judicial review at the Constitutional Court: If the judicial review
fails, we will secede.
KRB coordinator Ngurah Harta said the judicial review would be filed
next week, pledging to hold a civil disobedience campaign if the review
fails.
|
| 18th November |
Censorship of an Unsound Nature... |
|
| |
Dostana banned in Pakistan for objectional gay content
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
dnaindia.com
|
The
Lahore high court has banned the screening of Bollywood flick Dostana
across Pakistan, saying it has some highly objectionable gay content.
The court held that the movie propagates homosexuality, which is not
only illegal in Islamic Republic of Pakistan but also considered a crime
punishable by whipping, imprisonment, or even death.
The petitioner maintained that Dostana promotes gay marriage which is
prohibited in Islam and all other religions. Gay marriage is an
atrocious and obscene act, more likely to be performed by someone of
unsound nature, the petitioner said.
The Lahore high court subsequently directed the chairman of Pakistan
Film Censor Board not to allow screening of the film and furnish the
transcript of Dostana before the court at the next hearing of the case.
Update:
Passed
18th November. See
article
from
indiaglitz.com
The Lahore High Court has stated that the film can be released if it is
certified by Pakistan censor board.
Today after the private screening, the officials of Censor Board
signaled green lights for release of film in 4 cinema halls of Lahore…
|
| 18th November |
Branded as Inhuman... |
|
| |
Taliban scar schoolgirls with acid
Permalink full story: An Education in Misogyny...Lynching and killing to prevent the education of women in Afghanistan |
Based on
article
from
cbc.ca
|
Students
are slowly returning to classes at a Kandahar City girls' school
following an attack last week that left several girls with acid burns on
their faces.
Compared to the first couple of days, there are more students coming
to the school, said Mahmood Qaderi, the principal of Mirwais Minna
girls' school.
None of the school's 1,500 students or teachers attended classes in the
days following last Wednesday's attack. The students were seriously
burned after two men on a motorcycle threw acid on them as they walked
to the classes.
Afghanistan's government condemned the attack and blamed the
country's enemies, a reference normally used to describe Taliban
militants. Girls were banned from schools under the Taliban's hardline
Islamist regime, which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Qaderi said government officials have pledged to improve security near
the school.
Susan Ibrahimi, one of the students burned by the acid, said she won't
be deterred from going to school. The 18-year-old, who received minor
burns to her face, said she supports Afghan President Hamid Karzai's
weekend call for the public execution of the attackers: Whoever threw
this acid poison at us, these people should be hanged. We don't want to
forgive those people.
We are just educating our youth, said an unidentified teacher.
They can't stop us. Even if they burn me, I wouldn't stop. I'd come to
school and teach classes.
Update:
Suspects Rounded Up
28th November. See
article
from
independent.co.uk
A terrorist cell accused of squirting acid in schoolgirls' faces has
been rounded up in southern Afghanistan. The country's President, Hamid
Karzai, called for the perpetrators to face public executions.
|
| 17th November |
Scientology Exposé Covered Up... |
|
| |
Anti-Scientology book unlisted by UK Amazon
Permalink |
Thanks to Nick
Based on
article
from
theregister.co.uk
|
Amazon
UK has barred the sale of a new Scientology exposé penned by a former
member of the church's elite paramilitary group.
The British incarnation of the world's most popular etailer is no longer
offering The Complex: An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the
Church of Scientology, by John Duignan, who spent 22 years inside
the top secret organization.
In a recent post to an anti-Scientology discussion forum, an Anonymous
Brit says that after pre-ordering the book, he received an email from
Amazon announcing it had been removed from sale for legal reasons.
The book is also no longer available at Waterstone's and is out of stock
at US Amazon
The US listing describes the book like this:
For the first time ever,
a former high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology is lifting
the lid on life inside the world s fastest growing cult. The Complex
reveals the true story behind the religion that has ensnared a Who's
Who list of celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and
convinced thousands of ordinary people to join up.
Duignan describes how two years ago he staged a dramatic escape from
the elite paramilitary group at the core of the Church, the Sea
Organisation, and how he narrowly evaded pursuit by Scientologists
from the Office of Special Affairs. He looks back on the 22 years he
served in the Church's secret army and describes the hours of sleep
deprivation, brain-washing and intense auditing or religious
counselling he endured, as he was moulded into a soldier of
Scientology.
He talks about the money-making-machine at the heart of the Church,
the Scientology goal to Clear the Planet and Get Ethics In, the
training programmes, the Rehabilitation Project Force and the
punishments meted out to anyone who transgresses, including children.
We follow his journey through the Church and the painful investigation
that leads to his eventual realisation that there is something very
wrong at Scientology's core.
The Complex was published by the Dublin, Ireland-based Merlin
Publishing.
|
| 17th November |
Religion of the Lynch Mob... |
|
| |
Pakistan family locked up after lynch mob accusations of blasphemy
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
compassdirect.org
|
Violent
Muslim mobs attacked the home of Gulsher Masih after his daughter who
was accused of desecrating the Quran on Oct. 9.
Both he and his daughter have been detained in Faisalabad since Oct. 10,
and the rest of the family has gone into hiding.
A mob numbering in the hundreds gathered at the house of Masih last
month armed with sticks, stones and bottles of kerosene after
accusations that he had encouraged his daughter to tear pages from the
Quran were broadcast over loudspeakers from a mosque.
A mob came and they stoned their house, and they put the kerosene oil
on the whole house to put it on fire, said Yousef Benjamin of the
National Commission for Justice and Peace. However, just before that
the police came in.
Under pressure from the mob, police on Oct. 10 charged Masih’s daughter
– and Masih himself, for defending her – with violating section 295-B of
the Pakistani Penal Code, which prescribes life imprisonment for those
convicted of desecrating the Quran.
Update:
Released
19th December 2009. See
article
from
asianews.it
Gulsher Masih and his daughter Sandal, from a village near
Faisalabad, indicted and arrested on charges of blasphemy against Islam
in October last year, were released on December 14. Khalil Tahir,
Gulsher and Sandal's lawyer, confirmed the ruling of the court in
Faisalabad to AsiaNews.
The two Christians were accused of blasphemy under Article 295
paragraph B of the Pakistan Penal Code October 9, 2008. They were
charged with having torn some pages from the Koran in the village of
Tehsil Chak Jhumra, located in the district of Faisalabad.
Khalil Tahir, a Christian MP and lawyer, told AsiaNews that
although it is very difficult to defend Christians accused of blasphemy
in Pakistan, thank God I was able to successfully demonstrate their
extraneousness to the facts. All charges against them were groundless,
because based on personal disagreements.
|
| 16th November |
Green with Envy... |
|
| |
Atheist poet invited to read at the Welsh Assembly
Permalink full story: Well Versed...Nutter Stephen Green accuses poet of blapshemy |
Based on
article
from
walesonline.co.uk
The book is available at
UK Amazon
|
The
decision by Peter Black Welsh Assembly Member to invite the poet Patrick
Jones to read his poetry in the National Assembly has been condemned by
nutters.
Christian Voice described the event, due to be held on 11th December, as
a disgrace to the Assembly itself.
But Peter Black, who is the LibDem's culture spokesman, has now
invited Jones, an atheist, to read his poems, which call for an end to
Christian worship, in Committee Room 24 of the Assembly at 12 noon on
Thursday 11th December.
Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said:
'This is a creepy event at which Jesus-hating AM's can swoon over
poems packed with hatred for Christianity and which speak of Mary
Magdalene and the poet having sex with the Lord Jesus Christ. They will
also hear Jones' unfettered hatred of Christianity, which he has somehow
managed to convince himself is indistinguishable from Islam.
'What they will not hear is Jones insult the prophet Mohammed. He dare
not do that at all, let alone in the sexual way he insults Jesus Christ,
whom he sees as a soft target.
'Christians in Wales must not take this lying down. We need to stand up
for our Lord against this attack on His honour and on the Church itself
by Peter Black. He has gone out of his way to show contempt for
Christians in Wales . As he is the LibDem Culture Spokesman, that means
insulting Jesus Christ is now official LibDem policy. The LibDems have
thus become a political party Christians can no longer in conscience
vote for or take any part in.'
|
| 16th November |
Translucent Blouses in Indonesia... |
|
| |
Another Bali protest against sharia dress code law
Permalink full story: Indonesian Anti-Porn Bill...A front for the implementation of shariah? |
Based on
article
from
google.com
|
Hundreds
of people rallied Saturday in the Hindu-majority holiday island of Bali
against a tough anti-pornography law branded by critics a threat to
religious freedom.
About 400 people marched through the Balinese capital Denpasar in
defiance of the law passed by mainly Muslim lawmakers in Jakarta last
month.
Protesters denounced as too broad the law's definition of pornography,
saying it was a threat to Indonesia's diverse non-Muslim minorities and
could shatter national unity.
High-spirited protesters in traditional sarongs and translucent temple
blouses marched toward the provincial governor's office, cheering wildly
at traditional dances and performances by local pop singers in
curve-hugging pants.
The chair of the West Papua provincial parliament, Jimmy Demianus Ijie,
said the law passed after years of deliberation in Jakarta criminalised
Papuan culture, where many people go semi-naked.
A challenge to the law would be launched in Indonesia's Constitutional
Court next week, activist Ngurah Harta told the protest: We have to
win this judicial review or we will hold a massive civil disobedience
campaign.
|
| 15th November |
Anti-Freedom... |
|
| |
Saudi religious police arrest and beat poet blogger
Permalink full story: Agents of Repression...Saudi religious police are a law unto themselves |
Based on
article
from
menassat.com
|
The
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has reported that
blogger Roshdi Algadir was arrested by religious police in Saudi Arabia
on 4th November.
He was taken from his place of work in Al-Dammam city, held for three
hours, beaten up and forced to sign an agreement never again to publish
his work on the internet. The reason behind the attack is a poem that
Algadir has posted on his
blog (in Arabic).
Roshdi Algadir, winner of an international award for his collections of
poetry, had posted some of them on his blog. Following this he was
surprised by members of the Hisba apparatus who snatched him from his
work, beat him and accused him of apostasy.
Algadir is insistent that poetry should only be subject to the critiques
of literature, but the way he was arrested confirms the insistence of
the apparatus to act against the interests of freedom of expression in
the name of religious repression.
Gamal Eid, executive director of ANHRI stated: The members of the
Hisba apparatus threaten the legal system and all the citizen's rights
in the name of protecting the Islamic religion. The existence of this
apparatus is an insult to Islam, depicting it as it does, as anti
freedom of speech and anti freedom of expression.
|
| 14th November |
Darkness is Where the Nutters Are... |
|
| |
Book signing cancelled after pressure from Christian Voice
Permalink full story: Well Versed...Nutter Stephen Green accuses poet of blapshemy |
Based on
article
from
news.bbc.co.uk
The book is available at
UK Amazon
|
A
poet has been forced to launch his new collection in the street after a
bookstore cancelled the event because of a campaign by Christian
nutters.
Darkness is Where the Stars Are is a collection of 30 to 40 poems
from the Welsh publishers, Cinnamon Press.
Patrick Jones was due to sign copies at Waterstone's in Cardiff but
the shop cancelled the event at the last moment.
The company said it was not a censor but felt it was prudent to
cancel the event because of its duty to customers. The book remains on
sale in Waterstones.
Jones said he was not going to be beaten down by religious
activists, and signed copies for a small group of people in the street:
I'm really proud of this book and I'm really sickened. There
shouldn't be censorship of this sort - it doesn't set out to be
offensive. He said he had not singled out Christianity in his poems,
but was questioning beliefs in society.
Christian Voice said the book was obscene and blasphemous and
called on the chain to remove copies from stores.
The national director of Christian Voice, Stephen Green, said the
decision was a triumph for the Lord, not for us. The Lord had
not even showed me what we should do at Waterstone's, only that it
should be Christlike. Just the knowledge that we were on our way has put
the fear of God into the opposition.
|
| 14th November |
Salty Language... |
|
| |
Australian nutters get wound up by sex novel by a parliamentarian
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
smh.com.au
|
Australian
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has defended a colleague's published
novel over criticism it contains graphic and sexual material.
The book The Twelfth Fish - written by Labor backbencher Graham
Perrett - is a perfectly reasonable mainstream novel, he says.
But nutters of Salt Shakers, a Christian ethics and lobby group, says
leaders of the nation should not be encouraging reading that contains
extremely graphic and sexual material.
The book contains five racy sex scenes, coarse language and racist
remarks.
I have read the book and I think some of the expressions that have
been made about this book are entirely exaggerated, Mr Tanner told
ABC Television: If you look around at a few books here and there,
you'll find equivalent sex scenes.
He described Salt Shakers as one of those rather obscure and extreme
groups that sometimes get into public debate.
I suspect my mum would be a little bit worried about some of the
content of the book, but it's an adult novel. It had been a long
time since books with sex scenes were banned in Australia, Tanner said.
Perrett, a first-time parliamentarian, wrote the book before being
elected the member for Moreton in Queensland.
|
| 14th November |
UNtolerance... |
|
| |
UN talks on religious tolerance highlight religious intolerance
Permalink full story: United Muslim Nations...Muslim Nations Group OIC carries motion in favour of blasphemy laws |
Based on
article
from
christianpost.com
|
Heads
of state convened at the UN headquarters to talks on how to foster religious
tolerance, but predictably little headway was made because of underlying
differences.
The conference was sponsored by Saudi Arabia and brought together
representatives from 80 countries to overcome religious and cultural divisions.
Saudi Arabia’s leadership role in the conference made representatives and human
rights groups question the amount of progress the gathering would yield.
Saudi Arabia follows the world’s strictest form of Islam, Wahhabism, and bans
all other forms of public worship, including other branches of Islam.
Saudi Arabia is not qualified to be a leader in this dialogue at the United
Nations, said Ali Al-Ahmed, a Saudi national who serves as director of the
Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs, to The Washington Post: It is
the world headquarters of religious oppression and xenophobia.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, also made
negative comments on Saudi Arabia’s qualification to lead the conference:
There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, yet the kingdom asks the world to
listen to its message of religious intolerance.
The usual underlying tensions created divisions with leaders taking sides along
Arab versus pro-Western lines. Jordan’s King Abdullah II criticized Western
policy, saying its ignorance has subjected Islam to injustice.
But given the split between countries and the added complications with mixing
religion and politics, sources say there is no chance for a resolution and maybe
not even a declaration at this conference.
A proposed Saudi text, for example, wanted to condemn the mocking of
religious symbols that is highly offensive to Saudis and many Muslims. But
European countries rejected the text because they see this as infringing on
freedom of speech.
United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann revealed
himself as a nutter and said that the world body should ban defamation of all
religions and disagreed that such a move would impinge upon freedom of speech.
Yes, I believe that defamation of religion should be banned, he said at a
press conference No one should try to defame Islam or any other religion adding:
We should respect all religions.
D'Escoto, a former Nicaraguan foreign minister who himself is a priest, said
that religion was a very divisive subject and that's why the meeting would
concentrate on common ethical values to make a common front against hunger,
ignorance and disease.
|
| 14th November |
Dogged by Nonsense... |
|
| |
Taxi driver fined for refusing to carry guide dog
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
thisisnottingham.co.uk
|
A
taxi driver who said religion forbade him from carrying a blind man and
his guide dog has been fined.
The taxi was booked with Cable Cars in Nottingham for Christopher Odel.
The job was accepted by the firm, but when Ali Reza Roshanmoniri arrived
at the school on the afternoon of August 27 he refused to take Odell and
his dog.
This broke the conditions of the licence he was granted by Broxtowe
Borough Council, who prosecuted Roshanmoniri for failing to carry a
disabled person with a dog, an offence under the Disability
Discrimination Act.
John Cunliffe, representing the council, told Nottingham Magistrates
Court: Most of the operators are aware that Mr Odell is blind and
accompanied by his guide dog. On seeing Mr Odell's guide dog he said it
was against his religion to carry dogs in his vehicle. It was explained
to him that the dog was a working dog and could not be refused carriage.
The member of staff who ordered the taxi phoned Cable Cars, who
immediately sent another taxi and said the driver would be taken off for
the rest of the day. She later made a complaint to Broxtowe Borough
Council, who confirmed that the driver had been suspended.
Roshanmoniri was fined £300 after responding to a summons with a guilty
plea. He will have to pay this, along with £150 in legal costs and a £15
victim surcharge.
|
| 13th November |
Anti-Statues Resistance Committee... |
|
| |
Bangladesh muslims set their sights on art
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
afp.google.com
|
Rashed
Ahmed paints the fiery eyes of a python on to a giant piece of white
cloth in the grounds of Dhaka University, as a huge crowd of painters,
actors and writers cheer the fine arts student on.
Each of those gathered then has a tilt at drawing their own symbols,
leaving a personal mark indicative of the Bangladeshi cultural heritage
they say hardline Muslims are determined to destroy.
Large groups of Bangladeshi artists -- including film-makers, singers
and writers -- began daily protests last month after authorities removed
two newly commissioned sculptures of local folk singers erected outside
Dhaka's airport.
A group of Muslim hardliners calling themselves the Anti-Statues
Resistance Committee complained that the sculptures were idols, which
are strictly forbidden in Islam, and threatened to attack the artwork
with power tools.
One of the group's leaders Mufti Fazlul Haq Amini, a former MP, says
that he will demolish all statues if his party wins the December
18 parliamentary elections.
|
| 13th November |
Blasphemy Abuse... |
|
| |
Even Canadian police abuse blasphemy law for their own personal reasons
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
freethinker.co.uk
|
A
Montreal man brought before magistrates on a charge of blasphemy has
been acquitted because the words fuck you do not refer to God or
any sacred item.
Charles-Yves Dupuy was arrested under Montreal’s blasphemy bye-law after
he used the words against two police officers in May 2006.
But last week, according to this report, Judge Pierre Bouchard said that
while the words were widely regarded as incorrect, impolite and
crude, they should not be considered blasphemous under the bylaw.
According to police, the officers asked for Dupuy’s name, figuring he
had broken the bylaw. They arrested Dupuy for obstruction of justice
when he refused to tell them his identity. The judge acquitted Dupuy,
saying he did not have to give police his name in the first place and
therefore did not obstruct the officers’ work.
|
| 12th November |
Fighting Habit... |
|
| |
More fighting amongst monks of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
telegraph.co.uk
|
Israeli
police have broken up another brawl among rival monks in the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, believed by some to be the site of Jesus's crucifixion,
burial and resurrection.
The church in Jerusalem's Old City, one of the most revered sites in
Christianity, is home to six different Christian sects who frequently
fight over the rights to maintain and worship in different sections of its
hallowed halls.
This time, the fight followed an Armenian procession marking the
fourth-century discovery of a cross believed to have been used in Jesus's
crucifixion.
Greek Orthodox monks had apparently wanted to post a monk inside the
Edicule, a structure built on what is believed to be Jesus's tomb, and
blocked the procession when the Armenian clergymen refused.
Riot police broke up the fight and arrested a bearded Armenian monk and a
Greek Orthodox monk bleeding from a gash on his forehead.
|
| 11th November |
CPS Stand Proud... |
|
| |
CPS ends private prosecution of Koh's art as no case to answer
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
news.bbc.co.uk
|
An
art gallery will not face any legal action over nutter claims that it
displayed an indecent statue of Jesus Christ.
The artwork was part of an exhibition at Gateshead's Baltic Centre
featuring several plaster figures with erections.
A private prosecution was being brought by Christian group member Emily
Mapfuw on the grounds the statue outraged public decency.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stopped the action on Monday and
said the gallery had no case to answer.
Nicola Reasbeck, Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: The CPS has the right
to take over a private prosecution and prosecute it ourselves, take it
over and stop the case, or allow the private prosecution to continue.
Having considered the evidence in this case with great care, we are
satisfied that there is no case to answer. We have taken into account
all the circumstances, including the fact that there was no public
disorder relating to the exhibition and that there was a warning at the
entrance to the gallery about the nature of the work on display.
The case has therefore been discontinued.
The statue was part of Baltic's September 2007 to January 2008
exhibition by Chinese-born artist Terence Koh, Gone, Yet Still.
|
| 11th November |
Victims of Intimidation... |
|
| |
Call for protected freedom of speech for muslim reformers
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
news.bbc.co.uk
See also report
Victims of Intimidation
|
Governments
across Europe must do more to safeguard freedom of speech for Muslim
reformers who face threats from extremists, a think tank has warned.
The UK-based Centre for Social Cohesion highlighted the cases of 27
writers, including Sir Salman Rushdie, activists, politicians and
artists.
The centre said they had suffered violence and intimidation for
criticising Islam or seeking reform.
It said governments had a duty to ensure free speech for all citizens.
The report - Victims of Intimidation: Freedom of Speech within
Europe's Muslim Communities - said official failure to offer victims
the protection they needed had left "significant numbers" of Muslims
unable to express themselves.
It said this also created the impression that more Muslims were opposed
to free speech than was actually the case.
The centre called for European governments to promote greater
religious and social harmony by demonstrating that they see Muslims and
those of Muslim background as complete citizens, neither restricted in
their freedoms nor unduly permitted to issue threats against others.
Douglas Murray, director of the Centre for Social Cohesion and co-author
of the report, said Muslims found it increasingly difficult to
criticise elements of their faith or culture without fear of reprisal.
In a free society, no belief or set of values should remain beyond
open criticism. To grant a belief system amnesty from discussion
concedes that intimidation and violence can succeed.
Unless Muslims are allowed to discuss their religion without fear of
attack there can be no chance of reform or genuine freedom of conscience
within Islam.
|
| 11th November |
Burkhas on in Bali... |
|
| |
Police will enforce the new sharia dress code law
Permalink full story: Indonesian Anti-Porn Bill...A front for the implementation of shariah? |
Based on
article
from
thejakartapost.com
|
 |
|
Burkha is the new
bikini |
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Teuku Ashikin Husein said his institution
had no option but to enforce the new pornography law in the province.
I have no option. The police must enforce every positive law in the
country, he said in Denpasar, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.
Ashikin said the law would be implemented through a government
regulation which had yet to be established.
Last week, Bali's governor and speaker of the provincial legislature
announced that the province would not be able to enforce the newly
passed law, saying it was not in line with Balinese philosophical and
sociological values.
Bali leaders and members of the public have united in an organization
named the Bali People's Component to challenge the new law through the
Constitutional Court.
|
| 11th November |
God Given Right to Violence... |
|
| |
Muslim medic identifies increased likelihood of domestic violence
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
telegraph.co.uk
|
 |
|
Domestic violence
cover up? |
Domestic violence is more common in Muslim households because men
think they have a God-given right to beat up their wives,
according to a leading female Muslim medic.
Fatima Husain, a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, has told how
she sees Muslim women coming for treatment with strangle marks around
their necks and bruises on their pregnant bumps.
Dr Husain, who works at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals in
Berkshire, told the Muslim News that many women ask to be referred to
her specialist clinics because she is a hijab-wearing Muslim, allowing
her to discover the true scale of domestic violence in her religious
community.
She said: I've seen injuries on some of my patients that I wouldn't
dream would happen to pregnant women. I've seen strangle marks, finger
marks on their necks and bruises on their pregnant abdomens.
Domestic violence is supposedly equally divided amongst the various
groups but I get the impression it is more common in Muslims. Some
Muslim men think they have a God-given right to be physically violent to
their spouses. I see the result of all this when they are admitted as my
patients.
|
| 10th November |
Burkha is the new Bikini... |
|
| |
Erotic dancers arrested in Jakarta under new sharia morality law
Permalink full story: Indonesian Anti-Porn Bill...A front for the implementation of shariah? |
Based on
article
from
time.com
|
 |
|
Burkha is the new
bikini |
Indonesia watched its new anti-pornography law leap into action last
weekend, as police raided a Jakarta nightclub and arrested three
employees. The officers detained three erotic dancers in the raid. The
women now face up to 10 years in prison.
The new law retains a broad definition of pornography that many fear
could be abused by law enforcers and radical organizations. The law
is wide open to interpretation and could even apply to voice, sound,
poetry, works of art or literature, says Kadek Krishna Adidharma,
one of many Balinese who see the law as an attempt by the Indonesian
Muslim majority to impose their will on the rest of the country:
Anything that supposedly raises the libido could be prosecutable.
The law has a long list of possible offenses. Anyone displaying
nudity could be fined up to $500,000 and jailed for up to 10 years.
Public performances that could incite sexual desire have been
banned, and civil society groups will be allowed to help enforce
the legislation.
While it is true that pornographic magazines and pirated DVDs are easily
available in Indonesia, advocates for the rights of religious and ethnic
minorities say the problem will not be righted by the new legislation.
They point to existing provisions in the criminal law as sufficient to
deal with the problem, and complain that the new law poses a threat to
non-Muslim Indonesians. The law imposes the will of the majority that
embrace Islam, is a form of religious discrimination and against the
spirit of tolerance taught by the country's founders, says
Theophilus Bela, chairman of the Christian Communication Forum.
Four provinces with sizeable non-Muslim populations — Bali, Yogyakarta,
Papua and North Sulawesi — have already rejected the law and said it
will not be enforced in their regions. It remains to be seen how and if
that will be tolerated by Jakarta. Major protests are planned for this
month in Bali, where the governor has been a vocal opponent of the law
and pledged that it will not be implemented. Many Balinese are now
calling for greater autonomy and say dire consequences lie ahead if
their demands are not met. There is even a possibility that Bali will
ask to separate from Indonesia, says Rudolf Dethu, a Balinese who
has helped organize protests against the law: It's that serious.
|
| 9th November |
My God Not Yours... |
|
| |
Malaysian christians waiting to see of they can use the word 'Allah'
Permalink full story: Oh MY God...Malaysia contends that only muslims can use the word Allah |
Based on
article
from
christiantoday.com
|
A
Malaysian court hearing the appeal by an evangelical church to use the
word "Allah" in its Sunday School materials has been adjourned to next
month.
The Evangelical Church of Borneo, otherwise known as SIB (Sidang Injil
Borneo), and its president Pastor Jerry Dusing filed the appeal at the
High Court against the Internal Security Ministry and the Malaysian
Government.
The hearing will resume on November 12.
On August 15 last year, SIB was preparing to bring in three cartons
containing six different publications from Indonesia to be used as Sunday
School materials when they were withheld by a customs officer and later
handed over to the Internal Security Ministry (ISM.
Nearly a month later, Dusing received a letter from the ISM stating that
the import of the publications had been denied, that Christian
publications containing the word “Allah” cannot be distributed in
Malaysia. The letter also stated that the publications can raise
confusion and controversy in Malaysian society.
In response the church sent an appeal letter dated September 24 to the
minister, stating that the previous prime minister had allowed the use of
the word “Allah” in their publications.
|
| 9th November |
Defamation PR Stunt... |
|
| |
Saudi sponsors Culture of Peace UN meeting
Permalink full story: United Muslim Nations...Muslim Nations Group OIC carries motion in favour of blasphemy laws |
Based on
article
from
foxnews.com
|
Critics
are blasting the United Nations for hosting a meeting to talk about
religious and cultural 'tolerance' sponsored by Saudi Arabia, a country in
which the US government has said religious freedom is non-existent.
Following up on an interfaith meeting they held in Madrid in July, the
Saudis asked the United Nations to hold a meeting on the Culture of
Peace, but some think it’s a move to lend support to the defamation of
religions resolution that the world body will vote on this fall.
The White House announced that President Bush will attend the meeting on
Nov. 13, and will also meet with King Abdullah while in New York.
The President appreciates King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia's initiative in
calling for this dialogue and remains committed to fostering interfaith
harmony among all religions, both at home and abroad, White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.
Israeli President Shimon Peres will also attend the conference. Jordan,
Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, the Philippines and Finland have also agreed to
attend.
Critics say that Saudi Arabia's track record on religious tolerance and
human rights shows that its dialogue initiative is just talk.
We'd like to see a conference like this take place inside Saudi Arabia
and the fact that it isn't speaks volumes. That's true of the Madrid
conference and true of the one at the U.N., said commission chairwoman
Felice Gaer.
The practice of religions other than Islam, and Wahhabi Islam in
particular, in Saudi Arabia is forbidden, so religious leaders of other
faiths could not go to Saudi Arabia, she said. Churches are also forbidden
in the country.
Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, a Christian ministry
dedicated to supporting persecuted Christians around the world, said:
This is a very, very bad place and it's hard to believe than their king,
the head of this government, would be calling for some religious tolerance
conference," Moeller said. "It may be a public relations coupe, but I
don't know that there will be much change on the ground for Christians in
Saudi Arabia.
Commission chairwoman Gaer thinks it's more than a public relations move
for the Saudi government, it’s a cooperative effort between Muslim nations
to reinforce the defamation of religion resolution they're sponsoring
before the General Assembly this fall.
Gaer said the Saudi-sponsored inter-faith meeting in Madrid, like the U.N.
resolution, was part of an attempt to legitimize sharia law by making
attendees sign a declaration that said the participants would encourage:
respecting heavenly religions, preserving their high status, condemning
any insult to their symbols.
This was a Madrid declaration calling for or affirming the idea of the
global blasphemy law in slightly moderated language. This would give them
the freedom to declare anything from cartoons to incitement to a whole
range of things to be defamation.
|
| 8th November |
A Blasphemy Against Free Speech... |
|
| |
OIC to push their international blasphemy law crusade at Geneva anti racism conference
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
cjnews.com
|
The
foreign minister of Denmark warned last week that unless the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) removes a proposal to
equate criticism of religion with racism, Denmark – and perhaps other
European countries – will not attend the conference, the follow up to
the 2001 UN anti-racism conference in Durban that is slated to take
place in April 2009 in Geneva.
If the OIC pushes through the draft resolution, they shall not expect
European or western countries to be present at the table, Foreign
Minister Per Stig Meller saidm.
His remarks came shortly after the Draft Outcome Document was
published at the second preparatory session as a proposal for the Durban
II conference.
Discussions at preparatory meetings have also raised concerns that
Durban II will reprise the anti-Israel agenda of Durban I which became
notorious for singling out Israel as a racist state.
UN Watch, a NGO that has been monitoring the preparatory conferences,
said that the dominant theme of the 88-page Durban II draft
declaration (Draft Outcome Document) is that the United States, western
Europe, Israel and the other liberal democracies – their principles,
institutions, policies, respective histories and national identities –
are singularly racist and discriminatory against Islam. Free speech,
wealth, globalization, security measures to combat anti-western
terrorism, all of these are attacked as causes of racism, discrimination
and the ‘defamation of Islam.’
|
| 7th November |
Malaysia Freer Today... |
|
| |
Malaysia Today blogger freed as no threat to national security
Permalink full story: Blocking Blogging...Malaysia looks to censor the internet |
Based on
article
from
nytimes.com
|
In
what lawyers described as a landmark ruling, a court in Malaysia ordered the
release of one of the country’s best-known bloggers, ruling that the government
acted beyond its authority in invoking a threat to national security.
Raja Petra Kamarudin, who was arrested September 12 and detained without trial,
was expected to be released later Friday.
Lawyers have long complained that Malaysia’s mildly authoritarian government
uses the Internal Security Act as a tool against the opposition. The act allows
for indefinite detention without trial. Raja Petra, one of the most vocal
critics of the current government, was detained for comments posted on his Web
site that the government said insulted Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad. He was
also accused of posting articles that defamed the country’s leaders and incited
hatred against the government.
The court ruled that these were not sufficient grounds for detention under the
Internal Security Act. The government can appeal the decision but the judge,
Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad, ordered that Raja Petra be released without delay.
Tommy Thomas, a prominent Malaysian human rights lawyer, estimates that more
than 20,000 people have been detained under the act.
Update:
Exile
26th April 2009. See
article
from
advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org
Popular Malaysian blogger and editor of the Malaysia Today website, Raja Petra
Kamarudin (RPK), failed to attend his sedition trial on April 23, 2009. As a
result, the Sessions Court in Petaling Jaya issued a warrant of arrest against
RPK. News reports state that Sessions Judge, Rozina Ayob, issued the order after
prosecutor, DPP Shahidani Abd Aziz, applied for the warrant due to his absence.
DPP Shahidani was reported to have said that the prosecution had no choice but
to get the order to proceed with the trial.
On his website Kamarudin said that he had gone into exile over a family
dispute arising from comments about the Perak royal family
|
| 7th November |
An Indirect Insult to Dutch Freedom... |
|
| |
Insulting religion to carry a 1 year jail sentence
Permalink full story: Thank God...Netherlands parliament looks to repeal blasphemy laws |
Based on
article
from
mediawatchwatch.org.uk
|
It
appears we were a little hasty in celebrating the demise of the Dutch
blasphemy laws.
Danish journalist Flemming Rose has contacted MWW, relating the concerns
of a Dutch colleague about this supposed repeal. All is not as it seems.
The intention is to introduce the concept of indirect insult and
expand an existing law which protects people on the basis of race, age,
disability, and sexual orientation to include protection on the basis of
religion or conviction. This means that remarks directed at
Islam, Christianity, Buddism or - depending on your interpretation of
conviction - even homeopathy and astrology, could be interpreted as
indirect insults to people, and prosecuted as such.
According to a commenter on the original story, this law carries a
maximum sentence of 12 months, whereas the original defunct blasphemy
law carried a maximum 3 month sentence.
Writes Rose:
This spring the Dutch minister of justice
Hirsch Ballin wrote a note to parliament asking them to consider
stiffening blasphemy laws. In the aftermath of the scandal surrounding
the arrest of Gregorius Nekschot parliament refused to go along, and
this proposal is the compromise that the government came up with.
|
| 7th November |
Sham Humanity... |
|
| |
UN condemns Somalia over stoning of child
Permalink full story: Throwing Stones at Stoning...Interntiuonal condemnation of barbaric executions |
Based on
article
from
amnesty.org
|
The
United Nations condemned the stoning to death of a 13-year-old
girl in Somalia who was found guilty of adultery after she was
raped while traveling to visit her grandmother.
Aisha Duhulow was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck and
pelted with stones by 50 men in a stadium full of spectators in
the southern port city of Kismayo, the UN Children's Fund,
Unicef, said. She pleaded for her life before the Oct. 27
execution, it added.
Duhulow was raped by three men and asked prosecutors for
protection after the attack, according to Unicef. Instead, she
was sentenced to death. A child was victimized twice -- first
by the perpetrators of the rape and then by those responsible
for administering justice, Unicef representative for Somalia
Christian Balslev-Olesen said in a statement.
|
| 5th November |
Taking the Rap... |
|
| |
Chief Constable decided to complain to Ofcom about Undercover Mosque
Permalink full story: In the Context of Dodgy Policing...Police make false accusations that Undercover Mosque documentary was falsified |
Based on
article
from
birminghampost.net
|
The
Chief Constable of West Midlands Police was personally responsible for
the disastrous decision to complain about Channel 4's Undercover
Mosque documentary exposing extremism in a Birmingham mosque, an
inquiry has been told.
Paul Scott-Lee, head of the region’s force, approved the decision in a
conversation with another senior officer, the Home Affairs Select
Committee heard.
But nobody has been disciplined for the humiliating incident, which led
to the force being sued for libel in the High Court and forced to offer
a grovelling apology.
Philip Gormley, Deputy Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, was
quizzed in Westminster by MPs conducting an inquiry into the way forces
work with the media.
Instead of prosecuting the preachers, West Midlands Police and the Crown
Prosecution Service issued a press release accusing programme makers of
distorting comments, and reported Channel 4 to TV watchdog Ofcom for
heavily editing the words of imams to give them more sinister
meaning.
But Ofcom dismissed the complaint, while Channel 4 and
documentary-makers Hardcash Productions successfully sued for libel.
Gormley told MPs the Chief Constable, who has announced plans to step
down next year after seven years, was responsible for the decision:
He was involved in the conversation that came to that determination. The
senior investigating officer at the time, in terms of the officer in
overall control, was the assistant chief constable. It was at that
level.
Conservative MP James Clappison asked him: So the assistant chief
constable referred it to the chief constable, and the chief constable
agreed? To refer it to Ofcom?
Gormley replied: Yes. Asked whether anyone had been disciplined,
he said: No, nobody has been.
|
| 5th November |
Homophobic letter to GP Magazine... |
|
| |
Doctor challenged at GMC disciplinary panel
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
independent.co.uk
|
The
head of the Islamic Medical Association sent a homophobic letter to a magazine
for GPs, saying gay people needed the stick of law to put them on the right
path the General Medical Council heard.
Dr Muhammad Siddiq was working as a GP at the Walsall Teaching Primary Care
Trust when he wrote the letter to Pulse in July last year.
A GMC fitness to practise panel, in Manchester, heard Dr Siddiq's letter read:
There is punishment and fine if you throw rubbish or filth on the streets,
the gays are worse than the ordinary careless citizen, they are causing the
spread of illness and they are the root cause of many sexually-transmitted
diseases.
They need neither sympathy nor help, what they need is the stick of law to put
them on the right path.
Update:
Walk Out
1st November 2008. See
article
from
freethinker.co.uk
According to
this report, Siddiq dismissed his barrister at hearing and then
left the proceedings when he was refused an adjournment to find new
counsel.
In his absence, a journalist working for Pulse, the magazine
for GPs, told the panel that Dr Siddiq had confirmed in a conversation
many of the views expressed in the letter.
Anthony Lithgow testified that the GP thought homosexuality should be
illegal, gender reassignment surgery is a waste of money and that gays
“prey on society.”
Update:
Suspended
Based on
article
from
telegraph.co.uk
Dr Muhammad Siddiq wrote gay people needed the stick of law to put
them on the right path and were the root cause of many sexually
transmitted diseases in a letter to Pulse magazine last July, the
General Medical Council heard.
The fitness to practise panel also heard Dr Siddiq refused to accept the
findings of an assessment in April last year into his ability to perform
minor surgery and had continued to perform circumcisions at the Luqman
Medical Centre, in Walsall, despite being advised not to.
Andrew Popat, chairing the GMC hearing, said: Dr Siddiq's actions
were found to be inappropriate, not in the best interests of his
patients, and in relation to the letter to Pulse, liable to undermine
public confidence in the medical profession and liable to bring the
profession into disrepute.
The ruling took place in Dr Siddiq's absence as he dismissed his
barrister last week and left the GMC claiming he could not receive a
fair trial.
His medical registration has been suspended for 12 months.
|
| 4th November |
Moroccan Shock... |
|
| |
No shock as Morocco bans magazine comparing christianity and islam
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
washingtontimes.com
|
The
Moroccan government has banned an issue of the French magazine
L'Express International, claiming it insults Islam in articles
exploring the relationship between that religion and Christianity.
Information Minister Khalid Naciri said that he had no choice but to ban
the current issue because of the offensive nature of the articles it
contained. The minister said the kingdom's press code allows the
government to shut down or ban any publication deemed to offend Islam or
the king.
The cover of this week's L'Express is titled The
Jesus-Muhammad Shock.
The weekly said the series of articles was inspired by a meeting planned
this week in Rome between Christian and Muslim scholars and is intended
to help the dialogue between Islam and Christianity.
Naciri did not specify exactly what was considered offensive, but told
The Associated Press that our country should not be used by anyone to
spread articles that could be prejudicial to our religion or undermine
public order.
A statement on L'Express' Internet site said the magazine did not
understand Morocco's reaction, particularly because pains had been taken
to adhere to Islamic norms, notably by covering the face of Muhammad
with a white veil in side-by-side cover portraits of Jesus and Islam's
prophet, in line with Islamic law. The French edition leaves the face
uncovered.
The articles provide broad outlines of the two monotheistic religions.
One article comparing Jesus and Muhammad quotes verses from the Quran
that it says show that the Muslim holy book justifies violence toward
those who refuse to obey Muslim law. It says that Muhammad the
pacifist and Muhammad the warrior are united in one figure.
|
| 4th November |
Nut Sausage... |
|
| |
Muslim chef refuses to smell the bacon and claims religious discrimination
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
telegraph.co.uk
|
A
Muslim police chef is claiming religious discrimination over sausage and
bacon breakfasts.
Hasanali Khoja is accusing the force of religious discrimination
after it refused to guarantee in his contract that he would be excused
from handling pork products.
Khoja is being supported by the National Black Police Association, which
has urged potential recruits not to join the Met, because of "racism"
within the force.
He claims that while working as catering manager at Hendon Police
College, in north London, he was asked to move to another team where he
would be expected to cook what officers nick-name the 999 breakfast"-
a large fry-up including sausage, bacon and black pudding.
I felt very unhappy about it. I was very upset and angry, said
Khoja, who joined the Met in 2005. I never enrolled to cook pork. I
had a letter from the human resources department saying that I would not
be required to cook any pork. But this was not exactly what I wanted as
a guarantee.
Khoja is now bringing an employment tribunal case which is expected to
be heard next May.
His solicitor Khalid Sofi said: We are confident that we have a very
good claim. Religious discrimination law obliges employers if possible
to accommodate genuine religious needs. The Met is a very large
organisation and should have the flexibility to accommodate people in
this way. But they were not able to guarantee that he would not have to
handle pork products.
He is now at work at another Met building in Earl's Court, west London,
where he does not have to handle foods which contravene his faith, but
has been downgraded from senior catering manager to higher catering
manager.
|
| 3rd November |
Energized Fundamentalists... |
|
| |
A Chilling New Anti-Obscenity Law in Indonesia
Permalink full story: Indonesian Anti-Porn Bill...A front for the implementation of shariah? |
See
article
from
asiasentinel.com
|
 |
|
Indonesia Goes Burkha |
The House of Representatives pushes through an overly broad bill that
could energize Islamic fundamentalists even more
Analysts and critics are warning that the bill will embolden the
country’s already-unswerving Muslim fundamentalists.
Provisions of the Bill
- Article 29
Any person who manufactures, produces, duplicates, reduplicates,
distributes, broadcasts, imports, exports, makes for sale, trades in,
leases or makes available pornography shall be punished with a prison
term of 6 months to 12 years and/or a fine of Rp250 million or Rp6
billion.
- Article 30
Any person who makes available pornography …shall be punished with a
prison term of 6 years and/or a fine of Rp250 million to Rp6 billion
- Article 31
Any person who loans or downloads pornography…shall be punished with a
maximum prison term of 4 years and/or a fine not to exceed Rp2 billion
- Article 32
Any person who exhibits, possesses or stores pornography shall be
punished with a maximum prison term of 4 years and/or a fine not to
exceed Rp2 billion
- Article 34
Any person who consents to be a pornographic object or model shall be
punished with a maximum prison term of 10 years and/or a fine not to
exceed Rp5 billion
- Article 36
Any person who exhibits themselves or others in a performance…that
contains nudity, sexual exploitation, coital acts or other
pornographic content shall be punished with a maximum prison term of
10 years and/or a fine not to exceed Rp5 billion.
...Read full
article
Update:
Papua Protests
5th November 2008. Based on
article
from
radioaustralia.net.au
About a thousand Christians in the Indonesian province of Papua have
protested against an anti-pornography bill passed by parliament last
week, saying it conflicts with their traditional culture.
The protesters say the bill, which has the support of a number of
Islamic parties, could threaten Indonesia's national unity.
Minority groups, especially Christians and Hindus, say the new law is
too vague, and a threat to artistic, religious, and cultural freedom.
|
| 2nd November |
Forked Off... |
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Forklift truck driver loses Tesco case over handling alcohol
Permalink |
From the National Secular Society
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Always
fine whines |
A Muslim warehouse employee at Tesco has lost his claim for religious
discrimination after he had objected to handling alcohol. Mohammed Ahmed
said the job was against his Islamic beliefs. He accused Tesco of
victimisation and harassment during a three-day employment tribunal in
Birmingham.
His job at the supermarket's Lichfield depot involved the transportation
of various goods, including alcoholic drinks, on fork-lift trucks. The
Saudi Arabian national told the tribunal he was not informed that he
would be handling alcohol when he started the job last year. Tesco
denied this.
Ahmed said: It's not fair but what can I do? They [Tesco] were not
taking into account my religious beliefs. I will consult with
solicitors. He refused to touch alcohol because it was against his
religious principles as a Muslim, he said, and asked to be found other
work. He told the tribunal that Tesco failed to co-operate and
alleged he was told by a supervisor, You do the job or go home, a
claim also denied by the store. After eight months working for the
company, he left in protest.
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| 1st November |
Netherlands Sees the Light... |
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Dutch Justice minister recommends to repeal blasphemy law
Permalink full story: Thank God...Netherlands parliament looks to repeal blasphemy laws |
Based on
article
from
dutchnews.nl
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Justice
minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Christian Democrats) has finally given
into pressure and is to recommend that blasphemy is no longer a criminal
offence.
Although the law, which was brought in to protect Christians from being
insulted is almost defunct, in the past the minister has believed it to
be useful to protect Muslims from Islam-bashing, says Friday's
Volkskrant.
The law was last used in 1968 against the writer Gerard Reve. He was
found not guilty.
Hirsch Ballin had suggested expanding the current legislation to cover
all religions but MPs were against the move, arguing it would conflict
with freedom of speech, the Volkskrant says.
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| 1st November |
Election Cover Up... |
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Election posters of women banned on Jerusalem buses
Permalink full story: Religious Vigilante Police...Ultra orthodox censorship in Israel |
Based on
article
from
jpost.com
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A
company responsible for advertising on the Egged bus company has refused to
place a political advertisement on Jerusalem city buses showing female
candidates for the city council, so as not to offend the haredi public.
The poster disqualified by...
The advertisement rejected last week by the Canaan advertising company, which is
charged with advertising with the Egged bus cooperative, includes the portrait
of two women and a man running for city council on a joint
religious-secular list called Wake up Jerusalem-Yerushalmim. The municipal
elections will take place on November 11.
A spokesman for the company stood by the rejection of the ad. All
advertisements are subject to the approval of the Egged censor, Canaan
company spokesman Ohad Gibli said: In order not to offend the sensitivities
of a certain public, certain criteria have been defined regarding the content of
advertisements. Pictures of women cannot appear on buses that go through
haredi neighborhoods, Gibli said.
Egged spokesman Ron Ratner said the bus company was never asked about
advertisements with the portraits of women running for the city council, and
would never have nixed them: Egged never received a query on this issue and
would never have rejected such an advertisement of a public figure so long as it
was positive, modest and respectable, and did not hurt public sensitivities.
The Egged spokesman said he thought the whole issue was a PR ploy since the
would-be city councilors never contacted Egged on the issue.
It is very sad that in Israel of 2008 women suffer such brazen
discrimination, which is absolutely unacceptable, said Wake up Jerusalem-Yerushalmim
spokeswoman Meirav Cohen, whose portrait was one of those appearing on the
banned advertisement.
In the meantime, the ads in question have gone up on bus stations, which are the
responsibility of another advertising company.
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| 1st November |
Predictable Death Threats... |
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Muslim artist in the firing line
Permalink |
Thanks to Nick
Based on
article
from
news.bbc.co.uk
See also
SaLon Gallery
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A
Muslim artist exhibiting her work at a west London gallery, has received death
threats via email.
Staff at SaLon gallery in Notting Hill said they had received violent emails
about Sarah Maple and her family.
Gallery director Samir Ceric said he was sad, upset and disappointed at
the way art was being treated and called the violent reaction to her work an
attack on freedom of expression.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers were investigating the
damage to the gallery's window but could not comment on the threatening email.
This Artist Blows
SaLon Gallery presents Sarah Maple’s first solo show. Exhibition until 16th November 2008.
SaLon Gallery, 82 Westbourne Grove, London W2 5RT
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| 1st November |
Defamation Nonsense... |
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Nutters still pushing for UN ban as defamation of religion
Permalink full story: United Muslim Nations...Muslim Nations Group OIC carries motion in favour of blasphemy laws |
Based on
article
from
thenational.ae
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A
Gulf diplomat has urged foreign governments to prosecute individuals who make
offensive and defamatory statements against Islam and other faiths during a
heated debate at United Nations headquarters.
Speaking on behalf of members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Nasser Abdulaziz
al Nisr, Qatar’s ambassador to the United Nations, told delegates at a recent
meeting that freedom of expression should not permit the abuse of
religions.
Speaking in New York, Nisr described blasphemy as unacceptable, while western
governments allege leaders from the Islamic world are trying to stifle basic
freedoms and infringe the rights of non-Muslims: Our countries categorically
reject all forms of incitement, discrimination, hostility, violence, attempts to
justify the distortion of religions and hostility-based incitement of religions
in the name of freedom of expression. The responsibility rests, therefore, with
the governments to address such conduct by legal and executive possible means,
including amending legislation that allows such practices in the name of freedom
of expression and opinion.”
Nisr was speaking in advance of a vote in the UN General Assembly’s committee on
human rights on a draft resolution intended to combat defamation of
religions. The draft resolution is supported by the 57-member Organisation
of the Islamic Conference and has passed every year since 2005. Although not
binding in international law, the resolution sets a global moral standard.
A coalition of countries that advocate free speech, including the United States,
is trying to thwart the OIC resolution this year by persuading more moderate
Muslim nations to vote against it.
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| 1st November |
The Shame of Humanity... |
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13 year old girl stoned to death in Somalia
Permalink full story: Throwing Stones at Stoning...Interntiuonal condemnation of barbaric executions |
Based on
article
from
amnesty.org
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A
girl stoned to death in Somalia this week was 13 years old, not
23, contrary to earlier news reports. She had been accused of
adultery in breach of Islamic law.
Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was killed on Monday 27 October, by a
group of 50 men in a stadium in the southern port of Kismayu, in
front of around 1,000 spectators.
Inside the stadium, militia members opened fire when some of the
witnesses to the killing attempted to save her life, and shot
dead a boy who was a bystander. An al-Shabab spokeperson was
later reported to have apologized for the death of the child,
and said the militia member would be punished.
At one point during the stoning, Amnesty International has been
told by numerous eyewitnesses that nurses were instructed to
check whether Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was still alive when buried
in the ground. They removed her from the ground, declared that
she was, and she was replaced in the hole where she had been
buried for the stoning to continue.
Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was accused of adultery, but sources told
Amnesty International that she had in fact been raped by three
men, and had attempted to report this rape to the al-Shabab
militia who control Kismayo. It was this act that resulted in
her being accused of adultery and detained. None of men she
accused of rape were arrested.
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| 1st November |
Yoga Exercising Addled Minds... |
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Yoga to be fatwa'd in Malaysia
Permalink |
Based on
article
from
freethinker.co.uk
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According
to a report, Zakaria Stapa, a professor in the Islamic faculty of the National
University of Malaysia, has called on Muslims to stop practicing yoga, saying it
could cause them to deviate from their faith.
Muslims in Malaysia practiced yoga not just for exercise but also as part of the
growing urban lifestyle and involved chanting mantras while in various
positions, he said.
Why should we look for other alternatives to exercise and search for peace? Yoga
could cause (Muslims) to stray from their faith because its movements are
according to the style and traditions of Hinduism.
Now it looks as if a yoga fatwa is to be issued.
Harussani Zakaria, a controversial cleric from the northern Perak state, said
the government-backed National Fatwa Council would soon release a decree which
would decide if Muslims were allowed to practise yoga.
If it involves any faith or religious elements it is definitely not permissible,
but if it is just a form of exercise that is all right. But Muslims cannot
practice yoga in its original form because it involves another religion.
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